“[W}e decided not to participate in the next edition of FIBD if a radical overhaul is not implemented in a timely manner,” the publishers’ statement said. “The festival should be rethought in depth, in its structure, its governance, strategy, project, and ambitions.”
And the characterization of this year’s Festival was also blunt. “The Festival has managed to discredit our profession in the eyes of the world,” the statement said.
The Festival started out rocky this year, with the 30 nominees for the Grand Prix d”Angouleme, the annual lifetime achievement award an entirely male group. This brought threats of a boycott by artists and writers, and the Festival ultimately changed the nomination process to allow voters to make nominations (see “Angouleme Opens Up Nomination Process”). Other problems enumerated in the publishers’ statement include declining attendance, a “disastrous” closing ceremony, and others.
The list of publishers signing on to the statement includes some of the largest in France, Casterman, Dargaud, Delcourt, Denoël, Fluide Glacial, Futuropolis, Gallimard, Glénat, Jungle, Le Lombard, Panini, Rue de Sèvres, Sarbacane, Soleil, Urban, and Vents d’Ouest; as well as alt publishers Anathème, Arbitraire, L’Association, Ça & Là, La Cafetière, La Cerise, La 5éme Couche, Cornélius, Éditions 2024, Frémok, Ici Même, Ion, L’Égouttoir, L’Employé du Moi, L’Œuf, Le Lézard Noir, Les Requins Marteaux, Les Rêveurs, Misma, Pré Carré, Radio As Paper, Super Loto, Vide Cocagne, Même Pas Mal, and, our favorite publisher name ever, The Hoochie Coochie.
The group called on the Minister of Culture to appoint a mediator carry out the reform.