FIA is in mourning. It is a dark time, and our spirits are low. Catherine Almeras, a pioneer in trade union internationalism and in the fight to preserve and promote performers’ rights, is no more. She has not left us: she would never have done so. We were her family, and she was, in many ways, our sister. Even long after her “retirement”, motivated above all by her wish to make room for younger people, her ever lively and inquisitive mind kept her informed about everything she was passionate about, sharing her findings with our federation, alerting us to anything that could further refine our work – whether it concerned performers in France or anywhere else. For she was thirsty, Catherine: thirsty for justice, thirsty for equity and for the sharing of knowledge. Thirsty for everything that could have improved the conditions and rights of the performers she loved so much. This thirst led her to commit herself body and soul to the union struggle very early in her professional life, thus sacrificing a large part of her own artistic career.
A true defender of FIA, this little worker bee never stopped helping others around her. Unassuming by nature and always shunning the limelight, she was generous, attentive to every detail and never failed to speak out, frankly and unequivocally, when she felt it necessary. Within FIA, she worked tirelessly and with great insight to ensure that international action was firmly based on a consensus: in the face of often very different legal regimes and union traditions, she knew how to find the compromise that would allow our federation to unite and speak with one voice, as long as this did not encroach on the gains achieved for performers in France, of which she was always a fierce guarantor. Yet she remained modest and would no doubt have objected to being praised in any way. Even posthumously.
Catherine was a pillar of our federation, serving as Vice-President for several consecutive terms. She was proud of FIA, of our activism, of our origins and of our history, and she instigated a meticulous work of reconstruction to preserve it from oblivion, so that it could be an inspiration to future generations. A French citizen and a citizen of the world, she was particularly fond of Africa and Latin America, two continents where the commitment of performers has often courageously stood in the way of the worst dictatorships, helping to support democracy and the resistance of civil society. She often travelled there, both with FIA and on her own, to learn from the cultural diversity that abounded there and to offer her peers, with humility, all the advice and guidance she was capable of. She loved the French language and was tenaciously committed to learning other languages, knowing that this would not only give her a better appreciation of the world’s cultures but also a better understanding of the origins and nuances of the challenges faced by the artists she met along the way. It was this very diversity that she constantly encouraged within FIA, knowing that the international trade union struggle could only be nourished by these differences.
An amateur trapezist, Catherine also knew how to swing with ease and professionalism, moving from the Board of Directors of the Cannes Film Festival, where her union has been representing FIA for decades, to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, where several multilateral conventions have given vital protection to performers worldwide. To close this chapter, which was so dear to her heart, namely the ratification by the European Union of the 2012 Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, she would have gladly shared her best bottle of Bordeaux with "les copains": alas, she has taken her leave before it was done.
Whether it was about their social or intellectual property rights or their fundamental freedoms, Catherine never stopped advocating for artists to be able to live with dignity from their profession and be recognised as full-fledged workers. Within ADAMI, the SFA, "her" union, UNIFRANCE, the CNC, the Coalition for Cultural Diversity, and many other organisations, she has left her mark and contributed to building a more inclusive and equitable society. Within FIA, she has literally been a major driving force.
We will miss your slightly rebellious hair and your caustic wit, and it will be difficult to imagine a world without you. But you have left us your smile, your frankness… and the fruits of your tireless work. It is now up to us to make the best use of it and to follow in your footsteps to carry on your mission. Thank you, Catherine. Thank you, comrade.
