Tomb

When Calgary director and screenwriter Robert Cuffley (Walk All Over Me) recently heard about a federal bill that would deny tax credits to films with offensive content, his mind went to an opening scene he’d been imagining for a future project. “The immediate effect in my head, before I even kind of rationalized it to myself, was ‘oh, that opening’s not going to work. It’s not going to fly,’” says Cuffley. “And so I started, ironically, to censor myself in an opening that I haven’t even written yet.”

Cuffley is one of many Canadian filmmakers who are worried that Bill C-10, the federal amendment to the Income Tax Act, could stifle artistic expression. The bill would allow the Canadian Heritage department to deny tax credits for films deemed “contrary to public policy.” Bill C-10 passed in the House of Commons last October without attracting the attention of opposition parties or the media, but in recent weeks the bill has become the subject of fierce debate, with some accusing the Harper government of attempting to censor the film industry. (The bill is currently before the Senate.)

In fact, the amendment was originally introduced by the Liberals in 2003, because the government wanted to avoid giving tax credits for a controversial film about serial killers Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. Conservative Heritage Minister Josée Verner says the controversial amendment wouldn’t affect “movies with provocative titles or themes,” but would keep the government from funding “extreme violence” or child pornography.

“[Child] pornography and extreme violence are already outlawed,” says Cuffley. “So what’s the sense in going forward with this bill?”

Verner argues the bill is necessary because these things are already illegal. She says it’s “a legal absurdity” that a film could have criminal content and still be eligible for tax credits — and some in the industry agree. Calgary producer Bruce Harvey (The Last Door) says the Criminal Code “seems like a huge hammer to have to hit somebody with” when the government can simply deny tax credits for productions with criminal content. “Personally, I don’t feel that the government should be financing everything,” he says. “There should be some things [where] they say, ‘No, this does not meet the standards for what Canadians want to see.’ And they’re not saying ‘you can’t make it.’ They’re just saying ‘we’re not going to finance it.’”

Harvey says he’s a “black sheep” on the Bill C-10 issue. Many filmmakers are outraged at the idea of the government deciding what to fund and what not to fund, but Harvey points out that Telefilm Canada (the federal funding agency) and the National Film Board (the federal producer and distributor) make similar decisions all the time. “Everything we produce, there’s always somebody saying yes or no,” says Harvey. “In the case of Telefilm and the National Film Board, those are bureaucrats saying which qualifies and which doesn’t qualify. So these things already happen.”

Calgary director and writer Gary Burns (waydowntown, Radiant City) says he’s not too worried about the amendment either. “There’s been so much hubbub about it I can’t imagine it passing,” he says, adding he doesn’t think the bill would affect how Canadians make films. “Certainly if you’re making a pedophile comedy you’d probably have second thoughts, but I don’t think it’s as scary as [suggested].”

However, Burns, Harvey and Cuffley are all concerned that tax credits could be denied after a production is finished or mostly finished. “If you don’t find out you don’t qualify until you’ve actually spent the money and then you’re told that ‘Oh, all of the sudden your program doesn’t qualify,’ that’s a negative thing,” says Harvey. Cuffley says that possibility is “cause for very big alarm.”

While the bill has been hotly debated for weeks, there’s very little information on what the changes would actually mean. Verner has said films like David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises wouldn’t be affected, but hasn’t given concrete examples of films that would be affected. “What is an example of ‘extreme violence’ that they’re referring to?” says Cuffley. “Give me a reference point of something that would be disallowed so that I can understand it in context.”

Melody Jacobson, programming co-ordinator for the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers, fears the gay and lesbian community could be targeted by the amendment. “[The Fairy Tales International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival] was one of the first things that jumped to my mind,” says Jacobson, who’s the administrator for the Calgary festival. “There are subject matters that they tackle that are really important, and I wonder if they’re not going to see the light of day because they can’t get funding.”

The government, meanwhile, says worries about Bill C-10 are unfounded. Verner has indicated her department will introduce guidelines that clarify which films would be ineligible. “We will involve industry representatives in the development of any guidelines and the process to implement them,” said Canadian Heritage spokesperson Charles Drouin in an e-mail statement to Fast Forward, adding the department will “ensure there is no adverse effect on film financing practices in the industry.”