Why we did not write for Stockholm Film Festival this year

If you are lucky, you read my text about Oslo, 31 August in Stockholm Film Festival 2011 catalogue. Or perhaps Gunnar's text about Of Gods and Men in the 2010 catalogue. Or even our other texts about Film Socialism, Another Year, Le Havre or Tyrannosaur.
Let's face it : Gunnar and I wrote among the best texts of these catalogues two years in a row.

What for ?

In 2010, we got 2 "volunteer passports". Coming from France, it felt a bit awkward since we couldn't see half the films we had planned. Not even Sound of Noise in which we were credited.
In 2011, it got even worse. We didn't go to Stockholm and gave our 3 - THREE - vouchers to friends living in Sweden.

This year, the whole thing became a huge joke.

Stockholm Film Festival contacted us. We demanded to be granted to get seats during the day - i.e before 6pm - for the screenings we wanted to attend in exchange for our gorgeous texts. After some lousy negotiation, the deal looked this way : each of us would write about 10 films - TEN - and would get in exchange...

(dramatic pause)

5 vouchers - FIVE ! - as a reward/wage/joke.

5X110 sek = 550 sek for 10 excellent texts.

Yeah you counted right. It means we should spend less than 30 minutes for a minimum wage to make a research and write a text about films.

We thought they were joking. We were wrong. And so we decided that we wouldn't work for this rich international film festival that doesn't even grant seats for its editorializers.