Monaco: ideas for Imagina

After the withdrawal of its main partner, the National Institute of Audiovisual, the festival of virtual image is looking for solutions not to die.

What about Imagina? One thing is sure: after the withdrawal of the INA (national institute of audiovisual) which was announced at the end of July, this great Monegasque meeting about virtual pictures will not take place in January 2001 as planned. However, Monaco which bets a lot on that festival, is looking for solutions. One of them could be that the Monte-Carlo TV festival, already co-organizer with the INA, manage alone with Imagina. But, there is a problem, the trademark Imagina belongs to the INA and the rights' transfer price, estimated by PriceWaterhouseCoopers is high. 'We continue to discuss with the INA', the Monte-Carlo television festival secretary-general, David Tomatis declared recently.Other ideas appear. In the magazine Transfert, Kiron association, a group of cultural communication from Paris, has proposed to renew Imagina thanks to a different concept. According to Kiron, a festival organization is an obsolete concept. A giant show which takes place only once a year is out, Bernard Ollagnier, an association representative, said. And he proposed a new Imagina which would not be any longer a festival but a congress opened to Europe with shows in other towns of the Community.Why not, if the festival stays in Monaco, where it was born? The Principality invested a lot for this meeting during 20 years. While now, Monaco benefits from the Grimaldi Forum, the magic place which was missing, at the moment when Monaco develops congresses about new economy, it would be a pity if it was impossible to keep one of its leading meetings at home.All the French Riviera would lose something. With the Milia, MIPTV, MIPCOM, and other leading meetings dealing with communication and high technologies, Imagina, through 20 years contributed a lot to set up the new high tech picture of the French Riviera business tourism.