Cannes Film Festival under threat as workers call for strike
With just days remaining until the commencement of the 77th Cannes Film Festival, a looming pay dispute threatens to disrupt the event. Around 200 French film festival employees, collectively known as the Collective of Precarious Workers at Film Festivals, have signaled their intent to go on strike. This information was revealed in an open letter published by Deadline and includes workers from various sectors of the festival.
All employees of Cannes Film Festival, its sidebars included
The collective—which includes employees from the Official Selection, the festival's Marché du Film, and parallel sections of Directors' Fortnight and Critics' Week, as well as workers from other festivals throughout France—have voiced their concerns. In their letter, they stated: "In a context of extreme vulnerability and absolute emergency to protect our work...we call for a strike of all employees of the Cannes Film Festival and its sidebars." The specifics regarding the strike's duration or start date remain unconfirmed.
Strike driven by pay and unemployment benefit issues
The impending strike is primarily driven by two main grievances. The first issue is related to pay. Workers argue that their compensation does not adequately reflect the overtime hours they often work due to job demands. The second issue pertains to France's unique unemployment insurance program for entertainment workers and technicians known as Intermittence de Spectacle, from which many film festival workers are excluded.
Collective advocates for inclusion in unemployment benefit scheme
The collective is now advocating for inclusion in the Intermittence de Spectacle unemployment benefit scheme due to the seasonal nature of their work. "We demand that the organizations which employ us be affiliated to a collective agreement allowing us to be hired under the status of intermittent show business workers and that our positions be integrated into the unemployment benefit system," they stated in their open letter.
Cannes is scheduled to take place from May 14-25
Due to the above reasons, a potential strike could disrupt the Cannes Festival, scheduled from May 14 to May 25, as well as associated sidebars like Directors' Fortnight, Critics' Week, and L'ACID Cannes. The 12-day event features highly anticipated film premieres, including George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, and Kevin Costner's Western epic Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1.
