On Tuesday 24 January 2023 Serge Bromberg, former Creative Director of Annecy Worldwide Animation Competition and founding father of Lobster Movies was sentenced to a 5-year suspended jail sentence with 1 yr of home arrest beneath digital surveillance for his negligence in a nitrate movie hearth that resulted within the demise of two folks in August 2020.
Bromberg acknowledged that he was solely answerable for storing the outdated nitrate movie reels beneath an inhabited 8-story constructing in Vincennes, within the Val-de-Marne district on the outskirts of Paris. Storing such movie in a constructing that isn’t correctly refrigerated and insulated is prohibited.
Previous nitrate movie is notoriously inflammable. Fires involving nitrate movie are extraordinarily tough to extinguish and provides off extremely poisonous gasses. The fireplace occurred on the evening of 10 August 2020 within the midst of an excessive warmth wave. The air-con within the storage room was turned off because of complaints from neighbors in regards to the noise. The area was not outfitted with a hearth alarm and a firewall disintegrated quickly after the hearth broke out. August is the vacation season in France, so the house constructing was comparatively empty or there would have been many extra fatalities.
Lobster Movie, based by Bromberg in 1985, specializes within the restoration and distribution of classic movie. The prosecution contended that as an skilled movie restorer, Serge was properly conscious of the hazard of fireside with nitrate movie.
Totally acknowledging his duty for the hearth Serge testified that . . . “I’m the only particular person answerable for this drama. It’s my fault and completely my fault. I’m unforgivable and I hardly dare make an apology”.
The decide discovered Bromberg responsible of manslaughter, involuntary harm, endangerment of others, and involuntary destruction of property by hearth.
The sentence of 5 years in jail with a suspended sentence of 4 years with 1 one yr of home arrest and a advantageous of 150,000 Euros for Lobster Movies exceeded the prosecution’s request of 4 years suspended jail time period with 1 yr of home arrest and a 150,000 Euro advantageous by 1 yr. Bromberg’s lawyer, Emmanuel Mercinier acknowledged that they’re contemplating interesting the sentence which he described as “removed from lenient”.
