PRESS RELEASE – Will the lights go out for European films ?
The Federation of European Film Directors (FERA) urges the EU Commission to reconsider its approach to the review of its ecodesign and energy labelling requirements for refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and washer-dryers, televisions, computers and electric lamps and luminaires, which will affect a wide range of fixtures used for entertainment lighting, including tungsten, arc and LED.
While the goals of the EU Ecodesign Working Plan 2016-2020 are commendable, the minimum efficiency requirements set out will not be met by tungsten and many LED-based entertainment fixtures.
FERA Honorary President Sir Alan Parker commented « On an aesthetic front, no alternative lighting source can match the subtlety, quality and purity of tungsten light. The filament glow is the inner fire that for decades has lit films so beautifully. On an environmental front, these lights, on a film set, are activated so briefly — mostly for the duration of a dramatic ‘take’ — and so the energy saving argument is irrelevant. »
Not only will the environmental impact be relatively small while generating important costs, given the typical use of this equipment in our sector, but the limits of optical design and LED efficiency will not allow manufacturers to create suitable alternative fixtures to meet the new requirements by 2020.
FERA therefore calls on the European Commission to take into account the unique nature of this equipment as an essential creative tool in the audiovisual sector, and to include a clear exemption for entertainment lighting in its upcoming Regulation.
Contact : Pauline Durand-Vialle, FERA CEO – pdv@filmdirectors.eu – +32 25 44 03 33