The Angoulême saga continues to unfold: mayor Xavier Bonnefont faced a bruising meeting at the first town hall since the collapse of the International Comics Festival (FIBD) became official on Monday. Also, plans may be afoot to fill the festival’s now-vacant late January slot, Élise Bouché-Tran retells her story on social media (with some new info), and another former 9e Art+ employee opens up to the press.
Blame Game at the Town Hall
December 3 was the last session of the Angoulême municipal council before winter recess and the docket was stacked. While there were over sixty subject matters up for discussion, the loss of the Angoulême Comics Festival was absolutely top of the agenda. So pressing was this latter issue to the town that the meeting was extended last minute from 2 to 4 hours. Local newspaper Charente Libre was on hand to live blog proceedings but, unusually, journalists from French national press were also reportedly in attendance (probably not to hear about solar panels on local schools). The FIBD segment lasted 90 minutes.
Mayor Bonnefont began by launching into a scathing attack against Association FIBD and its president, Delphine Groux. According to Charente Libre’s coverage, Bonnefont said that the Association FIBD had lost its legitimacy as owner and custodian of such a vital local (and international) event. He particularly drew attention to the obfuscation committed by the Association during the process of selecting alternative candidates for the new operating contract.
“We fought for the Association to make a transparent choice. Despite our vigilance, the Association’s president, Delphine Groux, sabotaged the call for tenders with her manoeuvres. She refused to accept qualified candidates and refused to present the rankings and selection criteria. There was no transparency in the selection process, no transparency in the choice. The Association, through its president, made opacity its religion. She committed a wrong against the festival, against comic books, against Angoulême.”
While the lack of transparency and the disappearance of the agreed upon two independent jury members was already known, Bonnefont added a new detail: that Groux and the Association had allegedly committed to over 150 criteria for candidates, but a “sham jury” made its decision in just 90 minutes, a decision which critically included 9e Art+.
He then added:
“A path of transparency and respect for the rules was proposed. A completely different path was chosen…As mayor, I am deeply hurt because the image of our town has been damaged, because professionals have not been listened to, and because the people of Angoulême are angry that they cannot enjoy their festival. But we are fully mobilized, and comics in Angoulême are not just about the association. Angoulême and the history of comics are being written here. We are facing an exceptional situation. The city must take action. The association no longer has any legitimacy. I have written to the president to request that the City and Greater Angoulême no longer be represented by the Association.”
In the speech and on social media he vowed to back all initiatives to ensure a comics event takes place in Angoulême sometime in 2026. It is believed publishers are being formally invited to participate and that emails are circulating.
Bonnefont:
“For 2026, we are increasing the number of gatherings for all those who love comics and Angoulême.”
He also promised, as mayor, to work with the industry (publishers and creators) to build the future of the FIBD. Likely without the Association, and definitely without 9e Art+. There are also initiatives to possibly redirect public funds previously allocated for the festival to provide economic relief for businesses in the town.
Bonnefont was faced with some harsh criticism, however. Most notably for not paying sufficient attention to – or playing down – the mounting crisis that had been building since at least 2016. Many points were valid. There was also some indication that this could become a major campaign issue in the upcoming municipal elections in March 2026 – and where mayor Bonnefont (who has yet to officially confirm his participation) could lose.
Member of the opposition Christophe Duhoux, said: “You never fully recognized the value of the treasure you were entrusted with.”
Frédérique Cauvin-Doumic, another opposition member, said: “Never again should subsidies be paid to partners who lack transparency. Never again should we find ourselves in this situation of emergency and crisis.” She also demanded “…extremely clear agreements and for every deviation to be denounced, with the courage to say stop.”
Meanwhile opposition counseller Raphaël Manzanas rounded on Bonnefont for pinning the blame entirely on Association FIBD president Groux: “We have been patching things up for too long, and now we are overwhelmed by uncertainty. You are placing the responsibility on one person. How many opportunities has [the administration] missed?”
The brewing legal case between Franck Bondoux’s 9e Art+ and the public funders was also raised, with the mayor’s security and finance deputy Jean-Philippe Pousset stating:
“Everything we do will involve some degree of risk. The legal risk is significant because Franck Bondoux holds rights that we are not entitled to. What will he do with them? I have no idea. For now, he is making threats. Are we paralyzed? No. Should we take them seriously? Yes.
“…We’re here for the fight. Some say it’s too late, but we’re here, we’ll do it, and we’ll do it well.”
Under pressure from continuous accusations Bonnefont lost patience and listed his accomplishments with the festival since he took office. Mentioning his role in helping found the Association for the Development of Comics in Angoulême which gathered crucial stakeholders (public providers, local institutions, publishers, authors). He also claims to have played a role in the last contract the Association FIBD signed with 9e Art+, including setting a definite time period and objectives. He also mentions the achievement of getting Angoulême UNESCO heritage status and the town’s label as ‘Capitale de la BD’ [tr. ‘Capital of Comics’].
The Town Steps Up
Since Monday’s announcement of the official cancellation of the festival – and, in some cases, prior to – locals are developing their own programming to fill the void.
