Is the Cannes Festival in danger? A group of workers calls for a strike

A French collective representing the interests of workers at French film festivals has called for a general strike “of all employees of the Cannes Film Festival and its parallel sections.”

The group of workers called “Sous les écrans la dèche” made this call in a public statement on Monday.

The workers’ claim at the Cannes Film Festival

The group has long raised the alarm about the precarious nature of film festival work, which typically involves short-term freelance contracts. But unlike other so-called middle workers in the entertainment industry, many festival workers are not covered by France’s unemployment insurance programmeaning they do not qualify to receive unemployment benefits between jobs or projects.

The Sous les écrans noted that the latest set of worker benefits reforms in France, which will come into force on July 1, will further tighten the rules for employees.

“These reforms are leaving festival workers in such precarious conditions that most of us will have to quit our jobs, thus jeopardizing the events we participate in,” the group said.

So far, the group said, the Cannes festival, the French Culture Ministry and the French film council, the CNC, have met workers’ concerns “with courteous consideration.” [pero] no concrete measures have been offered. That is why the upcoming opening of the Cannes festival leaves us with a bitter taste.”

A strike could disrupt the Cannes festival, which begins on May 14 and runs until May 25, as well as associated parallel sections, including Directors’ Fortnight, Critics’ Week and ACID Cannes. The 12-day event includes star-studded premieres of highly anticipated films such as Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga of George Miller, Megalopolis of Francis Ford Coppola and the western epic Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 of Kevin Costner.