The head of Canal+, France’s largest film producer, said the studio will no longer work with hundreds of film professionals, who signed a petition expressing concern about the growing influence of the studio’s right-wing billionaire owner, Vincent Bolloré.
More than 600 French industry figures, including actors Juliette Binoche, Adele Haenel and Swan Arlaud, and directors Sepideh Farsi and Arthur Harari, signed the open letter, published earlier this week, calling out Bolloré’s right-wing policies and his increasing control over the French film industry.
“Leaving French cinema in the hands of a far-right owner poses a danger not only to the standardization of films, but also to fascism’s hold on the collective imagination,” the letter said.
Through his media company Vivendi, Bolloré already owns Canal+, France’s largest pay-TV company, and its subsidiary Studiocanal, Europe’s leading film production company. Bolloré’s media empire includes C News, a popular French news channel that has been attacked by figures on the left for allegedly providing a platform for far-right voices.
The open letter was sparked by Bolloré’s plans to take complete control of UGC, France’s third-largest cinema chain, something the letter’s authors described as a “fascist takeover” of French cinema.
Film industry figures warn that Bolloré’s expanding media empire puts him “in a position of control over the entire film manufacturing chain, from their financing to their distribution and release on big and small screens.”
” impact [his] The ideological attack on film content has been muted so far, they wrote, but we are not deluded: This will not last.
Speaking at a Canal+ producers’ brunch in Cannes on Sunday, Saadeh described the petition as “an injustice towards the Canal teams committed to defending the independence of Canal+, and in all the diversity of its options. As a result, I will no longer work, and I no longer want the channel to work with the people who signed this petition.”
Saadeh said the open letter was tantamount to describing the Canal+ teams as “crypto-fascist.” “Well, I don’t want to work with people who call me a crypto-fascist,” he said.
At a Senate hearing in 2022, Bolloré denied using his media empire to advance any political or ideological agenda, saying he was only interested in making money and promoting French soft power abroad.
