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Emmanuel Macron called for global initiatives to protect the future of cinema and he sounded the alarm about the threats to artistic expression posed by the endless scroll of social media platforms during his opening
speech at the Lumiere Summit on Monday.
The French president delivered heartfelt remarks that stressed the urgency of the need for action by a coalition of nations to ensure the viability of film.
“Movies and moving image undergoing radical changes that nobody can ignore,” Macron told the crowd gathered at the Fondation Maeght art museum in Saint Paul de Vence.
Macron stressed the importance of the many initiatives unveiled at the summit is nothing less than the preservation of culture and heritage for countries throughout the world.
“Our identities are stories,” Macron said, according to a translator. “It’s our ability to write stories who tell who we, are explain who we are, thrill people from different backgrounds.”
Macron was most animated when he outlined what he sees as the dangers of people consuming so many images that are designed to provoke an instant reaction — and the emotional rush of users clicking a “like” button or some equivalent affirmation from users.
Macron called it “the paradox of our environment. We’ve never watched more images. But we’re running the risk of not seeing anything,” he said. There’s a risk “that this constant flow will digest everything, gobble everything up capturing our attention.”
This is a challenge to artists and filmmakers because “it’s upturning creativity, the ability to find an audience and to think,” Macron said. He nodded to the buzz around the creator economy by stating flatly, “Our attention is an economic resource.”
More to come
