France: disputed, the management of the César academy resigns

Text by: RFI Follow

Thunderbolt Thursday February 13 with the "collective resignation" of the management of the Academy of Caesar, in the early evening. Criticized by the multiple nominations of the controversial filmmaker Roman Polanski and weakened by a tribune signed by 400 professionals and personalities of cinema, the management wants a "complete renewal".

Publicity

Two weeks before the 45th Cesar ceremony, the Oscars of French cinema, the decision taken on Thursday, February 13, caused a stir. At the beginning of the evening, the information fell: after several days of controversy, the management of the Caesar academy announced its " collective resignation ".

The academy announces a "complete renewal"

" To honor those who made cinema in 2019, to regain serenity and make the cinema festival a celebration, the board of directors of the Association for the Promotion of Cinema (Academy of Arts and Technology of Cinema) took the unanimous decision to resign, "announced in a press release Alain Terzian, president of the academy since 2003. The producer hopes that this resignation will allow" to proceed to the complete renewal of the management .

After the ceremony on February 28, a general assembly must be held to lead to the election of a new directorate. The academy specifies that, " under the aegis of the CNC (National Cinema Center) ", it will have to prepare " the modifications of the founding statutes of the Association for the Promotion of Cinema " and " implement the measures of modernization announced ”. The Academy of Caesar seems to have heard the sharp reproaches formulated at the beginning of the week.

The grandstand of 400 shook the institution

Monday, February 10, in the columns of the daily Le Monde , some 400 film personalities, including Jacques Audiard, Marina Foïs, Omar Sy, Leïla Bekhti, Yvan Attal or Bertrand Tavernier, published a forum to denounce the " dysfunctions " of the 'Academy, the " opacity of the accounts " and more generally claim a " reform in depth ".

4,700 professionals from the world of cinema make up the list of members of the Academy. A list which remains confidential, however. To integrate it, an applicant must have at least two sponsorships and have participated in at least three feature films in five years. " Why is the academy governed by a club of people co-opted or designated drop by drop?" », Wonder in particular the signatories of the tribune, themselves members but nevertheless limited because« voiceless in the chapter »according to their words. On Twitter, the Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, called on him for future management to " represent French cinema in all its aesthetics and diversity ".

The Academy of # César is an institution under private law which is not financed by public funds and which enjoys an independence which must be preserved. 1/4

Polanski still controversial

Another controversy marred the preparation of the ceremony which will reward the French films released in 2019. J'accuse , the film directed by Roman Polanski, was nominated 12 times on February 9 (as much as Les Misérables by Ladj Ly). The release of the work had already stirred debates in November, due to the multiple accusations of rape and sexual violence of which the filmmaker is the subject.

Several feminist associations and personalities have expressed their deep dissatisfaction with the treatment given to Roman Polanski , still considered a fugitive by the American justice system for having left the United States in 1978 while he was prosecuted in a case of sexual abuse on a minor. Other women have since accused the director of rape. The recent testimony of a new alleged victim, photographer Valentine Monnier, has rekindled the controversy. Associations called a rally against Roman Polanski the evening of the ceremony, outside the Salle Pleyel in Paris.

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Download the app

• France
• Cinema

On the same subject

Cinema: the Cesar Academy sinks a little deeper into the crisis

Cinema

The palpable uneasiness surrounding Roman Polanski, accused of rape