Monaco: storm over Imagina

Historical partner, the INA (national institute for audiovisual) has retired. The Monte-Carlo television Festival will organize the meeting alone. But the 20th Imagina will not take place in January 2001.

A real storm burst over the Imagina Festival in Monaco, one of the most pleasant meetings of the French Riviera: the INA, one of the two organizers of the meeting with the Monte-Carlo television Festival, announced its retirement on July 25th.The relationships between the INA and Monaco had been already not so good for some months, while the meeting which was taking place both in Monaco and in Paris, had for its 2001 edition to take place only in the principality thanks to the opening of the Grimaldi Forum. Prince Albert had insisted last February during the 19th Imagina end on the fact that the 20th edition would take place entirely in Monaco.Why the retirementFrancis Beck, the Institute president explained why the INA retired from the great international meeting: 'Imagina activity, based on synthetic pictures, is now totally different from the INA real missions, he declared. Since 1981, date when Imagina was created, digital pictures became commonplace.'And Imagina is very expensive: 15 million francs a year for 6,750 visitors this year among whom only 500 people paid the entrance.'Now, the INA wants to 'focus on its essential mission which is to preserve and develop the audiovisual archives.Then the Institute proposed to the Monte-Carlo television Festival to take on 'the entire responsibility for the renewal of Imagina'.A new approach of Imagina is pendingDavid Tomatis, who is president of the Monacan institution wanted to be reassuring in what concerns the meeting future. Even if according to him it is too late in order to the 2001edition be planned for January, the festival will take place next year. But David Tomatis said some activities will have to be rearranged. Some people are thinking about that.The aim is to strive towards a balance in accounts (a 10 to 11 million franc deficit), by increasing the number of paid entrances thanks to the creation of a real market .Imagina also wants to become more international, preserve the innovating mind of the meeting with the 'innovation village' and take a more important part in the new economy by opening to new medias and to the Internet.The SCAM, partner of Imagina also worries. The association says that the partners were presented with a fait accompli and worries about the future of this 'exceptional window for the French and European digital creation'. What Imagina will become without the INA which was 'the catalyst of all the energies'.