French Culture Minister Rima Abdul-Malak gave her first interview to the international press at the Cannes Film Festival, where she revealed a plan to invest €350 million ($378 million) in the film and TV industry. Abdul-Malak also spoke about some of the hottest topics currently being debated in the industry, such as streamer window rules, the pension reform protests, the rise of the far right and criticism of the French #MeToo movement.
The government investment initiative, called the Grande Fabrique de l’Image, aims to strengthen France’s position as a leader in film, TV and video game production, studio facilities, post-production and film and TV training. Funding will go to 68 projects selected from 175 applicants by two committees, one of which will be led by filmmaker Cedric Jimenez (“November,” “The Stronghold”). Projects selected include 11 studio facilities, 12 animation studios, six video game studios, five visual effects and post-production houses, and 34 training programs.
“We want to support the development of film facilities and training schools (…) because we really need new talent, and we also need to [be] more inclusive and more open to social diversity,” said Abdul-Malak, a French-Lebanese official who took over Roselyne Bachelot as culture minister in 2022. She pointed out that the goal was to double the number of talent working in the industry from 5,000 today to 10,000 by 2030.
Abdul-Malak said that film and TV productions have a “huge economic impact” because if you “make a film, if 1 million euros is spent on filming, it brings 7.6 euros of economic impact to the area around hotels, restaurants and local jobs.” That being said, the tax credit for international productions is not supposed to be increased beyond the current 30% through 2024 (and up to 40% if the film is VFX intensive), because then will it be reviewed by the French parliament.
Abdul-Malak also discussed current protests over the unpopular pension reform that raised the retirement age by two years from 62 to 64. The country has been rocked by protests and strikes over the past three months, and as many as 300 industry figures. , including Juliette Binoche and Laure Calamy, signed an open letter demanding the repeal of the reform. She said the union and industry should be more concerned about the rise of the far right, which has gained massive political ground, particularly within the senate, and threatens the country’s diverse cultural offerings.
“Whenever there is a crisis in France, you feel a lot of anger and fear being expressed… Everyone wants to defend their own interests and sometimes we lack a sense of collective consciousness. But I think the greatest danger is the far right,” she said, adding that the far right is currently “focusing on exhibitions, performances, event cancellation requests, and they suggest we should only support
promoting the history of France.”
She said quotas are still out of the question in France because the country does not allow ethnic statistics, but she argued that such rules are not crucial to bring about change.
“I think this debate about ethnic diversity is too narrow. I am of Arab descent. I am Lebanese. But I don’t want to be labeled Arab because I think our identities are much more diverse than that. In France, diversity is a social issue. It’s not just an ethnic issue,” she said.
Speaking about the window rules, which determine the order of rights to cinema films for exhibitors, paid and free-to-air TV channels and subscription services, the culture minister revealed that negotiations were reopened in October, just 10 months after they were extended.
“We have decided to reopen talks earlier than originally planned and we are still in this process as the government is more of a mediator between all parties. We have to keep our network of theaters because we have 2,000 theaters in France and French people are very attached to this network that has resisted quite well after the COVID time. But it’s also time to move the windows a bit,” Abdul-Malak said.
The minister pointed out that the two windows that will be shortened are the pay VOD window and the free channel VOD, which clashed with the SVOD and led Disney to pull back the theatrical release of “Strange World” last fall.
Abdul-Malak also explained her decision to extend the mandate of Dominique Boutonnat, the president of the National Film Board (CNC), even though he is currently charged with alleged assault and is on trial.
His trial hasn’t happened yet. The presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle of our democracy. I respect that right. I am not going to put myself in the place of the judicial system and make decisions when the trial has not yet taken place,” she said.
People in the industry have pointed to the irony of the CNC making it mandatory to undergo training to present sexual misconduct on set when the organization’s president is indicted, but Abdul-Malak presented these initiatives as part of Boutonnat’s state of employ.
“The CNC was the first public organization to take steps to combat sexist and sexual harassment and violence, as well as set bonuses for gender equality shoots. So we had no doubt that Dominique Boutonnat would pursue this mandate with determination.”