Whilst the Cannes International Film Festival is making headlines in the arts world, French actors and directors are causing a stir with an open letter targeting conservative Catholic billionaire Vincent Bolloré, the main shareholder of the Canal+ channel, which traditionally supports French cinema through its funding. They accuse him of seeking to contribute to the ‘fascistisation’ of minds. The response was not long in coming. War has well and truly been declared.
600 film professionals have signed an open letter, published in the left-wing daily Libération, denouncing “the growing influence of the far right” on cinema through Bolloré. Given the dominant position of the billionaire, they denounce a risk of “fascist control over the collective imagination”.
All viewers of French films are familiar with that small, discreet yet indispensable note that appears on screen during the credits: “With the support of the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC, or National Centre for Cinematography) / With the participation of Canal+.” There is virtually no French production that has not, at one time or another, benefited from the valuable funding that guarantees what we, with a tremor in our voices, like to refer to as ‘the French cultural exception.’ This idea, dear to the intellectual Left, holds that cultural works cannot be regarded solely as commercial goods but also as elements of heritage, creativity, and cultural diversity. This implies mechanisms for investment and regulation of the distribution of French cinema in order to maintain a capacity for independent creation in the face of the high level of international concentration in the audiovisual industry. The idea that this machinery is under the influence of a conservative Catholic is unbearable to the small art world.
Among the signatories are many names that mean nothing to the man in the street. Second-rate actors rub shoulders with unknown technicians and producers. But there are also a few celebrities, such as the actress Juliette Binoche, known for her far-left views and her melodramatic performances when it comes to defending migrants.
These good people are concerned that the Canal+ group, of which Vincent Bolloré is the majority shareholder, “has acquired 34% of the capital of UGC, the third-largest network of French cinemas, with the prospect of acquiring 100% of the shares by 2028”. With this acquisition, Bolloré “will be in a position to control the entire film production chain, from financing to distribution on both the small and big screen.”
The idea that the Right is interested in culture strikes them as odd. It is true that this is unusual, and the Left has for too long fallen into the sad habit of holding a monopoly in the art world as well as in the media. These champions of progressivism find it perfectly natural—as, not so long ago, did media mogul Matthieu Pigasse—that the media outlets they own should exist to wage a political battle or that the films they produce or star in should be designed to ‘convey a message.’ But the fact that the opposing camp uses the same weapons is simply unbearable to them: Bolloré’s ‘civilisational project’ is seen as an attack on ‘independence’—that is to say, on the ideological uniformity of the Left. To them, it is completely acceptable to use a work of art to tell the viewer what to think, provided it is ideologically correct. The controversy surrounding the film dedicated to the memory of history teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by an Islamist, has just provided further evidence of the Zhdanovism inherent in the small French film industry. The message is seen as ‘disturbing’—i.e., not Islam-friendly—so the work is open to criticism and suspected of seeking to manipulate.
This public outburst has caused a stir. In this affair, as is his custom, Vincent Bolloré himself has remained discreet. He speaks rarely and sparingly and does not like to enter the fray in person. The task of responding fell to the director of Canal+, Maxime Saadé. Is the cream of the film world worried about Bolloré’s influence? ‘Never mind, Canal+ will no longer work with the signatories of the open letter,’ he announced. Giving money to artists so that they can despise you is enough, he explained, in essence. The role of a patron is not to be insulted by those he funds. Speaking from Cannes, he shared his anger: “I have no desire to work with people who call us crypto-fascists. I’m tired of explaining that Canal+ supports all forms of cinema, all diversity, that films like L’Histoire de Souleymane (Editor’s note: a film whose hero is a Guinean immigrant) would never have been made without Canal+.”
But such a response has only added fuel to the fire for these valiant champions of progressivism. If Saadé no longer wishes to fund us, they believe, it is because we are right to fear censorship. But they are a bit too quick to overlook the barrage of insults exchanged in the meantime, which undoubtedly explains the boomerang effect from a boss who would simply like people to stop spitting in his face.
