Posted on 12-5-2004
Fears for Cannes
by Jon Henley, May 11, 2004, The Guardian
Organisers and politicians were scrambling yesterday to head
off the
threat of the Cannes film festival being wrecked by protests
from
showbusiness workers.
Officials at the event, which runs from tomorrow until May 23
with a
guestlist that includes Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Michael
Moore,
insisted yesterday there was no risk of it being called off.
"There's no question of that," a festival director,
Veronique Cayla, told
French radio.
"Relations with the protesters are good. We respect their
desire to be
heard ... and they have told us that they want the screenings
and
appearances to take place in good conditions."
But five coaches packed with protesters, whose sit-ins and strikes
last
summer forced cancelled dozens of leading French arts events,
including
the Avignon and Aix-en-Provence theatre and opera festivals,
are due to
leave Paris for Cannes today.
"There'll be up to 600 of us there, and we are still very
angry," said one
protester, Jérome. "We demand at the very least
the opportunity to speak
during the opening ceremony, and a room to hold a daily press
conference."
Organisers are to meet protest leaders this morning - just as
Cannes
restaurant and bar owners, worried that any ugly protests will
adversely
affect business, stage a silent protest march in the town.
Unions for some 100,000 intermittents de spectacle - part-time
arts
performers and technicians ranging from actors, dancers, musicians
and
backstage workers to electricians, film editors and cameramen
- are still
unhappy at government-approved reforms to the welfare scheme
that ensures
a reasonable income while in between contracts.
The scheme is widely abused by arts companies, production houses
and TV
stations, and the number of claimants has more than doubled
over the past
decade. To help plug a €830m (£554m) deficit, professionals
who previously
had to work 507 hours over 12 months to qualify for benefits
are now
expected to work the same hours in 10 months.
Most of the French arts world, fearing for the survival of France's
cultural exception, back the protesters. Most French directors
showing
films at Cannes - including Raymond Depardon, Olivier Assayas,
Agnes Jaoui
and Tony Gatlif - signed an open letter on Sunday saying they
could not
make films without the unemployment scheme.
But the Cannes mayor, Bernard Brochant, has already said he
would take
"any measures needed" - including deploying 1,000
police - to ensure the
festival runs smoothly. "Cannes is a jewel of French culture
which must be
protected. It cannot be hampered or destroyed by protests of
any kind," he
told French radio.
The newly appointed culture minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres,
last
week announced a temporary fund of €20m to help the intermittents.
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