French film professionals who signed a petition criticising Vincent Bolloré and his Canal+ group have expressed shock and anger after the pay-TV giant said it would no longer collaborate with them.
The signatories wrote an open letter, titled Zapper Bolloré (“Time to Switch Off Bolloré”), in Libération on May 11, just before the 79th Cannes Film Festival.
Around 600 actors, directors, producers and technicians accused the conservative billionaire of exerting growing control over the French cinema sector through his Vivendi and Canal+ group.
Signatories, including Juliette Binoche, Adèle Haenel, Swann Arlaud, Arthur Harari and others, raised concerns about Canal+’s acquisition of a 34 per cent stake in the UGC cinema chain, with an option to reach full ownership by 2028.
They described this as part of a “reactionary civilisational project”.
“By leaving French cinema in the hands of a far-right boss, we risk not only a standardisation of films, but a fascist takeover of the collective imagination,” they wrote in their letter.
On May 17, during Canal+’s annual producers’ lunch at Cannes, chairman and chief executive Maxime Saada responded.
He said he viewed the petition as “an injustice” towards Canal+ teams who defend the independence and diversity of the group’s choices.
Saada said: “As a result, I will no longer work, and I no longer wish that Canal works with the people who signed this petition.”
He added that he did not want to collaborate with those who had labelled Canal+ staff as “crypto-fascists”. He was reacting to comments by director Arthur Harari, one of the signatories, in an interview with Libération, Variety reported.
Canal+ is France’s largest private financier of domestic cinema. Under an accord reached with producers’ associations in March 2025, the group pledged €480 million over three years — €150 million in 2025, €160 million in 2026 and €170 million in 2027.
The Zapper Bolloré collective described Saada’s announcement as “intimidation tactics” that “confirm our fears”.
In response, they gathered more than 650 additional signatures within 24 hours, pushing the total above 1,200.
Many signatories and progressive media outlets have reacted with outrage, calling the decision a “blacklist” and an attack on artistic freedom.
Some industry voices have pointed out that a private company has the right to choose its partners, especially after being publicly attacked by people it has previously funded.
Vincent Bolloré, a conservative industrialist, controls a significant media portfolio through Vivendi and related entities.
This includes Canal+ and StudioCanal (a major European production and distribution group), the news channel CNews (often compared to Fox News for its opinion-driven format and focus on immigration, security and identity issues), Europe 1 radio, Le Journal du Dimanche, and stakes in publishing houses such as Hachette/Lagardère and Grasset.
France’s broader media sector remains dominated by a small number of billionaires.
While Bolloré’s outlets are seen as providing a counterweight on the right, most traditional public broadcasters (France Télévisions, Radio France) and major outlets like Le Monde (controlled by Xavier Niel) and others lean left or centre-left, creating an asymmetric landscape where progressive views have long held strong institutional influence.
Secret film recordings have shown French Socialist Party executives held discussions with prominent public service journalists regarding strategy for the 2027 national election and the municipal elections of 2026.
The recordings of apparent collusion caused an uproar in France,… pic.twitter.com/R4lTwKNXEZ
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 8, 2025
