Justine Triet's polemical speech at the Cannes Film Festival, after winning the Palme d'Or, never ceases to provoke reactions. Since she ignited the powder on Saturday, denouncing "the commodification of culture that the neoliberal government defends" and which is in the process of "breaking the French cultural exception", the reactions of the entire political class have flared. Some to congratulate the speech of the French director, others to criticize it. On Wednesday, it was Maxime Saada, chairman of the board of directors of the Canal + group, who came to his defense.
He directly attacked the Minister of Culture, who reacted to Justine Triet's speech in a tweet by saying she was "stunned". "This film would not have been possible without our French model of film financing, which allows a diversity unique in the world," she wrote. Rima Abdul Malak was invited on the program "Daily" Tuesday to return to the controversy and her remarks. "I ask for a little intellectual honesty especially from artists and intellectuals who have a sense of precision, who know how to read and look for information," she said. In a tweet, Maxime Saada responded to the minister: "It is you who are showing intellectual dishonesty."
Madam Minister, When you quote in this interview Jeanne Herry's film "I will always see your faces", which we love passionately and whose great success we are delighted with,
it is you who are showing intellectual dishonesty.
Because this film, like the film... https://t.co/FbpBio1c4a
— Maxime Saada (@maxsaada) May 31, 2023
"The key role of French audiovisual actors"
While she defends on "Quotidien" the "French model of cinema financing", referring mainly to the aid of the CNC (National Center for Cinema and Animated Image) and the public authorities, the chairman of the board of directors of the Canal + group retorts: "Justine Triet's film, like the majority of French and European films released in cinemas, was essentially financed by Canal + (and Studiocanal) whose decisive role you systematically "forget" when you mention "our French model of film financing". »
According to him, "the actors of the French audiovisual sector - in the 1st rank of which Canal + which finances more French cinema than all the other actors combined - are the real guarantors of the French cultural exception. "
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Rima Abdul Malak then recalled that since 2020, streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon and Disney, have the obligation to pay 20% of their turnover into the French creation of films and series. However, according to Maxima Saada, they "devote almost all of their bonds to the financing of series and not films (...). None wanted to sign an agreement with French film organizations, with the notable exception of Netflix."