Cannes Film Festival Responds To Threat Of Strike Action; Urges “Collective” Talks
The Cannes Film Festival has shared its first official statement in response to plans for a proposed strike during this year’s event by festival workers over pay.
In the statement shared with us today, the festival said it is “aware of the difficulties faced by some of their staff who, working on strings of contracts for film festivals, are affected by the reform of the French unemployment insurance scheme, and must grapple with a drop in their benefits.”
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The statement continued: “Faced with this situation, we hope that solutions will be found, and are prepared to set up lasting dialogue conditions to support them. Aware of the sounding board that the Cannes Festival and its parallel selections represent, we understand the timeliness of these demands. But in order to undertake a constructive reflection aimed at reforming the status of these workers, all the festivals concerned, the institutions, and the unions need to come together around the bargaining table. This is the work that must now be undertaken collectively”.
Protest group Collectif des précaires des festivals de cinéma (which translates to The Collective of Precarious Workers at Film Festivals) confirmed their plans to strike during this year’s Cannes Film Festival yesterday in an open letter sent to Deadline.
The collective includes up to 200 French film festival workers — a combination of Cannes workers, including those who work on the Official Selection, the festival’s Marché du Film, and parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week — and workers from other festivals across France. Potential strikers include festival projectionists, press officers, and admin staff. The group has yet to confirm how long or when their strike action will happen. But we understand they are consulting CGT Spectacle, the French Federation of Entertainment, Cinema, Audiovisual and Cultural Action Unions, on strategy.
The group’s strike action is the result of two central issues. They are first rallying against the pay packages they receive from their employers, which they say are inadequate and often do not account for arduous overtime hours frequently clocked due to the demands of their jobs.
The second bone of contention is France’s unique unemployment insurance program for entertainment workers and technicians. Known as Intermittence de Spectacle, the scheme supports entertainment workers on short-term contracts with an unemployment benefit when they are between jobs or projects. Due to unique regulations, many workers at French film festivals are excluded from the unemployment benefit. Instead, they are hired and handed flat short-term contracts. The collective is campaigning to now be included in the scheme citing the inherent seasonal nature of the work.
Cannes runs May 14—25.
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