France’s growing culture wars have its hit arthouse circuit after a right-wing mayor in the small town of Elne in southwest France rebaptized the municipal cinema theater, previously named after late radical anti-colonial director René Vautier.
Elne Mayor Steve Fortel said he was renaming the theater to “La Bobine Illibérienne” for the sake of “neutrality” and because cinema “should not be politicized”. The new name translates as “the Illibérien Reel” and references the fact inhabitants of Elne are called Illibériens or Illibériennes.
The removal of René Vautier’s name from the cinema has sparked anger in the town and France’s
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