2 weeks ago
The gloves are off.
Maxime Saada, Canal+ Chair and CEO, has deed backmost astatine an unfastened missive launched connected nan opening nighttime of nan Cannes Film Festival sounding nan siren over tycoon Vincent Bolloré’s increasing power of nan French intermezo and media sectors.
The petition titled “Time To Switch-Off Bolloré” was signed by 600 cinema master including Juliette Binoche, Cannes 2026 Palme d’Or contenders Arthur Harari and Bertrand Mandico arsenic good arsenic board Yann Gonzalez, Sepideh Farsi and actors Adèle Haenel, Zita Hanrot, Samuel Kircher, Ariane Labed, Anna Mouglalis and Jean-Pascal Zadi.
It took purpose astatine nan Canal+ Group’s caller acquisition of a 34% liking successful French production, distribution and accumulation awesome UGC, pinch an action to bargain it outright by 2028. The missive warned it marked a caller measurement “in Vincent Bolloré’s description strategy”, suggesting it was portion of a larger task to “push right-wing, reactionary agenda” successful France.
Saada is reported to person addressed nan missive astatine nan Canal+ Group’s yearly producers’ luncheon connected Sunday connected nan fringes of nan Cannes Film Festival.
“I knowledgeable this petition arsenic an injustice towards nan Canal teams who are committed to defending nan independency of Canal+, and successful each nan diverseness of its choices. And arsenic a result, I will nary longer work, I nary longer wish Canal+ to activity pinch nan group who signed this petition,” Saada, was quoted by French newswire AFP arsenic good arsenic waste and acquisition insubstantial Le Film Français, arsenic having said successful a reside astatine nan lunch.
Bizarrely, Saada suggested nan signatories had labelled Canal+ “crypto-fascist” erstwhile this connection is obscurity to beryllium recovered successful nan unfastened letter. (Scroll down for afloat original matter of nan unfastened letter).
“If immoderate spell truthful acold arsenic to telephone Canal+ ‘crypto-fascist’, past I cannot work together to collaborate pinch them. That’s nan line. It is not acceptable that location is nary information for nan activity of our teams,” he said.
Last Tuesday’s petition comes amid increasing concerns wrong nan French media, publishing and intermezo world astir Vincent Bollore’s power connected nan French media and intermezo sectors via nan Bolloré Group.
Vincent Bolloré has been accused of being down a displacement to nan correct of nan Canal+ Group’s 24-hour news transmission CNews (formerly known arsenic i-Télé) and nan talk shows of transmission C8, successful nan aftermath of his taking power of genitor institution Vivendi successful 2014
Canal+ was listed connected nan London Stock Exchange successful 2024, but nan Bolloré Group retains astir 30% of nan banal making it nan group’s biggest shareholder.
There are akin concerns astatine nan publishing group Louis Hachette Groupe, created retired of nan fusion of Lagardère and Prisma Media, successful which nan Bolloré Group is besides nan biggest shareholder.
Vincent Bolloré is believed person had a manus successful nan assignment successful 2023 of far-right journalist Geoffroy Lejeune arsenic astatine Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, or JDD, arsenic its Lagardère Group group was successful nan process of being rolled into Vivendi.
More precocious location person been fireworks astatine publishing location Hachette Livre successful France , pursuing nan ousting successful April of Olivier Nora arsenic CEO of Grasset to beryllium replaced by Jean-Christophe Thiery, whose profession is tied to billionaire Bolloré Group laminitis Vincent Bolloré.
Nora’s abrupt firing, aft much than 25 years successful nan role, prompted nan departure of 130 of its apical authors, including Virginie Despentes, Frédéric Beigbeder, Bernard-Henri Lévy and Vanessa Springora, who accused Bolloré of attacking “editorial independency and imaginative freedom” successful an unfastened letter.
Bolloré responded pinch a missive successful nan JDD mocking suggestions he had been down Nora’s removal, but besides criticizing falling profits successful caller years, without acknowledging nan different headwinds presently facing nan publishing world. He said nan departed writers had made abstraction for newcomers.
“As for nan attacks concerning my ideology, I punctual you yet again, that I’m a Christian politician and that nan managers astatine Hachette will proceed to people who they want,” he concluded.
Bolloré’s detractors besides constituent to nan move to nan correct of different Lagardere publishing house, Fayard, since 2023, which has precocious published useful by Jordan Bardella, president of nan far-right National Rally party, and far-right leader and writer Eric Zemmour.
The “Time To Switch-Off Bolloré” unfastened missive received a mixed consequence from French journalists and movie professionals successful Cannes, pinch immoderate suggesting that for now location are nary signs of Canal+’s cinema activities heading successful a far-right aliases blimpish direction.
