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France’s New Culture Minister Rachida Dati Says Movies ‘Save Lives’ in First Address to Entertainment Industry Players
France's new culture minister, Rachida Dati, said she will strive to increase access to culture during her first address to the local industry.
Dati went off-script and delivered an unfiltered speech — starting with “I’m not asking you to love me, what I want is to convince you” — to a room full of film and TV players on Thursday evening during a ceremony honoring actor Melvil Poupaud, who received the French Cinema Award. Dati, who was appointed on Jan. 11 to succeed Rima Abdul Malak, has been seen as a potential threat to the industry’s unique model of “cultural exception,” where independent, diverse filmmaking is nurtured through subsidies along with other government-backed schemes. Past recipients of the French Cinema Award include actor Juliette Binoche, director Olivier Assayas and producers Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam, among others.
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