Over 600 French cultural personalities, including actors and directors, signed an open letter condemning Vincent Bolloré's expanding control over the film sector, warning of a far‑right influence that could standardise cinema and threaten artistic independence. The protest was sparked by Bolloré's plan to acquire the UGC cinema chain, prompting calls to protect the autonomy of Canal+ and its partners.
More than 600 French industry figures, including actors Juliette Binoche, Adèle Haenel and Swann Arlaud, and directors Sepideh Farsi and Arthur Harari, signed the open letter, published earlier this week, calling out Bolloré’s right-wing politics and his expanding control over the French film industry.
Barbra Streisand Unable to Attend Cannes Closing Ceremony After Suffering Knee Injury “Leaving French cinema in the hands of a far-right owner,” the letter reads, risked “not only the standardisation of films, but a fascist takeover of the collective imagination. ”, France’s largest pay-TV company, and its subsidiary Studiocanal, Europe’s leading film production company. Bolloré’s media empire includes CNews, a popular French news channel that figures on the left have attacked for allegedly giving a platform to far-right voices.
The open letter was sparked by Bolloré’s plans to take full control of UGC, France’s third-largest cinema chain, something the letter writers equated to a “fascist takeover” of French cinema. The film industry figures warn that Bolloré’s expanding media empire puts him “in the position of controlling the entire fabrication chain of films from their financing to their distribution and their release on the big and small screen.
” “The influence of ideological offensive on the content of films has so far been discreet, but we are under no illusion: this won’t last,” they wrote.on Sunday, Saada called the petition “an injustice towards the Canal teams who are committed to defending the independence of Canal+, and in all the diversity of its choices. And as a result, I will no longer work; I no longer wish Canal to work with the people who signed this petition.
” Saada said the open letter amounted to calling the Canal+ teams “cryptofascists. ” “Well, I don’t want to work with people who call me a cryptofascist,” he said. In a senate hearing in 2022, Bolloré denied using his media empire to forward any political or ideological agenda, saying he is only interested in making money and in promoting French soft power abroad.
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