Directores Argentinos Cinematograficos (DAC)

Overview

Directores Argentinos Cinematograficos (DAC) is the Argentine collective rights management society representing film and audiovisual directors. Founded in 1958, DAC operates as both a directors' professional association and a collecting society that collects and distributes royalties from the cable retransmission, satellite broadcasting, public performance, and on-demand exploitation of Argentine and international audiovisual works. This dual function, combining professional advocacy with collective rights administration, reflects Argentina's civil law copyright tradition, which recognizes directors as co-authors of their films with ongoing economic entitlements that cannot be contracted away.

DAC operates under Decree 124/2009 (as amended by Decree 143/2025), which recognizes the organization as the representative of audiovisual directors within Argentine territory for the collection, administration, and distribution of remuneration rights established by Law 11.723 (Argentina's intellectual property law). The 2025 decree update expanded the framework to cover all forms of exploitation, including interactive on-demand availability and public communication in any form, of audiovisual works fixed on any medium.

The current DAC Board of Directors, elected for the 2025 to 2029 term, is led by President Carmen Guarini and Vice President Marcelo Pineyro. The board includes Horacio Maldonado (Secretary General), Ines de Oliveira Cezar (Pro-Secretary General), Victor Dinenzon (Treasurer), and Carlos Jaureguialzo (Pro-Treasurer), along with additional board members covering social action, vocal, andsuplente positions.

Collective Rights Management

DAC's collective rights function generates ongoing income for its director members from the secondary exploitation of their films. When an Argentine film is broadcast on Argentine cable television, retransmitted via satellite, shown in a public context, or made available on-demand, a royalty is generated that flows through DAC to the film's director. These royalties are collected under Law 11.723, which provides directors with inalienable remuneration rights that cannot be waived as part of an initial employment or co-production agreement.

DAC registers all member works in an international database headquartered in Switzerland, which assigns a unique identification number to each director for recognition across collecting societies worldwide. DAC operates under CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers) rules, meaning directors can only belong to one collecting society at a time. For example, a director cannot be a member of both DAC and Spain's SGAE simultaneously. DAC has reciprocal agreements with collecting societies in other countries, allowing it to collect royalties for foreign directors whose works are exploited in Argentina and vice versa.

For directors with substantial bodies of work, DAC royalties provide meaningful ongoing income throughout the commercial life of their films. Directors must declare each of their works to DAC to enable the organization to collect and distribute the corresponding royalties. Declaration is a straightforward process conducted through DAC's offices, with staff available Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 to 14:00 at telephone 4331-1492.

Argentine Film Funding and INCAA

The Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (INCAA) administers Argentina's national cinema law (Law 17.741), providing development, production, and exhibition support for Argentine films through a combination of subsidies, advances on receipts, and screen quota enforcement. DAC maintains an active relationship with INCAA, participating in policy consultations on funding criteria, authorship rights, and the regulatory framework that shapes Argentine film production and distribution.

INCAA subsidy structure (as of 2025 to 2026):

The INCAA sets an annual reference cost for a "medium-budget national film." As of September 2025, this reference cost is ARS 600 million (approximately USD 600,000 at late 2025 exchange rates), updated from ARS 300 million set earlier in 2025. Subsidies are calculated as percentages of this reference cost:

• Animation films: up to 43% of the medium-budget reference cost
• Fiction films: up to 34% of the medium-budget reference cost
• Documentary films: up to 17% of the medium-budget reference cost

Subsidies cannot exceed 50% of the total production cost. For theatrical exhibition, films without "special interest" designation receive 70% of gross box office receipts up to the medium-budget reference cost. Films with "special interest" designation receive 100% of gross box office receipts up to the reference cost. A beneficiary cannot apply for a new subsidy until one calendar year after receiving the full previous subsidy or after the subsidized production has been exhibited as planned, whichever is later.

Argentina's screen quota requires Argentine cinemas to screen Argentine films for a minimum number of weeks per year. INCAA determines and segments the quota based on theater characteristics, structure, and location. The quota has applied since June 2025 under the current regulatory framework. DAC advocates for strong quota enforcement and for funding criteria that prioritize directorial authorship and artistic quality alongside commercial considerations.

Argentine Cinema Context

Argentine cinema has a substantial and internationally recognized tradition. Luis Puenzo's The Official Story (La historia oficial) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1986. Directors including Hector Babenco (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Lucrecia Martel (La cienaga, Zama), Pablo Trapero (El clan, Carancho), Lisandro Alonso (Jauja, Eureka), and Martin Rejtman have placed Argentine cinema consistently on the world festival circuit. The Nueva Ola Argentina (New Argentine Cinema) movement of the late 1990s and 2000s, associated with directors like Martin Rejtman and Diego Lerman, established a distinctive aesthetic that international festivals continue to program.

DAC represents directors across this full range, from internationally celebrated art cinema directors through mainstream commercial filmmakers. The organization's advocacy work extends to streaming platform deals, where it monitors contractual practices that may minimize directors' economic participation in the long-term exploitation of their works.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For international co-productions with Argentina, understanding DAC's role and the Argentine authorship rights framework is essential pre-development work. Argentine directors participating in international co-productions retain their DAC membership and the collective rights entitlements it generates. International producers should account for these ongoing entitlements before finalizing co-production agreements, as they cannot be waived under Argentine law.

For Argentine directors, DAC membership provides both professional community and ongoing royalty income from collective rights administration. Registering works with DAC is the only way to ensure royalty collection and distribution. The organization's office in Buenos Aires handles declarations, member queries, and rights management.

See Also

For the Latin American regional context, see FNCL / Latin American Filmmakers Federation in this directory. For the Latin American awards context, see Platino Awards in this directory. Use the Indie Film Budget Calculator to estimate co-production budget structures involving Argentine components.