BUENOS AIRES — Delivering a masterclass in Buenos Aires just days after the election victory of far-right libertarian Javier Milei on Nov. 18, Cannes Film Festival head Thierry Frémaux voiced his support for Argentina’s INCAA public sector film-TV agency, which Milei has promised to destroy.
Frémaux’s one and brief direct reference to the INCAA – which oversees Argentina’s crucial federal film funding, without which much of Argentine filmmaking would wither – came towards the end of a 90-minute masterclass entitled Cinema (of) Tomorrow.
“Cinema is not about to die, it’s about to live again,” Frémaux argued. “Cinema is in extraordinary good health. This year’s Cannes is said to have been one of the greatest in history and that’s due to the quality of the work of the artists, professionals and of reviewers,” he enthused.
Equally, he argued, the “new era of cinema” will see the “equal importance of going to the cinema as staying at home and catching a film on a streaming service.” Cinema theater viewership, however, will have “an added value” because of views voiced by spectators and reviews.”
“We have the talent, the force and energy to build cinema theater spectatorship and to not close the INCAA,” Frémaux said.
The mention of INCAA brought out the strongest applause of the night during the whole 90 minutes of Frémaux’s masterclass.
“I don’t want to talk about politics. I can’t. I don’t have the right to talk about what happens in another country, but I can talk about France,” Frémaux went on.
He then launched an impassioned paean for public sector support of culture and cinema in particular as state policy, without mentioning Milei in name, though the reference was very clear.
“We have to stop the idea that money from tax returns is going to finance artists who make boring films, which nobody sees. That’s a myth,” Frémaux said.
“Why does every country allocate public-sector coin to sustain industries?” Frémaux asked.
“Economists know it’s key to support national industries. Cinema, culture is a national industry, and there’s no shame in giving money to directors,” he continued reminding the audience that plans made in 1944 by a National Resistance Council to rebuild France including culture and cinema.
“The money needed to support a national cinema is nothing compared to the national budget, so it should be supported,” Frémaux added.
In his masterclass, part of Ventana Sur’s Cannes Film Week, the Cannes Film Festival head focused principally on streaming platforms and the future of theatrical attendance.
“We’re not enemies. It’s a moment of cohabitation between cinema theaters and streamers. This is not just a matter of cinema providing prestige and stars but it’s a way for streamers to promote their own platforms. Apple, for example, is not so established as Netflix here in Argentina at least. One way of reenforcing their brand is to screen Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” in theaters and then point out that it will be on Apple and was produced by Apple.”
In not only substance but also form, Frémaux’s masterclass served to create a connection between Cannes and its enormous soft power status in the world and Argentina and Argentine cinema.
Fremaux was interviewed in Spanish talking with the marked Porteño accent of Buenos Aires. He did so at a cinema theater owned by INCAA, Buenos Aires’ Gaumont Theater, at a Cannes Film Week, part of Ventana Sur, co-organized from 2009 by Cannes Festival and Marché du Film and INCAA.
He also showed a large knowledge of Argentine culture, quoting Argentina’s Jorge Luis Borges, arguably Latin America’s greatest writer, and comparing him to Quentin Tarantino: “Tarantino has the genius of creating personal works based on the history of his culture, Borges likewise. Tarantino is the Borges of cinema.”
Asked how he came to select Rodrigo Moreno’s “The Delinquents,” which played in Un Certain Regard to near universal acclaim, Frémaux’s riposte was that “We just have very good taste.” He also praised Argentina as the world champions of not only soccer but first-time directors.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Frémaux mentioned that he had exchanged texts on Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron after the death of former Lyon mayor Gerard Collomb. “We really just talk about cinema,” said Frémaux. He also talks with Martin Scorsese and spent time recalling how delighted he was at Apple agreeing to a Cannes world premiere for “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Weighing the total import of Frémaux’s masterclass, the idea of closing INCAA became not just an impact scattershot announcement on a campaign trail, but also a misunderstanding of how the modern world treats and should treat culture, including in Argentina where, after soccer, Argentine movies are one of the country’s greatest sources of international fame and respect. Closing INCAA is just not done.
In a conciliatory masterclass with regard to streamers, that message came across loud and clear.