We previously mentioned that Future Off will take place in what would have been the same weekend, on a reduced schedule. The zine and small press fair is a solid treasure trove of DIY curios and risographed bounty. Tables will free due to the expectation of reduced footfall, and volunteers to help run the event are being sought. Future Off stepped forward last Friday. When contacted, they told us:
“We are maintaining our festival since it’s a fanzine fest and we’ve always been quite independent from the FIBD. We have been very much in favour of a boycott since day one…And of course our event will be in line with the political thinking that has been going around. We are organising talks and stuff. Our zine fest promotes local artists but we are not a comic book festival.”
Another fringe FIBD event that plans to go ahead is the Christian Comics Festival (le Festival de la bande dessinée chrétienne). Attracting around 1,000 visitors during the FIBD weekend, it plans to sustain its engagement – with the support of Angoulême’s religious authorities and the president of the Ecumenical Jury of Comics. Each year it sets up in the Catholic Church of Saint Martial, hosting small exhibitions, some signings, and a pop-up book store of work that promotes Christian values.
The independent bookstores of Angoulême are making plans too. Pascal Dulondel of the Cosmopolite bookstore, located inside the town’s Champ de Mars mall, did a lengthy post on social media. He describes the importance of the festival to the town as well as to the store, making it an “economic event”. During a normal FIBD year, the store would hold multiple signings and dédicace (personalised sketches in books) – with many authors set up across a long table to greet their public. It would draw queues of eager fans, both locals and visitors, and occasionally make it somewhat of a challenge for anyone else to enter the (large) store.
Dulondel said,
“[The Festival is] an unmissable event in Angoulême, which is renowned worldwide. Angoulême represents comic books with its painted walls, speech bubble-shaped addresses, art schools, training courses, and authors who are in residence all year round.
“The Cosmopolite bookstore strives to offer a wonderful alternative for all audiences. Signings, meetings, previews, exhibitions, music, graphic arts workshops… Our colleagues are doing the same, and we want to keep our comic book weekend.
“Join us, it will be our greatest encouragement.
“It will be at the end of January in Angoulême, the international capital of comics and nowhere else!”
Lilosimages, another independent bookstore in Angoulême located in the historic part of town, likewise has an ambitious plan to restore life to what would have normally been a bustling festival weekend. Co-manager Manon Picot told Mediapart that they want to create a “huge fringe event” with roundtables and talks taking place on topics such as feminism, sustainability, and decolonialisation in comics. “Our desire, as local players, is to celebrate comics with the means we have at our disposal”, she said.
It is likely public body Cité de la BD and its comics museum will have some ad hoc substitution in mind. It will have to navigate a small legal minefield as 9e Art+ considers it a rival and Franck Bondoux might seek any excuse to send in the lawyers. In normal years they would offer temporary, weekend-only exhibitions which are officially partnered with the festival. Any reuse of that work may be problematic so they will have to come up with something else.
Further Revelations from Élise Bouché-Tran
Also in the past few days, Élise Bouché-Tran – the former 9e Art+ employee who was allegedly dismissed after reporting a sexual assault during the 2024 event – took to social media to tell her story. While broadly covering the same ground as her prior interview with France 3, there were some additional details:
- Élise was initially not going to file a sexual assault complaint to the authorities because she thought it was pointless and would cause unnecessary trouble. She was convinced otherwise when she visited her occupational health doctor after the festival. They informed her of the level of negligence of her employer. No one at 9e Art+, no HR person, was there to escort her to a police station, or to a hospital for examination. “Your company didn’t protect you at all”, she recalls them saying. She mentions that GHB was likely used – which is hard to test for and prove.
- Élise had been working as a teacher after her firing but couldn’t afford to remain in Paris. She moved back in with her parents in Antibes. We estimate that since she currently has to travel from Antibes for her court hearings in Angoulême, the journey is around 11 hours by train (from South East to South West France). It requires at least one transfer and single one-way tickets cost around $100. Hence requiring crowdfunding assistance for transport, overnight hotel stays, and her legal fees.
- Since she had been working abroad her entire adult working life prior to working for the Angouleme Festival operator, she needed to have worked for an employer for a certain number of days to become eligible for state unemployment relief. Her dismissal from 9e Art+ came 11 days before that threshold.
- While she was kept anonymous in the Humanité piece, Franck Bondoux had outed her in a letter to publishers. As a result she was blacklisted from finding work in the industry. Her lawyer believes this incident is a clear case of moral damage.
Another former 9e Art+ employee speaks out
A former artistic director of the Angoulême FIBD operator 9e Art+ opened up to journalists. Marguerite Demoëte has around 17 years experience in the arts sector, having worked for publishers and teaching (she holds a PhD in the Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art). She joined 9e Art+ in June 2023 and lasted exactly two years before being fired in 2025. She told Mediapart about the experience, confirming previous reports of there being a toxic work environment, as she said to independent press site Mediapart: “[There was] a whole system of obfuscation, restrictions and secrecy, depriving employees of a proper work environment.”
Adding:
“It was a small team that worked long hours, where job insecurity and the law of the jungle reigned supreme. The 2025 edition was hell. All my proposals were rejected, they tried to impose things on me, and they hid a lot of other things from me. Franck Bondoux worked behind closed doors with his daughter, Johanna.”
She also admits mixed feelings about the cancellation of FIBD for the first time in its 52 year history, with the exception of the pandemic:
“On the one hand, I feel extremely attached to the event, but on the other, I could no longer condone the way things were going internally.”
À suivre
