Isabelle Giordano presents on Monday in the program "It makes good" her new book "A French treasure".
The journalist, now at the head of a philanthropy foundation, celebrates French culture there, an economic sector of great importance which is also the symbolic power of France.
INTERVIEW
"Some people still have it in their heads that culture is useless, does not provide employment and is the business of acrobats."
It is against this erroneous vision that she deplores that Isabelle Giordano publishes
Le Trésor français
.
A book in which the journalist presents and explains the importance of French culture for our national economy and our image as a foreign power.
She presents it Monday at the microphone of Anne Roumanoff in the program
It feels good
.
>> Find all of Anne Roumanoff's shows from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Europe 1 in replay and podcast here
"Culture is as powerful as the automobile industry and the pharmaceutical industry. It pollutes less, it feels good and it brings people together", explains Isabelle Giordano, who recalls that the economic sector of culture employs 800,000 people in France .
"When a French actress travels abroad, she has real economic power"
And this culture allows France to shine abroad.
"I noticed how French DJs are really known abroad", rejoices the journalist.
"One day, I arrive in Italy and they only talk to me about Gims. He was number one on the charts for 4 weeks."
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"We must analyze why it works. On the one hand, we are sometimes more daring than others in our way of telling things," said Isabelle Giordano at the microphone of Europe 1, taking in particular the example of Isabelle Huppert .
“When she makes movies and she's on promo, she's a war machine. She does the after-sales job and she travels all the time. She's a soldier. She understood that was important. When an actress travels, the film can sell to five, six, or ten countries. It's a real economic power. "
A cultural richness that impresses abroad
But these are not the only reasons for the success of French culture, according to the journalist.
"It says that France has a speech. There is a way of talking about freedoms, and also a way of presenting diversity," she observes.
"The English and the Americans have no problem saying that there are blacks or Arabs. And they tell me that we have a very rich culture, that this richness is incredible."
"I am very proud to have a very French name: Giordano", she continues.
"Because France is multiple, and France is made up of Ramzi and Jean-Claude. That's what's important. And some find it hard to admit it."
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Why are cultural places essential?
"Elsewhere, culture is three little lines at the end of the newspaper"
The relationship of the French to culture surprises many elsewhere, even in Europe.
"When I talk to Hungarian or Czech journalists, people from Eastern Europe, they say to me 'But it's funny, in your country, you put the artists in the headlines'. They watched
Liberation
,
Le World
, all these newspapers which put Michel Houellebecq, Patrick Modiano or Isabelle Huppert in the front page. And they tell me that, at home, we do not talk about culture like that ", is surprised Isabelle Giordano.
"Culture is three little lines at the end of the newspaper."
For the journalist, France must now become aware of the symbolic and economic strength of its cultural sector. "In France, we have a passion for the films that come out, new books etc. But we are often not proud enough of everything we produce," she regrets.