Faced with the threat of the funding tap being turned off, the ‘Zapper Bolloré’ collective sought to make amends in a press release. Let’s be clear: “Our open letter has never singled out anyone but Bolloré, without implicating the Canal+ teams.” Of course. The director of the CNC, a partner of Canal+, has also sought to calm things down, defending Canal+, which, despite Bolloré’s involvement, has never ceased to support cinema in all its “diversity.”
Since the open letter was first published, the number of signatories has continued to rise. The ‘Zapper Bolloré’ collective is said to have reached 2,000 members, according to Libération. But does this constitute a grassroots movement? Some figures are misleading.
Originally, the concept of cultural exception was relatively popular in France. Its origins lie in the creation, in 1946, of the National Film Centre, which in the post-war period demonstrated the state’s support for French artistic production. But its militant and institutionalised character was the work of the Socialist president François Mitterrand and his culture minister, the now highly controversial Jack Lang. Eighty years later, the ‘cultural exception’ is seen as a system of cronyism and the distribution of public funds to further a progressive agenda and of films of mediocre quality from which the public is turning away en masse—something Bolloré has understood, just as he understood, with CNews, that public opinion was being swayed by the left-wing orthodoxy disseminated by the state media in the field of news.
At the same time, another opinion piece has taken centre stage in the media, again in the pages of Libération. This time, it calls for “uniting cultural resistance against the RN” and is signed by “1,000 artists and intellectuals”, including figures as diverse as Julia Cagé, who is the partner of economist Thomas Piketty, a close associate of La France Insoumise; the communist filmmaker Robert Guédiguian; and the historian Benjamin Stora. They call for “the creation of a coalition of artistic, cultural and scientific resistance to block the world that the far right is in the process of creating.” The old myth of anti-fascist intellectual resistance, born in France in 1934, certainly dies hard.
French Cinema Pushes Back Against So-Called Far-Right Grip
French screenwriter, film editor and actor Arthur Harari attends the press conference for the film “L’Inconnue” (The Unknown) at the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France on May 19, 2026.
Julie SEBADELHA / AFP
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Whilst the Cannes International Film Festival is making headlines in the arts world, French actors and directors are causing a stir with an open letter targeting conservative Catholic billionaire Vincent Bolloré, the main shareholder of the Canal+ channel, which traditionally supports French cinema through its funding. They accuse him of seeking to contribute to the ‘fascistisation’ of minds. The response was not long in coming. War has well and truly been declared.
600 film professionals have signed an open letter, published in the left-wing daily Libération, denouncing “the growing influence of the far right” on cinema through Bolloré. Given the dominant position of the billionaire, they denounce a risk of “fascist control over the collective imagination”.
All viewers of French films are familiar with that small, discreet yet indispensable note that appears on screen during the credits: “With the support of the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC, or National Centre for Cinematography) / With the participation of Canal+.” There is virtually no French production that has not, at one time or another, benefited from the valuable funding that guarantees what we, with a tremor in our voices, like to refer to as ‘the French cultural exception.’ This idea, dear to the intellectual Left, holds that cultural works cannot be regarded solely as commercial goods but also as elements of heritage, creativity, and cultural diversity. This implies mechanisms for investment and regulation of the distribution of French cinema in order to maintain a capacity for independent creation in the face of the high level of international concentration in the audiovisual industry. The idea that this machinery is under the influence of a conservative Catholic is unbearable to the small art world.
Among the signatories are many names that mean nothing to the man in the street. Second-rate actors rub shoulders with unknown technicians and producers. But there are also a few celebrities, such as the actress Juliette Binoche, known for her far-left views and her melodramatic performances when it comes to defending migrants.
These good people are concerned that the Canal+ group, of which Vincent Bolloré is the majority shareholder, “has acquired 34% of the capital of UGC, the third-largest network of French cinemas, with the prospect of acquiring 100% of the shares by 2028”. With this acquisition, Bolloré “will be in a position to control the entire film production chain, from financing to distribution on both the small and big screen.”
