On Wednesday, March 11, several artists and authors unions are organizing a gathering in Nice to alert, in their opinion, about the danger that a possible victory of Éric Ciotti would represent for the world of culture. They fear that subsidies may be cut or even that shows may be censored.
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In Nice, few artists speak freely on the subject. It must be said that many depend on subsidies from the city, led by Christian Estrosi, and from the Departmental Council, whose finance commission is chaired by Éric Ciotti. Difficult in these conditions to get involved without the risk of becoming a collateral victim of a fratricidal war between the two enemy brothers, former members of the UMP and The Republicans: one, Christian Estrosi, now vice-president of Horizons having joined Emmanuel Macron before asking him to resign; the other, Éric Ciotti, president of the UDR who joined the RN following the legislative elections of 2024.
But faced with the possible victory of the latter, candidate of a list of “far-right union” according to the official classification of the Ministry of the Interior validated by the Council of State, it is time for Jonathan Gensburger. Time to take a clear position, as he denounces “the guilty passivity of those who do not dare to take a stand because they do not know who will win. Some artists and cultural leaders commit themselves when the cause is distant or when there is no real risk.”
He did not wait for the ultimatum launched by the polls, all favorable to Éric Ciotti, to get involved. Former permanent actor at the National Theater of Nice before slamming the door denouncing what he considered the toxic management of his director Muriel Mayette-Holtz, close to Christian Estrosi, he joined the support committee of Mireille Damiano, the candidate of the VIVA!-LFI list. As a representative of the CGT-spectacle, he calls, along with other artists’ unions, for a large gathering against the far-right on Wednesday, March 11 in front of the city hall of Nice.
“It is indeed a huge, historic risk that the far-right seizes Nice, the fifth largest city in France. So, we were moved and we got out of our armchairs, we said to ourselves that we absolutely had to do something.”
What does he specifically fear in case of Éric Ciotti’s victory?
“They advance masked, but the policies that are carried out in the cities they govern are extremely dangerous for cultural, associative, and union environments.”
In the call to demonstrate, a non-exhaustive census lists the observed abuses in cities that have passed into the hands of the National Rally: in Hénin-Beaumont, the questioning of funding for the League of Human Rights and the Popular Relief, and “the takeover of the municipal theater which resulted in a profound modification of its programming to serve a shareholder reactionary battle”; in Fréjus, the closure of the last social center. Among others.
For Olivier Gueniffey, a cultural actor in Nice for 40 years, the place of culture in Nice is problematic, but the risk of history repeating itself is real in Nice.
“I am both a witness and an actor, having experienced a fairly delicate situation under the tenure of Master Peyrat with his military music festival: I was in charge of a theater with 700 seats. We have the experience and we fear that it will happen again.”
The former editorial secretary of the cultural free La Strada also mentions the era of Jacques Médecin, and the cultural collapse that Toulon, the neighboring city in Var, experienced during the term of Mayor FN Jean-Marie Le Chevallier.
“It is known that there is a resilience and resistance capacity here, but it is nevertheless very fragile because money is the lifeblood.”
Benoit Arnulf knows very well this very delicate equation of cultural subsidies. His queer film festival “In&Out” has depended on it for 18 years. State, region, departmental council, city: it is not uncommon for festivals or theater groups to receive cross-funding. His films are often shown in the theaters of the Jean-Paul Belmondo cinema in Nice, owned by the Department. But then why would Mayor Éric Ciotti fund only what Éric Ciotti, president of the Department’s finance commission, supports? Has he already encountered difficulties with this community? He remembers an attempt to deprogram a film, under the action of a departmental official. Benoit Arnulf resisted the pressure and won his case.
But he also notes the fear that has taken hold of the cultural sphere:
“It is quite difficult to have a citizen position when faced with people who can easily wipe out our actions.”
What worries him more is the discrepancy between what the far-right represents at the national level, and the apathy he observes at the local level, despite the political positions of some elected officials, especially those close to Philippe Vardon, a former member of the RN who went through Eric Zemmour’s movement before following Marion Maréchal-Le Pen.
“Our festival takes place every year in April. We follow the vote on subsidies in the annual budget: we are systematically attacked. These people do not know what we do, but by principle, LGBTQIA+ means wokiste, Islamo-leftist, and depravity.”
Benoit Arnulf does not expect cuts in subsidies the day after a possible victory of Éric Ciotti. He believes in a strategy of “demonization at least until 2027.”
An analysis shared by Jonathan Gensburger:
“The far-right is dangerous, it is deceitful(…). It won’t be on the morning of March 23 that theaters will close and subsidies will be cut. Things happen little by little (…) But yes, of course, it is not a fantasy, some plays that can be staged, others that may no longer be staged, subsidies directed towards this association that we know is sympathetic and other subsidies cut, to LGBTQIA+ associations, or to associations that help migrants(…) History repeats itself, unfortunately.”
And to conclude: “Let us wake up, it is not too late, on March 23, it will be too late. We will be, and I say this with all modesty and without boasting, thousands ready to resist.”
At the time we are finishing the writing of this article, Éric Ciotti has not responded to our requests for comments.
