The Truffaut Cinema and bureaucratic absurdity

Just over a week ago it became known that the provisional resolution of the tender for the management of Cinema Truffaut had been made and that the Girona Film Critics Collective had not won by a difference of 4,000 euros in relation to the company Rambla de l’Art de Cambrils. They are still in the allegations phase and, therefore, we must be cautious, but reaching this point is already a disaster.The Girona Film Critics Collective is a non-profit organization that for more than 25 years has been behind the Cinema Truffaut project and has made it grow, in a selfless and passionate, cinephile, popular, and demanding way at the same time; and not only that, but it has sustained it at times when the City Council has been less concerned. Truffaut is one of the few public cinemas that exist, with a declared public vocation based on auteur film releases, the recovery of classics, the demands of the social fabric, debate and reflection, Catalan cinematography, the presence of international figures, and alliances with cultural agents and initiatives in the territory. Its management has been impeccable, but now a company from Cambrils has been prioritized over this non-profit organization.In 2023 I wrote an article titled "For a fair play cultural", once I decided that when the contract for the direction of Bòlit, the contemporary art center of Girona, ended, I would not extend it for two years for reasons related to the management model. Then, I transferred that experience to some chapter of the book La servidumbre de los protocolos due to reasons related to the management model. Then, I transferred that experience to a chapter of the book

A fair play does not imply a fairer or more pertinent game. One of the articles that best captured the situation was by Jordi Serrano in El Punt Avui, where he highlighted that the City Council had made a political, technical, and bureaucratic error and called for the transition from tender to agreement. When I was in the City Council, they wanted to eliminate all agreements, possibly motivated by different public procurement laws or, simply, because it took between half a year and a year to achieve. In city councils, administrative protocols are changed, but no one fully clarifies the reasons. This ambiguity makes everything more executive – you cannot question what you ignore – but also more desperate. Behind the tenders are people who indicate technical specifications and administrative specifications, which establish juries and conditions according to needs that have consequences on citizen life and professional sectors. These requirements are not only economic; they also relate to the task to be performed, but the emphasis is placed on the economic offer, even if the order of priorities can be changed. Proposals are valued by staff who often have nothing to do with the cultural sector itself, as is the case with most tenders, and now even in director selection juries, as has been seen with that of the Barcelona Design Museum director. The unhealthy Calvinism of some administrations that want "immaculate files" has led to an absurdity that brings city councils closer to neoliberal policies – as Serrano also recalled – rather than to transparency and the elimination of fraud, which would be the legitimate official moral motivations for all these bureaucratic reforms. Thus, veteran companies or service entities and great professionals in the territory see years or decades of dedication taken away from them in the name of

does not imply a fairer or more relevant game. One of the articles that best captured the situation was Jordi Serrano's in Change the tender for an agreement? I wish. Undoubtedly, we must ensure a tender that is more coherent with the very meaning of the service. When a service like Cinema Truffaut works, it is more than that; it is a vital and essential center for the city's cultural ecosystem. These shortcomings reveal a deeper lack: the lack of clear and firm cultural policies, and the evidence of the subjugation of culture to the automatism of administrative protocols that everyone replicates without thinking about what city they are building. And now what? Perhaps it is time to understand that city councils must respond to cultural policies and evidence, and also listen to the people, and the people have already had their say, starting from the greatest evidence: these more than 25 years of shared experiences.