Cédric Klapisch, Robert Guédiguian or Romane Bohringer. The text was signed by hundreds of personalities from the world of cinema. They called on the LR president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region Laurent Wauquiez to come back to a reduction in subsidy to the Clermont-Ferrand short film festival, in an open letter published on Tuesday. A petition was also launched.
Financial aid from the region to the association “Sauve qui peut le court mètre” which organizes the international festival of Clermont-Ferrand (one of the most important in the world – has been reduced from 210,000 euros to 100,000 euros) on a total budget of 3.2 million euros – in a vote in the standing committee last week.
A disengagement that “endangers” the festival
“This disengagement jeopardizes, in the short term, the festival and its short film market, the year-round actions carried out towards all audiences and of course the jobs linked to it”, says this letter written by the president of the Eric Roux festival and published on the daily website Release.
The cup “comes after the festival has been held. We have no leeway to implement savings commensurate with the financial loss and the costs already incurred,” the signatories emphasize.
Discrepancy between words and actions
“Mr. President, you wrote […] be particularly attached to the festival which is an immense source of pride for the Region […] a magnificent vector of transmission. The discrepancy between words and actions is obvious, ”recalls the text.
The cultural policy of the former president of the Republicans and his budget cuts have been strongly criticized in recent weeks by the cultural and political world. At the beginning of May, former Ministers of Culture had signed a platform in The world after the decision of the region to withdraw its subsidy to the TNG, national dramatic center of Lyon.