Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Angoulême, france

French Politicians Squabble, Launch Mayoral Campaigns Over Angoulême

French politicians fight amongst themselves, and launch their own mayoral campaigns, over the cancellation of Angoulême Comic Art Festival

Mediapart published a deep-dive interview with industry insiders, hailing female creators as the radical political force driving change, saying "What they've accomplished is historic." Creators and readers have long criticised the festival's male-dominated power structures, and L'Humanité highlighted the double punishment faced by assault survivors in the industry, urging a "deconstruction of linguistic and structural violence." Le Canard Enchaîné, the French satirical weekly, ran a piece by cartoonist Lara depicting the festival as a crumbling, ink-stained empire, with 9eArt+ executives fleeing a sinking ship, and it went viral online

20 Minutes reported on 9eArt+'s finger-pointing at public funders, as Le Monde echoed international concern, noting this as the first non-pandemic cancellation for the show in its 51 years. LeCroix noted that publishers, now united via their union Syndicat National de l'Édition, floated 2027 as a reboot year, emphasising sustainability and inclusivity.

Outlets like Le Nouvel Obs and Les Echos dominated the discourse, framing the saga as a "gâchis immense" (immense waste), while social media buzzed with personal laments from creators mourning lost spotlights. Le Nouvel Obs exclusively unveiled the would-be 2026 prize shortlists, nominations now frozen in limbo by the annulment. The selection, drawn from over 3,000 submissions, spotlighted diverse voices, from graphic novels tackling climate exile to introspective memoirs, but without the festival's spotlight, their impact dims. And the Association pour le Développement de la Bande Dessinée à Angoulême (ADBDA), backed by the Ministry of Culture, is fast-tracking a tender for new organisers, potentially artist-led and decentralised.

However, it was the local paper, Charente Libre, which provided the most in-depth coverage of the Angouleme council meeting that followed the cancellation of one of the area's biggest tourist drives and revenue generators. And politicians were not happy. Mayor Xavier Bonnefont, being accused of sabotaging the show by the organisers, began with criticism of Delphine Groux, president of the FIBD Association that owns the show, and who re-upped the contract for the controversial 9e Art + company that ran the show, owned by Franck Bondoux. "The Association no longer has any legitimacy…  the president of the Association, Delphine Groux, with her manoeuvres, sabotaged the call for tenders by refusing qualified personalities… There was no transparency in the selection process. The Association, through its president, has made opacity its religion." And stating that "comics in Angoulême are not the association. Angoulême and the history of comics are written here…. I have written to the president so that the City and Greater Angoulême are no longer represented in the Association. For 2026, we are increasing the number of meetings, with all the energies that love comics and Angoulême." It is notable that other neighbouring towns have been pointing out that they love comics just as much.

Opposition politician Raphaël Manzanas blamed the city for missing opportunities to deal with the situation before the show's cancellation. "We have always just patched things up,  but now we are overwhelmed by opacity. You put the responsibility on one person. How many opportunities to fix things were missed by the city? We had legal constraints, but we failed to impose them. We warned you, you gave evasive answers."

Frédérique Cauvin-Doumic, member of another opposing party, Angoulême Collectif stated "Never again should we pay subsidies to partners who lack transparency" and called for "extremely clear agreements and that we we have the courage to denounce it when things go wrong" and backed by his fellow member Christophe Duhoux.

Another councillor, Vincent You, replied, "Everything we can do involves a certain amount of risk. The legal risk is a big one because Franck Bondoux holds rights to run the show that we do not. What will he do with it? I don't know, but he is making legal threats" Vincent You, Raphaël Manzanas, Christophe Duhoux and Frédérique Cauvin-Doumic are all up for election next year, and yesterday Vincent You announced that he would be standing for Mayor of Angouleme, saying, "The current crisis surrounding the International Comics Festival is not just another controversy, like every year. It is the symbol of something deeper: when a city stops choosing, it inevitably ends up being forced to endure."

But Mayor Xavier Bonnefont wasn't taking this lying down. "Do you think we're dummies? I denounced the contract in 2015 with much vigour when others gave up. I didn't take my foot off the gas afterwards. I saw the creation of the ADBDA (the Association for the Development of Comics in Angoulême). Nine years ago, we launched the first multi-year agreement of objectives, have added more since then, and I kept a short rein on things." Challenging Manzanas, he asked, "What do you know about who did what? The public partners, including the City, have been busy so that 9e Art + gives the brand back to the association… I was there and I remember it! We kept up the pressure, we obtained the Unesco label, we have given impetus to the creation of Cap BD… Do you think we didn't talk about it at the ADBDA?"

They then moved onto other matters… something the comic book art festival cannot do.

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