Anti-Bolloré column: the president of the National Cinema Center says he “regrets” the reaction of the boss of Canal +

Gaëtan Bruel, boss of the CNC (National Center for Cinema and Animated Images) reacted this Monday morning on France Inter to the statements of Maxime Saada, president of the board of directors of Canal +. The latter affirmed on Sunday in Cannes that his group would no longer work with the approximately 600 professionals who signed an anti-Bolloré forum in the cinema.

“We can regret his reaction, which aggravates divisions instead of bringing people together,” lamented Gaëtan Bruel, adding that he had “a certain feeling of waste.” “In terms of freedom of expression, this raises questions. Because the right to criticism is part of this fundamental principle,” he pointed out.

However, he recalled that until now, Canal +, whose reference shareholder is Vincent Bolloré, has always supported “all filmmakers”, citing Dossier 137 or The Story of Souleymane. “The right to express one’s opinion is sovereign, as is the right to recall the facts. It is factually false to say that Canal would have given up supporting all the diversity of cinema,” he said, in reference to the forum, “I do not find myself in the facts that they denounce (…) and we must be careful with the prophecies “self-realizing,” he added.

« Une réponse à chaud »

Gaëtan Bruel also declares that he “finds it hard to believe” that Maxime Saada’s words were anything other than “a direct response”. He also underlines that the boss of Canal had, in his press release, “very strong words of defense of the CNC, which should reassure those who are worried about Canal’s positioning”.

Signed in particular by Juliette Binoche, Swann Arlaud and Adèle Haenel, the column denounces “the growing influence of the extreme right” in the cinema through the intermediary of the conservative billionaire, who is already the subject of a revolt in the edition conducted by some 200 authors published by Grasset. The forum was particularly alarmed by the desire to Canal + to seize the entire capital of UGC, the network of cinemas of which it acquired 34% in September and which it hopes to control in its entirety from 2028.

“I experienced this petition as an injustice to the Canal teams who are committed to defending the independence of Canal +, in all the diversity of its choices,” declared Maxime Saada on Sunday. “As a result, I will no longer work, I no longer want Canal to work with the people who signed this petition,” he said at a Cannes Film Festival event.