French comics festival pulls plug on author over incest row

Organisers of France's Angoulême comics festival have said they are cancelling an exhibition dedicated to a popular French author criticised for depicting incest and sexualising children, after he reported receiving threats of violence. 

Author Bastien Vivès © JOEL SAGET

On Wednesday, the Angoulême International Comics Festival said it was "not possible" to go ahead with an appearance by Bastien Vivès that "could pose such risks to an author and, potentially ... to festival-goers", adding that staff had also faced "intimidation".

Vivès, 38, has long been seen as a star of France's much-loved graphic novel scene and was due to be honoured with an exhibition at the festival – one of the world's leading comics events – in January.

But there have been protests and a petition opposing his inclusion, and Vivès said he had received death threats online.

💭 Le Festival international de la BD 'Angoulême est chamboulé par l'affaire Bastien Vivès. Nicolas Poincaré dresse le portrait de ce dessinateur assez méconnu du grand public jusque-là. #ApollineMatin pic.twitter.com/RSWUtr6EpJ

— RMC (@RMCInfo) December 15, 2022

Accusations

The author found success with a variety of work over recent years, including pornographic comics with underage characters.

The childhood romance "A Sister", is about a 13-year-old boy who has sex while on vacation by the sea with a 16-year-old girl, while a young woman's sexual awakening is depicted in "The Blouse".

But other works – most notably "Petit Paul" about a 10-year-old with oversized genitals – led to accusations that he was promoting paedophilia, despite its absurdist style.

"Petit Paul" was pulled from bookstores after an uproar in 2018, while other work has been criticised for normalising incest – a controversial issue in France after some high-profile scandals.

• French incest commission says accusations against fathers 'not taken seriously'
• Sex with under-15s constitutes rape under new French legislation

Provocation

Vivès's reputation has not been helped by previous comments that smack of deliberate provocation. 

"Incest excites me to death," he told Madmoizelle magazine in 2017. He has also been criticised for comments made online under a pseudonym attacking a woman cartoonist.

He has denied claims that the pornographic elements in his work relate to his own desires.

"If it has to be said again, I'll say it again: No, I'm not a paedophile and, no, it is not my fantasy. If you want to read my works honestly, you will easily realise that," he told daily Le Parisien this week.

Tuesday evening, the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak told Le Parisien, that "certain remarks" in the past by Vivès were "not acceptable".

Despite the cancellation, the festival defended the author, saying it "considers that the work of Bastien Vivès, as a whole, falls within the scope of freedom of expression and that it is up to the law to draw the boundaries in this area and the judiciary to enforce them".

(with wires)