She says she spent a sleepless night.
To think about ways to cushion the shock for the world of culture, after the announcement on Wednesday evening of the curfew, which triggered stupor and often anger, among professionals in the sector (theaters, concerts, festivals, cinemas).
Roselyne Bachelot immediately had very late telephone contacts, then very early in the morning, with many of them, after Emmanuel Macron's speech.
This Thursday, the Minister of Culture receives us in her office in the rue de Valois, the face protected by one of the artists' masks she loves, a collection for the benefit of an association, where we can distinguish among others the effigy of Mick Jagger or Jacques Higelin.
Tired but energetic, she multiplies the meetings, determined to find solutions so that the curfew does not become a cover that stifles living culture.
There is an emergency and she knows it.
You declared at the beginning of October to the Estates General of festivals in Avignon that we were safer in a cultural place than in our family.
The measure to close live performance venues and cinemas at 9 p.m. suddenly seems very harsh ...
ROSELYNE BACHELOT.
We have to get back to the health context which has deteriorated considerably in a few days, in a few weeks since my intervention in Avignon.
What the government wanted was a general curfew system in Ile-de-France and in 8 cities to try to put an end to this health crisis, and obviously the culture sector is particularly affected.
In this context, what I am building with those involved in culture are support measures that will make it possible to get through this period.
I am also the mediator between the world of culture and the government so that flexibility, if possible given the seriousness of the health crisis, can be implemented in the best way.
Since Wednesday evening I have been in direct contact with the various players in culture, theater, cinema and music.
There is a very strong call coming from them for an easing indeed.
Do they have a chance to be heard?
I told you, I am the mediator.
They raised their heads and this curfew plunged them back into crisis ...
I am in a good position to know that the world of culture, supported by the strong measures that we have put in place, is raising its head.
I'm the first to say how important it was to go out, but we don't make arrangements for fun.
Cinemas and theaters ask to close at 10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m.
Is it admissible?
Newsletter - Most of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le Parisien
I'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to enable you to receive our news and commercial offers.
Learn more
What they would like is rather to consider that 9 p.m. is not the time when you should be home but, for those who have a ticket for a play or a movie, the hour of the day. departure from the room.
It seems plausible to me.
People take 30 minutes or even an hour to return, the time it takes, it is their ticket that would serve as proof.
The government will examine this request, subject of course to the evolution of the health situation.
The theaters are already advancing their schedules ...
What struck me this Thursday morning, through my discussions with several theater directors, is their willingness to open up, to play, to put on a show, by bringing the schedules forward.
All want to continue the profession.
They do not first want to play the aid card, partial unemployment, even if it is fundamental that we put it in place last spring.
Film releases, even French ones, should be postponed because of this curfew… Is it worrying for you?
Yes, I had a long discussion with Richard Patry
(Editor's note: president of the National Federation of French cinemas)
this Thursday morning, and the fear is that distributors will give up releasing films.
Shouldn't the aid that I put in place during the recovery plan be further strengthened for distributors who release their films during this difficult period?
I am considering it.
"Having been Minister of Health and being Minister of Culture today is undoubtedly what gives me strength in the current situation", estimates Roselyne Bachelot./LP/Yann Foreix
How are you going to help the industry facing the second wave?
This Friday morning, I have an appointment with the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire precisely to continue building this aid plan.
I will not recycle credits already announced!
How to reassure them from a financial point of view?
France has mobilized very strongly and is by far the country which has supported its cultural sector the most, in particular in all matters relating to support measures such as partial unemployment.
Aid has already mobilized 5 billion euros, including nearly 1 billion for intermittent and this is considerable.
The recovery plan and the combat budget which has earmarked 2 billion euros for the cultural sector also contain many support mechanisms.
The president suggests that we will have to live with the Covid at least until next summer.
Will this aid be extended?
If we are not out of the crisis, the system will be continued.
We have continuously improved the system: partial unemployment, the solidarity fund which has been increased from 1,500 to 10,000 euros, exemptions from social and employer contributions, the maturity of loans guaranteed by the State will be extended… Specific aid will, for example, be provided to theaters which cannot pay their rent.
How do you keep the public going to the show?
The venues have not lost their core target, the enthusiasts.
They represent 40% of the public and they continue to go to the theater, to the cinema, it is even a militant act.
What worries me is the occasional audience, you have to win it back and stimulate it.
Those who give themselves a Christmas present at the Opera, for example, who only do this type of outing once a year, it is very important not to lose them.
READ ALSO>
Curfew for concerts: "The rules change every day", plague a producer
And what do you say to festival organizers who fear they will not be able to attend next summer?
I want festivals to reinvent themselves and find a new model.
The President of the Republic wanted a festival aid fund of 10 million euros which was extended and I announced an increase of 5 million euros.
The crisis, which is structural and cyclical, invites us to examine the past and imagine the future.
We must invite the actors to turn a disaster into an opportunity.
We know that the cultural practices of the French are changing massively with new technologies.
Of course, it is not a question of replacing live entertainment by digital.
I see digital as a support solution for these events and it also helps to tame certain forms of art and to create envy.
Digital is complementary.
All digital would not be a sustainable economic model.
It would be terrible.
Going to the theater is also sharing a community.
How do you see your first 100 days in the Castex government?
I accepted this proposal because it was extremely difficult.
If things had been easy, I would never have accepted the job.
I am proud of the results already obtained: a budget increased by almost 5%, a recovery plan of 2 billion euros, support for producers and creators, bills adopted unanimously at the Assembly… I am fighting for culture.
Maybe because of my history, I manage to transcend political divisions: here, everyone is welcome, whatever their label.
If an idea or a project is good: I support it!
Are you comfortable with government solidarity?
For example, it is said that you were against the idea of a curfew ...
It's carpeted radio.
Don't believe what the newspapers say
(laughs)
.
The Minister of Culture is respected and heard by the President and the Prime Minister.
I have never found myself in difficulty.
I never found myself in the position to deny myself.
Having been Minister of Health and being Minister of Culture today is undoubtedly what gives me strength in the current situation.
Will you participate in the 2022 campaign, if Emmanuel Macron represents himself?
I am not a member of LREM.
I subscribe to the perspective of going beyond wanted by the President of the Republic.
If he asks me, I will campaign, very clearly.
