Network of European Cinemas

The aim of the support is to create and operate a network of cinemas in order to:

• Encourage cinema operators to screen a significant proportion of non-national European films through incentives and collaborative projects;
• Contribute to raise and increase the interest of the audience for non-national films including through the development of activities for young cinema-goers;
• Help those cinemas to adapt their strategy to the changing environment including by promoting innovative approaches in terms of audience reach and engagement, as well as partnerships with other film industry operators as well as with local cultural institutions;
• Encourage exchange of best practices, knowledge sharing and other forms of cross border collaboration amongst members of the network
• Contribute to the policy dialogue on the film industry by collecting data and disseminating the outcome of the activities of the network beyond its members.

• The action is open to European cinema networks. A cinema network is a group of European independent cinemas developing, through the medium of a legally constituted co-ordination entity, joint activities in the area of screening and promoting European films.
• To be eligible, the cinema network must represent at least 400 cinemas situated in at least 20 countries participating in the MEDIA strand.
• The coordination entity shall ensure the operation of a communication and information system among the cinemas.
• A European independent cinema is a company, association or organisation with a single or several screens based in countries participating in the MEDIA strand and which operates under the same company name. The screening of films should be the principal activity of the participant or division of the participant's organisation.
  
• The information on this page is for general information purposes only.
• Please download the Network of European Cinemas Call 2026 document for full details.

• The action will support a network of European cinema operators, with a broad geographic coverage, screening a significant proportion of non-national European films for an increased audience and a renewed cinema going experience, fostering the role of European cinemas in the circulation of European works.
• The aim is to increase audiences for European works through incentives and collaborative projects. Funding will promote innovative approaches that combine visibility for European works and the widest audiences.
• Applications should present adequate strategies to ensure a more sustainable and more environmentally-respectful industry and to ensure gender balance, inclusion, diversity and representativeness.
• Funding is expected to:
  • Increase the audience for non-national European films on the European market;
  • Reach new audiences for European films including young cinema-goers
  • Reinforce and renew the ongoing cinema experience;
  • Adjust the business practices of European cinema theatres in terms of sustainability and inclusion;
  • Foster the innovation potential of European cinema theatres through enhanced collaboration.
• The information on this page is for general information purposes only. Please download the Network of European Cinemas Call 2026 document for full details.

• Project budget (requested grant amount): No limit.
• The grant will be budget-based (actual costs, with unit cost and flat-rate elements). This means that it will reimburse ONLY certain types of costs (eligible costs) and costs that were actually incurred for your project (NOT the budgeted costs).
• For unit costs and flat-rates, you can charge the amounts calculated as explained in the Grant Agreement (see art 6 and Annex 2 and 2a).
• The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rate fixed in the Grant Agreement (95%).
• Grants may NOT produce a profit (i.e. surplus of revenues + EU grant over costs).
  For-profit organisations must declare their revenues and, if there is a profit, we will deduct it from the final grant amount).
• The information on this page is for general information purposes only. Please download the Network of European Cinemas Call 2026 document for full details.