The idea that the Right is interested in culture strikes them as odd. It is true that this is unusual, and the Left has for too long fallen into the sad habit of holding a monopoly in the art world as well as in the media. These champions of progressivism find it perfectly natural—as, not so long ago, did media mogul Matthieu Pigasse—that the media outlets they own should exist to wage a political battle or that the films they produce or star in should be designed to ‘convey a message.’ But the fact that the opposing camp uses the same weapons is simply unbearable to them: Bolloré’s ‘civilisational project’ is seen as an attack on ‘independence’—that is to say, on the ideological uniformity of the Left. To them, it is completely acceptable to use a work of art to tell the viewer what to think, provided it is ideologically correct. The controversy surrounding the film dedicated to the memory of history teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by an Islamist, has just provided further evidence of the Zhdanovism inherent in the small French film industry. The message is seen as ‘disturbing’—i.e., not Islam-friendly—so the work is open to criticism and suspected of seeking to manipulate.
This public outburst has caused a stir. In this affair, as is his custom, Vincent Bolloré himself has remained discreet. He speaks rarely and sparingly and does not like to enter the fray in person. The task of responding fell to the director of Canal+, Maxime Saadé. Is the cream of the film world worried about Bolloré’s influence? ‘Never mind, Canal+ will no longer work with the signatories of the open letter,’ he announced. Giving money to artists so that they can despise you is enough, he explained, in essence. The role of a patron is not to be insulted by those he funds. Speaking from Cannes, he shared his anger: “I have no desire to work with people who call us crypto-fascists. I’m tired of explaining that Canal+ supports all forms of cinema, all diversity, that films like L’Histoire de Souleymane (Editor’s note: a film whose hero is a Guinean immigrant) would never have been made without Canal+.”
But such a response has only added fuel to the fire for these valiant champions of progressivism. If Saadé no longer wishes to fund us, they believe, it is because we are right to fear censorship. But they are a bit too quick to overlook the barrage of insults exchanged in the meantime, which undoubtedly explains the boomerang effect from a boss who would simply like people to stop spitting in his face.
Faced with the threat of the funding tap being turned off, the ‘Zapper Bolloré’ collective sought to make amends in a press release. Let’s be clear: “Our open letter has never singled out anyone but Bolloré, without implicating the Canal+ teams.” Of course. The director of the CNC, a partner of Canal+, has also sought to calm things down, defending Canal+, which, despite Bolloré’s involvement, has never ceased to support cinema in all its “diversity.”
Since the open letter was first published, the number of signatories has continued to rise. The ‘Zapper Bolloré’ collective is said to have reached 2,000 members, according to Libération. But does this constitute a grassroots movement? Some figures are misleading.
Originally, the concept of cultural exception was relatively popular in France. Its origins lie in the creation, in 1946, of the National Film Centre, which in the post-war period demonstrated the state’s support for French artistic production. But its militant and institutionalised character was the work of the Socialist president François Mitterrand and his culture minister, the now highly controversial Jack Lang. Eighty years later, the ‘cultural exception’ is seen as a system of cronyism and the distribution of public funds to further a progressive agenda and of films of mediocre quality from which the public is turning away en masse—something Bolloré has understood, just as he understood, with CNews, that public opinion was being swayed by the left-wing orthodoxy disseminated by the state media in the field of news.
At the same time, another opinion piece has taken centre stage in the media, again in the pages of Libération. This time, it calls for “uniting cultural resistance against the RN” and is signed by “1,000 artists and intellectuals”, including figures as diverse as Julia Cagé, who is the partner of economist Thomas Piketty, a close associate of La France Insoumise; the communist filmmaker Robert Guédiguian; and the historian Benjamin Stora. They call for “the creation of a coalition of artistic, cultural and scientific resistance to block the world that the far right is in the process of creating.” The old myth of anti-fascist intellectual resistance, born in France in 1934, certainly dies hard.
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