Cannes Film Festival: “When will there be a music prize? ” calls out Cécile Rap-Veber (Sacem)

“What would cinema be without music? “, questioned Cécile Rap-Veber, Monday, May 22, challenging the general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux, on stage. The CEO of Sacem spoke in introduction to the “Music Lesson” by Canadian composer Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, etc.), organized during the Cannes Film Festival.

“If you go to the cinema, you cut the soundtrack, the emotions are never the same. When will there be a music prize in Cannes, Thierry? “, she continued causing applause in the room. "It's a good attempt," joked Thierry Frémaux. “The intellectual property code in France explains that there are three authors in a film : the scriptwriter, the director and the composer. The law itself has recognized the importance of composers in a film, ” recalled Cécile Rap-Veber a little earlier to AFP.

"We are very sad that, in a country like ours, in a world-renowned festival, we have not yet managed to have music recognized in its rightful place ", she lamented, recalling that in the period after the war, the soundtrack was rewarded, before "it completely fell by the wayside". In support of this cause, composers of screen music climbed the steps of the Palais des Festivals on May 21.