Tel que prononcé par Alain Berset, Secrétaire Général du Conseil de l’Europe
President of Eurimages,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear colleagues,
It’s great to be back at the Cannes Film Festival — this time wearing a new hat as Secretary General of the Council of Europe. I’m especially excited to be at my very first Eurimages Reception! The last time I was here, I came to watch Godard’s The Image Book, mostly produced by Switzerland. It was a wild blend of politics, cinema, and philosophy — that’s what I liked about it.
Luckily, the Godard film I saw wasn’t Adieu au langage — Goodbye to Language. If it had been, I guess I would’ve had no choice but to keep silent tonight – and I don’t really like keeping silent.
We’re gathered here tonight at this beautiful Eurimages reception — an amazing setting, no doubt.
But at the same time, let’s be honest: the world around us feels like it’s falling apart.
Nothing seems to work the way it should. Just think of the war in Ukraine, the unbearable suffering and inhumanity in Gaza, and the staggering level of impunity — as António Guterres powerfully pointed out at another major event this year, the UN General Assembly in September.
Crisis after crisis. Disinformation. Hate speech. It makes you wonder: what are we, the Council of Europe, doing here in Cannes?
Well — this is exactly the right moment to remind ourselves that no society can move forward without reflecting on its own identity. And cinema? Cinema is one of the most powerful forms of that reflection — a major art that helps us see ourselves, and ask who we really are.
When the very foundations of our democracies are being tested,
When war has returned to Europe,
When hate speech and disinformation are spreading,
Culture helps us understand ourselves, challenge our thinking, and imagine something better.
And culture cannot be imposed.
It is built – day by day – through dialogue, understanding, and respect for difference.
Culture binds us together
It is our shared language.
The two Godard films I mentioned earlier both explore the deep connection between language and image. And that’s no coincidence.
At the heart of a shared identity lies a shared language — a way of naming things, of making sense of the world together.
The Image Book isn’t just about cinema, it’s about how we tell stories, how we see, how we speak, how we understand what’s real.
Societies are collective projects. They only work when we build meaning together. And films — just like societies — are collective works. They bring together voices, visions, perspectives. They show us what it means to live together, to feel, to disagree, and still keep searching for common ground.
That is why movies, series, documentaries are much more than entertainment.
They are powerful stories.
They reflect our societies.
This is also where the Council of Europe plays a key role. For decades, we have been taking concrete action to strengthen cultural ties between our member states, through:
The Eurimages fund,
The European Audiovisual Observatory,
And conventions on film co-production, cross-border television and the protection of audiovisual heritage.
These are all pillars that lay the foundations for a coherent European cultural space.
One based on human rights, diversity and freedom of expression – including artistic freedom.
And we are moving forward with a new instrument – a Convention on the co-production of audiovisual series. It will enable us to create together, across borders, European stories for the screens of tomorrow.
I also want to commend the rigorous work of our European Audiovisual Observatory. It sheds light on the media landscape with reliable data, an indispensable tool for public policies based on facts and transparency.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Culture —that’s really what it’s all about.
Why do we get up in the morning? Why do we work hard, try to eat healthy, aim for a good night’s sleep — even if, let’s be honest, in Cannes that’s pretty much impossible.
What really matters, in the end? It’s access to culture. To beauty. To that spark that lifts us above the everyday. That’s what gives meaning to everything else.
So thank you – for everything you do to make that possible.