We publish the English translation of the press release of Sauve qui peut le court métrage, an association that organizes the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. The concern and disbelief of our friends and colleagues in Clermont, and the entire community they represent, is ours as well.
Sauve qui peut (la vie) | Press release May 12, 2023
The Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, a professional, public, and popular event, France’s second largest film festival and one of the most important events dedicated to the new voices of cinema in the world, has just lost more than half of its funding for 2023 from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional council.
This decision affects first of all our organization, which, like our friends and colleagues working in culture, has just gone through an unprecedented crisis and holds a worrying financial deficit for 2022. These difficulties, and what they imply for the future of our event, have been communicated to our public supporters, including the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. We do not understand this decision, the reasons remain unclear, and we are unable to have a real dialogue with all our regional elected officials of reference.
This decision has an impact on an entire territory that benefits annually from more than 11 million euros in direct economic benefits thanks to the festival and its Short Film Market that attracts thousands of professionals from around the world. Dozens of hotels, restaurants, retailers, all the technical partners we work with, throughout the region, and dozens of people the festival hires each year.
This decision is about an audience and the citizens who make up that audience. A large audience (more than 160,000 admissions for the festival in 2023), mobilized, including children, middle school students, high school students, workers, executives, active or retired. An audience from the cities and the countryside. Our festival is an event for everyone, and always has been.
This decision threatens the entire short film ecosystem and more broadly the young creators and voices that our festival and Short Film Market have supported for over 45 years. It is a key event in the French, European and international film industry that is affected.
This decision adds to the uncertainty that still hangs over our local film commission, which was created more than 25 years ago by our organization and may even disappear.
This decision also affects other cultural actors in the territories, with significant funding cuts in recent months, especially friendly film festivals such as Plein la Bobine or the Grenoble outdoor short film festival. We are with you.
This decision puts us in a dangerous situation that could, in the short term, spell the end of the festival and our association.
We thank each and every one of you who has already expressed your support: directors, producers, professional groups, broadcasters, yesterday’s and today’s audiences. You are all essential to us. We call for the support and mobilization of everyone, the public, the industry, our private and public partners, the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’İmage Animée and the Ministry of Culture, to defend all that this decision threatens, for us and for others.
Sauve qui peut. Toujours.
Éric Roux, President,
and the team of Sauve qui peut le court métrage