Canal+ boss Maxime Saada sought to make clear his controversial feedback relating to signatories of a petition criticizing Vincent Bolloré’s rising affect over French media, insisting there could be “absolutely no question of hunting [them] down” whereas defending Canal+’s position as one of many French movie business’s largest monetary backers.
Talking at Canal+’s normal meeting on Wednesday, Saada stated his remarks made throughout the Cannes Movie Pageant had been distorted and pushed again in opposition to reviews suggesting the corporate was making a blacklist. It was Canal+ Group‘s second general assembly since being listed as a standalone banner, and splitting from its former parent company Vivendi, at the London stock exchange.
The controversy erupted after roughly 600 film professionals, including Juliette Binoche and Arthur Harari, signed a petition raising concerns over Canal+’s acquisition of a 34% stake in a number one French exhibition chain, UGC (with a possible transfer to full management by 2028); in addition to highlighted the broader focus of media energy tied to Bolloré’s empire and a rightward editorial shift throughout its retailers within the run as much as the 2027 presidential elections in France. Amplifying considerations over Bolloré’s ideological agenda is the presence of CNews, France’s equal to Fox Information, inside Canal+ Group. The banner was booed and whistled at Cannes screenings every time the Canal+ brand seems onscreen.
The backlash intensified after Saada stated at Cannes that Canal+ would not work with signatories of the petition, prompting accusations of blacklisting and threats of authorized motion from some syndicates (La The Human Rights League and CGT Spectacle). Following Saada’s feedback, the petition swelled to greater than 3,500 signatures, drawing international support from Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo and Ken Loach, amongst others.
Standing earlier than Canal+ Group shareholders right this moment, Saada sought to attenuate the dimensions of the conflict, noting that France’s movie business employs roughly 250,000 folks and arguing that solely “between one and two percent” had signed the petition. “Approximately 99% did not recognize themselves in a petition that attacked Canal+,” Saada stated.
Earlier this week, Cyrille Bolloré — who succeeded his father Vincent on the helm of the Bolloré Group in 2019 — additionally rejected accusations that the household was pursuing a political agenda, dismissing claims that the group was advancing a “neo-fascist” challenge as “a giant lie.”
Towards that backdrop, Saada used Canal+’s annual normal meeting to defend each the broadcaster’s fame and its longstanding position as robust backer of French cinema, whereas making clear that assaults in opposition to the corporate wouldn’t be ignored.
“We experienced this as a profound injustice,” Saada stated. “I have never spoken about a blacklist.”
“There is absolutely no question of hunting down technicians who signed the petition and refusing to finance films on which they work. That would be absurd. We have a basic conscience — we are not going to target people who depend on their work to earn a living. That was never the issue, and it never will be.”
Saada however acknowledged that filmmakers’ relationship with Canal+ would now issue into the corporate’s decision-making course of.
“I want to be transparent: I will add one new dimension to how we assess projects,” Saada stated. “The question will be: what regard do the people behind a project have for Canal+? Have they actively caused harm to Canal+?”
“If someone knocks on your door after calling you a fascist and asks you for money, you may choose not to give it,” he continued. “We will apply the same logic.”
The chief framed the controversy as an assault on Canal+ itself, reasonably than on Bolloré, whose household group stays Canal+’s reference shareholder with a 30.4% stake. Whereas he formally retired in 2022, it’s well-known that Bolloré (now 74) sometimes attends green-lighting committees at Canal+ Group, though his affect over selections has seldom been confirmed aside from the infamous case of François Ozon’s “By the Grace of God” which wasn’t purchased by the channel.
“When the words ‘fascist vision of the collective imagination’ are placed alongside the Canal+ name, it is the integrity and reputation of Canal+’s teams — and my own — that is being attacked,” Saada stated.
Saada additionally forcefully defended Canal+’s observe file in financing French cinema, arguing the corporate had performed an important position in sustaining the business during the last twenty years.
“For the ten years I have been directly in charge, we have supported approximately 100 films per year — around 1,000 films in total, at least half of which would not have been made without Canal+,” Saada stated.
“Our contractual obligations stand at approximately 100 million euros per year — but we have voluntarily committed to 160 million euros annually. This is not a matter of obligation; it is Canal+’s deliberate choice to support French and European cinema. We will continue to do so, in all its diversity,” he continued, citing movies comparable to Boris Lojkine’s “Souleymane’s Story” a few Guinean supply biker in Paris who’s looking for asylum, and Dominik Moll’s “Case 137” concerning the yellow vest protests in France. Below its newest three-year settlement, Canal+ pledged to speculate €480 million throughout three years till the top of 2027. The subsequent spherical of negotiations for a brand new pact between producers and Canal+ is believed to have already begun and might be impacted by the continuing battle.
Past addressing the controversy, Saada used the shareholders assembly to stipulate Canal+’s broader worldwide growth and content material technique, together with an announcement that StudioCanal and Working Title had secured rights to adapt “The Divorce,” the brand new novel by bestselling creator Freida McFadden, whose “The Housemaid” turned a worldwide hit. He additionally teased a slate that features a remake of “The Italian Job,” collection diversifications of “Army of Darkness,” “Le Cercle Rouge” and “Non-Stop,” in addition to a brand new live-action “Asterix” film that will likely be directed by Jonathan Cohen and produced by Hugo Selignac’s Chi-Fou-Mi Productions.
Saada additionally detailed Canal+’s plans following its acquisition of African pay-TV big MultiChoice, revealing an aggressive development technique geared toward lowering tools prices, increasing the corporate’s gross sales community and hiring 1,000 further gross sales workers throughout the continent, in addition to ramping up funding in African storytelling. The corporate is behind a pair of African movies that gained prizes at Cannes: Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s “Ben’imana” which turned the primary African movie to win the Caméra d’Or, and Rafiki Fariala’s “Congo Boy,” which gained a efficiency prize in Un Sure Regard for Bradely Fiomona.
