IMAGO – International Federation of Cinematographers – is now officially registered in the EU Transparency Register as a dialogue partner of the European Parliament and the European Commission.

The IMAGO Board would like to expressly acknowledge and thank Carolina Piquet for her important contribution throughout the EU Transparency Register application process.

Last year, the IMAGO Working Conditions Committee was invited to present its study BEHIND THE LENS — focusing on the living and working conditions of cinematographers and camera crews in Europe — to the European Parliament and the European Commission.

As a direct consequence, IMAGO was invited to enter an official dialogue with these European institutions.

Following our successful registration as an official EU Dialogue Partner — a process expertly managed by our IWCC legal counsel, Dr. Cristina Busch — IMAGO is now formally entitled to participate in all relevant political decision-making processes within the European Union. This includes the right to submit official statements and to be consulted as expert advisors whenever matters concerning our profession are discussed.

The challenge before us is clear: we must not allow ourselves to be passively carried along by these developments. We must actively help shape them.

This concerns, above all, our ongoing fight for better working conditions throughout the industry, as well as the protection and reinforcement of our authorship — a principle increasingly placed at risk by the rise of AI technologies. For the Authorship Committee, the key challenge at EU level is to safeguard and strengthen cinematographers’ authorship in practice – from fair contracts and remuneration to the impact of AI on creation, crediting and licensing – so that technological innovation does not erode the creative and moral rights at the heart of cinematography.

What happens in Europe inevitably has an impact far beyond Europe itself and affects all IMAGO members worldwide. This should never be forgotten.

Kurt Brazda
Chair, IMAGO Working Conditions Committee

Paul René Roestad
Vice Chair, IMAGO Authorship Committee