Buenos Aires, Argentina:

President Javier Millay’s “chainsaw” approach to budget cuts has not only caused deep financial pain for many Argentines but also threatens the country’s Oscar-winning cultural landscape, industry insiders say.
At home and abroad, actors, directors and musicians have accused the self-proclaimed “anarcho-capitalist” leader of showing contempt for their industry as he cuts funding and criticizes those who question him.

Mire himself said the government had to choose between “funding movies that no one sees” and “feeding the people.”

He denounced at least one artist who criticized him for cutting funding as a “parasite” who makes a living on taxpayers’ money at the expense of hungry children.

The cultural industry in Argentina, the birthplace of tango, has created approximately 300,000 formal jobs.

But under Milais, “they are dismantling everything to do with culture and especially cinema,” said the award-winning Argentinian actress who has starred in several films directed by Spain’s Pedro Almodovar Cecilia Rose said at a news conference in Mexico on Friday.

In addition to the loss of direct state support, the industry has also suffered as the average Argentinian has significantly less money to spend on luxuries such as movies or theater as disposable income shrinks and the poverty rate rises to 60%.

-“not much hope”-

Argentina’s Inca Film Institute has laid off 170 of its 645 employees in recent months, suspended overtime pay and will not accept any new projects for 90 days.

Incaa is funded primarily by ticket sales tax and 25% of the National Communications Agency’s revenue, and the agency co-finances dozens of films each year, including eight Oscar nominees and two winners: The Official Story and Secrets in Their Eyes “”.

“The panorama is getting darker every day,” Argentinian production and audiovisual director Paola Orlando told AFP.

“I’m thinking of leaving the country,” added the 31-year-old, who has 12 years of experience in the industry.

“not much hope.”

– ‘Strong prejudice’ –

Foreign director Almodóvar himself and Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki also expressed concerns.

Earlier this month, Belgian filmmaking brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, France’s Claire Denis and American Viggo Mortensen wrote an article arguing that the Argentinian film industry was “On the verge of collapse.”

Music and literature have also been affected by Milei’s cost-cutting measures, which include repealing a law that protects independent bookstores from undercutting by larger chains.

Martin Gremmelspacher, president of the Argentine Books Chamber of Commerce, said the actions showed that Millais and his government had a “strong bias against the cultural industry.”

Book sales in January and February were down 30% from the same period last year, he said.

-A “dangerous” future-

Luis Sanjurho, a professor of cultural policy at the University of Buenos Aires, said it was a mistake to think that the market could replace the state.

He told AFP that “no serious capitalist country in the world” has a state presence in cultural development.

Sanjurcho was the head of the now-defunct Arts and Cultural Industries Branch of the Ministry of Culture, which Milais abolished.

He said the ultra-liberal Mr Millay government appeared to have “a resentment” towards the industry amid a growing global culture war pitting people against each other over issues such as gay rights, abortion, religion, women’s rights and even political correctness.

Last week, renowned Argentinian concert pianist Martha Argerich published an open letter expressing regret over the government’s decision to halt funding for a scholarship bearing her name to needy artists.

Culture Minister Leonardo Cifeli later said the decision was only a temporary result of an “administrative transition” but did not say when funding would be restored.

“I myself received support from the Argentine government in my youth,” Argerich wrote.

“If the country doesn’t support culture and doesn’t contribute to culture, the future will be really dangerous.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)