For AlloCiné, the candidates for the 2022 presidential election reveal their vision of Culture, their tastes in political fiction and their favorite films and series. Today, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, candidate for La France Insoumise (LFI).
Jean-Luc Mélenchon (La France Insoumise)
- melenchon2022.fr
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Shouldn’t Culture benefit from a sovereign ministry?
We conceive the public service of arts and culture as a constituent component of the ambitions of emancipation, human progress and the constitution of an active citizenship on a daily basis. The reality of the economies that make it up, between purely public fields, others non-profit and finally industrial sectors such as the cinema (although the cultural and creative industries benefit from special attention specific to the political will of the cultural exception that we defend and will apply with constancy) means that we are dealing here with a diversity of ecosystems, among which certain private actors have their place.
Nevertheless, we are part of this logic of a sovereign action in matters of arts and culture by giving back to the State and its agents the means to accomplish these ambitions mentioned and all the missions which are incumbent on it which cannot be subcontracted to private companies with purely lucrative objectives that are far removed from human progress, as is the case with the Culture Pass or the threats hanging over preventive archaeology.
This is why we will reinstate the public arts and culture service, starting by giving it, as well as all the players concerned, the means necessary to best accomplish their missions of general interest.
We will increase the budget devoted to arts and culture to 1% of GDP, which will lead to an increase of one third of the budget of the Ministry of Culture alone, but will also affect the credits allocated to culture in the other departments of the the State, grants from local authorities as well as the money allocated to the various national centres, books, music, video games which will be created, and of course cinema. Finally, we will also place cultural associations at the heart of this action, by reconnecting with the logic of long-term agreements.
Moreover, the arts and culture affect a much wider field than their ministry alone. It is therefore essential that public action in culture is articulated with other areas of government action, such as National Education or Higher Education and Research, but also the City, Rurality, Health and many others.
Is cinema necessarily a political art? What inspires you about the recovery that can be done around a work, such as “Bac Nord” recently?
Cinema can be many things. Very often considered as entertainment, it is also part of a political and social context and can position itself on social issues.
The film Bac Nord takes a political look – in particular through the images and narrative resources it uses – on the situation in working-class neighborhoods and, through its subject matter, raises a debate. Here the role of the police is treated but other films also raise the debate on other subjects that animate our society. The strength of cinema is to take a look at our own conditions and to open up discussion.
Do cinema and series have, among other things, the vocation, in your opinion, of helping to “move the lines” on societal issues (parity, diversity, etc.)?
Cinema, like all arts and culture, is essential because it allows us to define ourselves as human beings. It is a vector of emancipation and allows us to question our own existence. However, it also has a social impact and reflects the social issues we are experiencing.
Today studies show that the characters most present on our screens are men perceived as white, far from the realities of our society. For people who are discriminated against, their representation on screen very often reinforces racist or sexist stereotypes by confining them to reductive representations.
In order to change our representations, we will overhaul the CNC aid system and make funding conditional on compliance with social standards and the fight against discrimination. Parity and diversity will be as much on our screens as behind the camera.
Candidate… and spectator
If we had to give a film or series title to this campaign…
There is no point running
If you had to give a film or series title to your program…
Catch me if you can / Popular / The taste of others / Our most beautiful years / Most beautiful life
A replica of a film or series that inspires you…
“We don’t own anything on Earth, we’re just passing through”. (Out of Africa)
A movie/series character that inspires you…
Rocky Balboa. Everyone thinks he won’t last more than a round or two, but he defeats all predictions and stays up until the end of the fight.
For which President·e on the screen would you have voted?
The walker of the field of Mars 😉
The best political film?
Green Sun
The best political series?
Our steps open the way
Your first spectator memory?
The camera explores time
Your cult film?
blade runner
Your cult series?
Zorro
Your latest cinema/series crush?
Stand up women!
Film/series music to work on or think about?
Once Upon a Revolution
Note from the Editor of AlloCiné
On the occasion of the Presidential Election 2022AlloCiné gives the floor to the twelve candidates involved in the race for the Elysée, with the collaboration of Camille Marigaux, Culture, Politics and International journalist at France Culture and RFI.
The same questionnaire was submitted to all the people in the running. We will publish the answers of a candidate each day, according to the order determined by the official draw*. A thematic article, bringing together the responses and proposals of the various candidates on topics related to media chronology and piracy, will also be available on our site by April 8, 2022.
*Emmanuel Macron’s answers, in third position according to the draw of the Constitutional Council, did not reach us in time. They will be published as soon as they are received.
We remind you that you should be civil in the comments related to these publications. In the event of overflows and messages that do not comply with the charter, we will be obliged to close the comments. Thank you for understanding.
Don’t forget to vote on April 10 and 24.