American filmmakers are not pleased about a proposed international treaty. UNESCO, the United Nations body concerned with cultural matters, has endorsed a measure designed to protect countries' indigenous film industries.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Protecting local culture--For a few years now, that's been the subject of      debate at UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural      Organization.  UNESCO recently adopted a cultural convention, a treaty      that would protect a country's indigenous movies, music, television and      the like. Most of UNESCO's members support it.  Only the United States      and Israel voted against it.  And some in Hollywood fear it could mean      losing business overseas.  NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.</s>ELIZABETH BLAIR reporting: Take a look at a few of the recent top-grossing films in countries around      the world.  Often they're produced by an American company.  In Canada,      it's "King Kong," "Narnia" and "Harry Potter."  In Russia, "Aeon Flux,"      "Just Like Heaven" and "Cry Wolf."  Hollywood Studios often count on      foreign markets more than they do on the domestic box office.  One      example:  Warner Bros. epic "Troy."</s>ELIZABETH BLAIR reporting: Unidentified Man #1:  Do you know what you've done?  Do you know how many      years our father worked for peace?</s>ELIZABETH BLAIR reporting: Unidentified Man #2:  I love her.</s>ELIZABETH BLAIR reporting: Unidentified Man #1:  Agh!</s>BLAIR: "Troy" made about $135 million at the box office here.  Overseas,      it did much better, more than $350 million.  So when UNESCO approved the      Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural      Expressions in October, Hollywood winced.</s>Mr. DAN GLICKMAN (Motion Picture Association of America): That treaty      basically took a shot at the United States, as far as I was concerned.</s>BLAIR: Dan Glickman is head of the Motion Picture Association of      America, the trade group that represents Hollywood Studios and other film      companies.  He says his members are all for cultural diversity, but they      don't want countries to use the UNESCO treaty to limit the number of      American movies allowed on their screens.</s>Mr. DAN GLICKMAN (Motion Picture Association of America): ...we want to make sure is is that culture, the protecting      of culture, doesn't become an actual trade barrier to keep our products      out.  And our studios, I think, would be very worried if they thought      that countries were going to keep our products out just to protect their      own indigenous film industry.</s>BLAIR: The UNESCO debate over the cultural treaty, which is sponsored by      France and Canada, has been emotional, says Louise Oliver, the US      ambassador to UNESCO.  In the end, she could not support it because, she      says, the language was too vague.</s>Ambassador LOUISE OLIVER (US Ambassador To UNESCO): The convention      states that cultural goods and services have a dual nature, economic and      culture. Well, who decides whether it's economic, and who decides whether      it's culture? No definition in that.  We wanted clarity as to the      relationship of this legally binding document with other international      obligations.  So we tried over and over again to get the phrase      consistent with international obligations, and that was rejected over and      over again.</s>BLAIR: Just how the treaty would be used if it's ratified is unclear.      What is clear is that UNESCO officials have different views on the      treaty's intent. Timothy Craddock, the United Kingdom's ambassador to      UNESCO, insists the cultural convention is largely symbolic and not about      trade at all.</s>Ambassador TIMOTHY CRADDOCK (United Kingdom Ambassador To UNESCO): This      convention is simply promoting the capacity of particularly the poorest      countries, which are the ones where the threat's the greatest, to promote      their own culture and to help countries promote their own creative      industries in a way that's set down in law for the first time.</s>BLAIR: In other words, it codifies on an international level a belief      that culture is not only about economics but also national identity.  But      culture and commerce are intertwined, and there's concern in the US over      how a country might use the UNESCO treaty to its advantage.  An editorial      in The Wall Street Journal said China could use it to close newspapers      and pull international satellite TV off the air.  Other countries might      introduce screen quotas, already in place in countries such as Argentina      and Korea.</s>Mr. JONATHAN KIM (Film Producer): We didn't have that much money.  We      didn't have--few stars.  We really didn't have an industry.  But the      thing is, we were able to keep the Korean movies because of the quota.</s>BLAIR: Jonathan Kim, a film producer in Korea who supports the UNESCO      treaty, says in the 1970s and '80s, American movies were much more      popular than anything made in Korea.  But a government-imposed quota      requiring theaters to show Korean movies 146 days per year kept the small      industry alive, he says. Eventually, the acting and production quality of      the films improved.  In 1999, for the first time, a Korean movie      surpassed an American one at the box office there.  "Titanic" was sunk,      by a film called "Shiri," the name of a small fish.</s>BLAIR: Unidentified Man #3:  (Foreign language spoken)</s>BLAIR: Unidentified Man #4:  (Foreign language spoken)</s>BLAIR: Unidentified Man #5:  (Foreign language spoken)</s>Group of Men: (Foreign language spoken in unison)</s>BLAIR: "Shiri" is a romantic thriller centered around the tensions      between the north and south.  Other films in this new wave touch on      feelings about modern Korean culture and self-identity in the face of      political division. And this is the crux of the matter for many of the      supporters of the UNESCO treaty.  Filmmakers want to tell their own      stories to their own people in ways that are as popular as a story like      "Titanic" is to Americans.  Today Korean films have more than 50 percent      of the Korean market.  The US wants Korea to end the screen quota,      especially now that their films are competitive.  But Jonathan Kim says      Korean filmmakers aren't ready to give it up.</s>Mr. JONATHAN KIM (Film Producer): It's like saying, `Oh, there's no more accidents at the      intersection.  Let's get rid of the lights.'  That's how we feel, because      we do not know how long this will last.  We could go back to 1980s if we      don't do things right.</s>Mr. STEVE SOLOT (Motion Picture Association, Latin America): They would      rather resort to possibly out-of-date mechanisms to protect their      industries.</s>BLAIR: Steve Solot heads up the Motion Picture Association's Latin      American office in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Protectionist measures, he says,      are not the best ways to stimulate and sustain local film industries.      Through training and production coordination, his office has helped      launch a number of successful films:  "City of God," from Brazil, "The      Crime of Padre Amaro" from Mexico.  Solot says international partnerships      are becoming more common, a trend brought on by market forces.</s>Mr. STEVE SOLOT (Motion Picture Association, Latin America): Entertainment product must be ...(unintelligible).  It must      be diversified.  And more and more local content is needed to offer the      consumer everywhere around the world diversified product.  No consumer in      any country can subsist only on American Hollywood fare.</s>BLAIR: On that, both sides of the culture vs. commerce debate seem to      agree. The UNESCO treaty is going through the ratification process.      Thirty countries need to sign it before it can go into effect.  Elizabeth      Blair, NPR News.