Introduction: The International Circulation of European Cinema in the Digital Age

It is little more than thirty years since the introduction in 1987 of the European Com- munity’s most significant financial support system for cinema and audiovisual media, the ‘Programme MEDIA’ (‘Mesures pour encourager le développement de l’industrie audiovisuelle’), with an initially small endowment that has since increased steadily1. At present, the terms of the Creative Europe programme (of which MEDIA is a part) for the 2021-2027 period is undergoing scrutiny and redefinition. In the meantime, the media and political landscapes have undergone significant changes: on the one hand, the digital revolution has shaken up, to some extent2, film production and distribution; on the other, more recently, populist political currents are posing urgent questions about the very definition of nationhood and the wider European community. This issue of Comunicazioni sociali reflects on the production and distribution of film and television within this context.