Buenos Aires, Argentina:
President Javier Milei’s “chainsaw” approach to budget cuts has not only caused deep financial problems for many Argentines, but is also threatening the country’s Oscar-winning cultural scene, industry players say.
At home and abroad, actors, directors and musicians accuse the self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” leader of showing disdain for his industry while cutting funding and criticizing those who question him.
Milei himself said that the government must choose between “financing films that no one watches” and “feeding people”.
He denounced at least one artist who criticized his funding cuts as a “parasite” living off taxpayers’ money at the expense of starving children.
The cultural industry in Argentina, the birthplace of tango, is responsible for around 300 thousand formal jobs.
But under Milei’s command, “they are dismantling everything related to culture in general and cinema in particular,” said award-winning Argentine actress Cecilia Roth, who starred in several films by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, at a press conference in Mexico on Friday. fair.
In addition to losses in direct state support, the industry is also suffering from the fact that the average Argentine has much less money to spend on luxuries like films or plays, as disposable income has decreased and poverty levels have increased. to 60 percent.
– ‘Little hope’ –
Argentine film institute Incaa has fired 170 of its 645 employees in recent months, suspended overtime payments and is not accepting new projects for a period of 90 days.
Incaa is financed mainly by taxes on ticket sales and 25% of revenues from the National Communications Agency, which co-finances dozens of films every year, including eight Oscar nominees and two winners: “The Official History” and “The Secret in your eyes.” .”
“Every day the outlook gets darker,” Argentine production and audiovisual director Paula Orlando told AFP.
“I’m thinking about leaving the country,” added the 31-year-old, who has 12 years of experience in the sector.
“There is little hope.”
– ‘Strong prejudice’ –
Voices of concern were also raised abroad, from directors such as Almodóvar himself and Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki.
Earlier this month, Belgian filmmaker brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Frenchwoman Claire Denis and American Viggo Mortensen wrote an article in which they stated that the Argentine film industry was “at its limit.”
Music and literature also suffered the effects of Milei’s cost-cutting measures, including the repeal of a law that protected independent bookstores from being harmed by large chains.
Such actions show that Milei and his government carry “a strong prejudice against cultural industries”, according to Martin Gremmelspacher, president of the Argentine Book Chamber.
Book sales, he said, were down 30% in January and February from a year earlier.
– ‘Dangerous’ future –
Luis Sanjurjo, professor of cultural policies at the University of Buenos Aires, said it was wrong to think that “the market can replace the State”.
“In no serious capitalist country in the world is there an absence of the State” in the development of culture, he told AFP.
Sanjurjo previously headed a subdivision of the arts and culture industry in the now-defunct culture ministry, dismantled by Milei.
He said it appeared that Milei’s ultra-liberal government was “bitter” with the industry amid the global culture wars that increasingly pit people against each other on issues such as gay rights, abortion, religion, of women and even political correctness.
Last week, renowned Argentine pianist Martha Argerich published an open letter lamenting the government’s decision to stop granting grants to impoverished artists under a scholarship named after her.
Culture Minister Leonardo Cifelli later said the decision was only the temporary result of an “administrative transition”, without saying when the subsidies would resume.
“I myself received support from the Argentine state when I was young,” wrote Argerich.
“If the State does not support and contribute to culture, the future will be really dangerous.”
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