On May 6, 2020, at the Elysée Palace, Emmanuel Macron announced the first measures planned to support the cultural community. - Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP

In a shirt sleeve and relieved of his jacket, Emmanuel Macron announced this Wednesday his first measures to support the cultural sector, strongly shaken by the collateral effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and partly "forgotten" of the planned progressive deconfinement plan for May 11.

"We must be able to reopen bookstores, museums without too many shuffles, record stores, art galleries," he said after a videoconference with a dozen artists. (filmmakers, writers, musicians…).

Rehearsals can resume in theaters

The theaters must be able to “start” to function and repeat, added the President of the Republic, by specifying that the question of the reception of the public would be the subject of a point “end of May, beginning of June” concerning the reception public.

A few moments later, on the steps of the Elysée Palace, the Minister of Culture Franck Riester returned to this subject. "The companies will be able to reinvest the places of culture for the administrative functions, to rehearse, to find themselves, to rethink in the future while respecting health safety standards," he described. We will ask ourselves at the end of May whether or not we can go further than the limit of 10 people for gatherings. "

How to protect artists in this difficult period? Follow live the announcements of the minister @FranckRiester after a meeting with the cultural actors chaired by @ EmmanuelMacron.https: //t.co/doui2Zzguj

- Élysée (@Elysee) May 6, 2020

The Minister of Culture immediately recalled that gatherings of 5,000 people could not be envisaged "before the end of August". A way of reminding that festivals are still not happening. Social distancing forces cinemas and concert halls to remain closed until further notice.

A compensation fund for filming

Emmanuel Macron also wanted to set up a compensation fund for series and film shoots which cannot be carried out due to the coronavirus crisis. He wants the sector, the State and the insurers to organize themselves for compensation “on a case-by-case basis”.

A few hours after this announcement, the Association of Communication Consulting Agencies (AACC) and the Alliance of Advertising Film Producers (APFP) announced that "the resumption of filming will sometimes be at the cost of adapting the scripts and always shooting conditions "and that the cost of these could increase" between 10% and 30% on average ".

Rights of intermittent workers extended by one year

The fate of intermittent performers is one of the main concerns of the world of culture in this troubled context. Emmanuel Macron argued that their rights "be extended for a year" beyond the six months when their activity has been "impossible or very degraded", that is to say "until the end of August 2021".

As a reminder, the intermittent workers scheme is a French specificity concerning 100,000 artists and technicians, a crucial workforce, compensated each year. To obtain unemployment insurance, they must have worked 507 hours over twelve months. However, with the cancellations of recent weeks and the lack of prospects, very few will be able to accumulate the necessary fees.

Artists facing schoolchildren?

Finally, the Head of State intends to launch "a large public commission program" aimed in particular at young artists, and called for a "learning and cultural summer" in which artists would have their place , especially in schools.

“We are going to need intermittents, artists everywhere in France, now. I need people who can do things, invent for young people, he argued. Let's use this period to make a revolution in access to culture and art. "Franck Riester announced that he would co-chair this Thursday with the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer the High Council for Arts and Cultural Education" to work on what could be a platform between National Education and artists so that they can reach out to students. "

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  • Cinema
  • Deconfinement
  • Intermittents from the show
  • Theater
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Coronavirus
  • Culture