The time nan missive was published, its pan-European workplace limb Studiocanal announced nan presence of Singer-songwriter, character and trans authorities activistic FKA twigs for nan domiciled of Jazz Age prima and civilian authorities activistic Josephine Baker successful Maïmouna Doucouré’s biopic arsenic it launched income successful Cannes.
The Time To Switch-Off Bolloré missive acknowledged this truth but noted that nan signatories feared it could hap further down nan line.
“His plans spell beyond specified business deals: nan billionaire makes nary concealed of his “civilization project.” He is utilizing his tv channels specified arsenic CNews and his publishing houses to push his far-right, reactionary agenda,” it read.
“So far, his ideological violative connected movie contented has been discreet. However, we clasp nary illusions: this will not last. By controlling nan full financial chain, Bolloré has complete state to enactment erstwhile nan clip comes. We won’t beryllium capable to opportunity we didn’t spot it coming,” it continued.
“The complete dismantling of nan CNC is portion of nan National Rally’s program. Do we want to consequence a early successful which only propaganda films serving an ideology get funded?”
In nan backdrop, Canal+ remains 1 of France’s biggest cinema funders. In an accord agreed pinch nan main shaper associations successful March 2025, nan group pledged to €480m ($558m) for cinema complete 3 years, divided betwixt €150m (($174m) successful 2025, €160m ($186m) successful 2026 and €170m ($197m) successful 2027.
At Cannes, nan group supported 27 films successful Official Selection while Studiocanal is straight progressive successful 5 films successful nan action including Palme d’Or contender Another Day arsenic good arsenic Crescendo, Full Phil, Words of Love and Visitation.
Alongside nan unfastened missive nan Canal+ and Studiocanal logos was besides booed erstwhile they appeared connected nan large surface up of nan Full Phil world.
Saada’s threat to trim disconnected signatories of nan pact are improbable to thaw nan atmosphere.
Deadline was told by nan organisers of unfastened missive arsenic it went retired that while galore professionals agreed pinch its sentiments, location were galore who had declined to motion for fearfulness of reprisals. And since Saada’s words, 1 signatory who was prepared to talk to Deadline connected nan grounds connected nan business has not asked that they beryllium quoted anonymously.
The unfastened missive successful full
Time to move disconnected Bolloré!
In October 2025, nan group Canal+ acquired 34% of UGC, nan 3rd largest cinema concatenation successful France, pinch nan imaginable of acquiring 100% of its shares by 2028. This marks a caller measurement successful Vincent Bolloré’s description strategy.
Through Vivendi, Bolloré already controls nan Canal+ transmission and its subsidiaries, including StudioCanal, Europe’s number 1 movie accumulation company. By acquiring UGC’s 55 cinemas successful France and Belgium (including UGC Les Halles successful Paris, nan highest visited movie theatre successful Europe, pinch 2.5 cardinal admissions per year), Bolloré could summation power of nan full concatenation of production, from financing to distribution connected some mini and large screens.
His plans spell beyond specified business deals: nan billionaire makes nary concealed of his “civilizational project.” He is utilizing his tv channels specified arsenic CNews and his publishing houses to push his far-right, reactionary agenda. So far, his ideological violative connected movie contented has been discreet. However, we clasp nary illusions: this will not last. By controlling nan full financial chain, Bolloré has complete state to enactment erstwhile nan clip comes. We won’t beryllium capable to opportunity we didn’t spot it coming. The complete dismantling of nan CNC is portion of nan Rassemblement National (France’s biggest far-right party)’s program. Do we want to consequence a early successful which only propaganda films serving an ideology get funded?
The civilization warfare that everyone talks astir is not a specified conflict of ideas. By leaving French cinema successful nan hands of a far-right billionaire, we consequence not only a homogenization of films, but a fascist takeover of our corporate imagination.
We, producers, distributors, exhibitors, filmmakers, screenwriters, technicians, cinema workers, and supra each citizens, nary longer wish to stay spectators.
Today, for our projects arsenic overmuch arsenic our salaries, we each dangle to varying degrees connected Bolloré’s money and we want to break nan insidious soundlessness imposed connected our industry.
Together, let’s build a activity to take sides our independency and our state to create, distribute, and programme and subordinate nan ones who person started to do so.
Let’s stitchery against Bolloré taking power of UGC and against nan far-right’s ever increasing power complete our industry
Le Collectif Zapper Bolloré (“Switch disconnected Bolloré”) and much than 500 members of nan movie manufacture including
