Sixty-three years after its creation, Intervilles will make its return next summer for four evenings on France Télévisions. With Nagui at the presentation, but without the traditional cows. An idea welcomed by animal rights activists, but which raises eyebrows in the South-West. Several bullfighting towns, such as Bayonne, Dax and Mont-de-Marsan, have already announced that they will not participate.
« Intervilles without the cows, it’s not Intervilles”
« Intervilles without the cows, it’s not Intervilles,” declared Horizons mayor of Dax, Julien Dubois, according to whom it is “false” to say that these animals “would suffer during the game.” Julien Dubois had already welcomed, last week, the Senate’s decision not to ban bullfighting shows for under-16s. Nagui “will end up with a somewhat tasteless fair, it will be yet another game show without flavor, without emotion, without spectacle”, also estimated, Saturday on RMC, the mayor of Mont-de-Marsan, Charles Dayot.
A resident of Landes even launched a petition this weekend against the removal of cows, reports Southwest. In the text, he speaks of a “betrayal of the very roots of the program” which “distorts what made it unique”.
“Happier in nature”
“These bulls are much happier in nature, riding, than hearing screams and running after young firefighters who also risk being impaled,” retorts Nagui, according to whom the absence of cows was decided jointly with France Télévisions. “The idea,” he continues, “is to find the spirit of votive festivals, the spirit of fairs.” According to him, the “Intervilles” spirit is primarily due to the teams that face each other: “If you see a blue team against a red team who are trying to stay upright by sliding down a soapy slope and who are falling apart in a swimming pool, there you will say to yourself that it looks like Intervilles. » “It’s a debate which, for me, is organized by lobbies […]. They are so no longer in tune with the times,” snaps the presenter, himself a vegetarian and supporter of associations like L214, PETA or the SPA.
Another animal rights association, PAZ (Projet Animaux Zoopolis) welcomes “very good news concerning an emblematic show”.
What does the law say?
If a 2021 law prohibits the use of wild animals, such as snakes, in variety shows and games, nothing is planned for others, such as cows. Today, in advertising, in cinema, on TV, many animals are still used in filming, but the debate on their use is gradually emerging.
Some ask to guarantee better filming conditions, others are opposed in principle to any use of animals in this context. In June, a study by the ARA, a French directors’ union, called for “working differently”, recounting testimonies on animals locked in unsuitable cages, the use of tranquilizers, etc.
France Télévisions wants to limit the use of animals on film sets
For its part, France Télévisions will ask the producers with which it works to limit the use of animals on film as much as possible, by replacing them, for example, with computer-generated images. This is a first for a major audiovisual group. “As a public audiovisual service, we had a responsibility to act first,” explained France Télévisions cinema director Manuel Alduy, for whom animal protection remained until now in “a blind spot” of the sector.
If animals are still used, France Télévisions requests guarantees on filming conditions, to avoid any suffering or even a ban on anesthetizing them (to simulate death). It also asks for guarantees on the trainers employed, who must not have “been the subject of any conviction for animal abuse”.
The PAZ association (Projet Animaux Zoopolis), which had contacted all the major channels on this subject, welcomes the decision of France Télévisions. However, it regrets that the clause “remains only incentive” and wishes it to “become binding”, specified its manager, Amandine Sanvisens.
