More than 600 figures from the French film industry have signed an open letter warning that the growing influence of billionaire media tycoon Vincent Bolloré over French cinema risks what they call a "fascist takeover of the collective imagination." The letter, published in the newspaper Libération to coincide with the opening of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, was signed by prominent names including actress and director Juliette Binoche, documentary photographer and filmmaker Raymond Depardon, and French-Iranian director Sepideh Farsi. The signatories argue that Bolloré's dominant position across the financing, production, and distribution of French films poses a fundamental threat to cultural independence.

At the heart of their concern is Bolloré's control of Canal+, a powerful television group that plays a major role in financing French cinema, and its subsidiary StudioCanal, Europe's leading film and television production and distribution company — whose credits include the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black and Paddington in Peru. The signatories are particularly alarmed by Canal+'s recent acquisition of a stake in UGC, the third-largest cinema chain in France, with full ownership expected by 2028. This would, they argue, give Bolloré control over "the entire fabrication chain of films from their financing to their distribution and their release on the big and small screen."

Bolloré has long been a controversial figure in French public life. His media empire includes the rolling news channel CNews — criticised by politicians on the left for platforming far-right voices — as well as the radio station Europe 1 and the Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. Last month, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a legal investigation into racist comments broadcast on CNews; the channel denied racism. The film industry's protest follows a similar revolt last month, when more than 100 writers quit the prestigious publishing house Grasset over Bolloré's control of its parent company, Hachette Livre, declaring they refused to be "hostages in an ideological war."

Bolloré has consistently rejected accusations of political interference. In a 2022 Senate hearing, he denied any ideological motivation, saying his media acquisitions were driven by business interests and a desire to promote French soft power. After the authors' revolt, he wrote in Le Journal du Dimanche that critics were "a tiny caste who think themselves above everyone else," and described himself as "a Christian democrat."

The letter's authors frame their alarm in the context of France's upcoming presidential election, with the far-right National Rally (RN) polling strongly. RN politicians have questioned the public funding model that underpins French cinema through the Centre National du Cinéma (CNC), a state agency that supports hundreds of films annually, and the party has signalled its intention to privatise the public broadcaster France Télévisions, another key financier of French film and drama. "We cannot say we didn't know," the letter warns. "Do we want to take the risk that tomorrow the only thing still being financed will be propaganda films that serve an ideology?" The film industry figures are calling on the broader sector to unite and build a movement in defence of creative independence.