The festival of Clermont-Ferrand sees its subsidy divided by 2!

Because we love this festival, because politicians nowadays have too much of a tendency to think that the cultural professions are not important or different from others, that they do not need to be supported by the State (anyone who works in culture knows that the reality on the ground is very different, the sector is in a state of disaster, competition is tough, many organizations and associations can only survive thanks to the dedication of many volunteers who would like to be able to live from their passion, Public funds, if not always well distributed, are essential to the survival of many events), we relay the letter of Eric Roux who openly criticizes the decision of Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Rhône Alpes Auvergne Region, to divide the subsidy granted to the International Short Film Festival of Clermont-Ferrand by 2.

Clermont-Ferrand, May 12 2023 The Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, a professional, public and popular event, the second French film festival in terms of number of spectators and one of the most important events dedicated to the new voices in cinema in the world, has just lost more than half of its 2023 funding from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional Council. This decision affects first and foremost our organisation, same as all our cultural friends and fellow, has just gone through an unprecedented crisis and we have a threatening financial deficit for 2022. These difficulties and what they implie for the future of our event have been communicated to our public funders, including the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region. We do not understand this decision, the motivations remaining unclear and without being able to have a real dialogue with all of our referring regional elected officials.This decision has an impact on an entire territory which benefits each year from more than 11 million euros in direct economic benefits thanks to the festival and its Short Film Market which attract thousands of professionals from all over the world. Dozens of hotels, restaurants, shopkeepers, all the technical partners with whom we work, throughout the regional territory, and dozens of people that the festival hires each year.This decision affects an audience and the citizens who compose it. A large audience (more than 160,000 entries for the festival in 2023), mobilized, including children, middle school students, high school students, workers, executives, active or retired. An audience from towns and countrysides. Our festival is an event for everyone, and always has been.This decision threatens the entire short film ecosystem and more broadly the young creators and voices that our festival and Short Film Market have been supporting for more than 45 years. It is a key event in the French, European and international film industry that is affected.This decision comes on top of the uncertainty that still weighs on our local film commission, created more than 25 years ago by our organisation and which could also disappear.This decision also affects other cultural actors in the territories, with significant cuts in funding in recent months, in particular film festivals friends such as Plein la Bobine or the outdoor short film festival in Grenoble. We are with you.This decision puts us in a dangerous situation which could, in the short term, sign the end of the festival and our association.We thank each of you who have already expressed your support: filmmakers, producers, professional groups, broadcasters, audiences of yesterday and today. You are all essential to us. We ask for  everyone’s support and mobilization, the public, the industry, our private and public partners, the French Cinema Center and the Ministry of Culture, to defend everything that this decision threatens, for us and for others. Sauve qui peut. Always.

Éric Roux,President, and the team of Sauve qui peut le court métrage