Cannes Film Festival General Delegate Thierry Frémaux refused to comment on the omission of the new Woody Allen film, defended the presence of Johnny Depp, and ripped into French actor Adele Haenal for having described Cannes as a “festival of rapists”. It’s an annual ritual for the General Delegate to meet the press the afternoon before the start of one of the biggest celebrations of cinema in the world. The interaction was expectedly fiery, finding Frémaux defensive and aggressive, by turn.
Haenal, who was herself at Cannes in 2019, with her Celine Sciamma film Portrait of a Lady on Fire, had declared in an open letter published in Telerama a few days ago that she was quitting from films. The reason she cited was the complacency of the French film industry, including Cannes, on the alleged sexual predators like Gerard Depardieu, Roman Polanski and Dominique Boutonnat, president of the country’s National Film Board (CNC).
Frémaux wondered why people would be returning to Cannes year after year, listening to him and complaining about not being able to book tickets if the festival was celebrating rapists. “She [Haenal] is very radical but it’s an erroneous comment. She didn’t think that when she came to Cannes unless she was suffering from some crazy dissonance,” he said.
When asked if the Allen film was dropped for reasons of quality or due to the controversies surrounding the filmmaker, Frémaux skirted the issue by pointing out that he wouldn’t be taking questions on the films that were not part of the official selection.
Depp, who has been in an acrimonious and much-publicised legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, is the lead actor of the opening film, Maiwenn’s Jeanne du Barry. Frémaux said he was all for freedom of thinking and of speech and doing things within a legal framework. They are abiding by the law since the actor has been cleared of the charges. “If Johnny Depp had been banned from acting in a film, or the film was banned we wouldn’t be here talking about it… Moreover, the actor is extraordinary in the film,” he pointed out.
He expressed happiness at the better presence of women filmmakers, seven of them featuring in competition. “Their growing presence in cinema is getting reflected in the festival, more than it has in the past. Women filmmakers are coming from unexpected countries, like Senegal, Tunisia... Male imagination has been overrepresented. We are moving towards the female gaze now,” he said.
Cannes had adopted the 50:50 charter in the wake of the MeToo movement with equal gender representation on the board. Frémaux stressed on equal presence in the selection committee because just as creating films, women also tend to view films differently.
This year the festival wanted a woman jury president, but the plan didn’t fall in place. Swedish filmmaker Ruben Ostlund was the first pick among men, said Frémaux. The festival hasn’t had a Swedish jury head since Ingrid Bergman in 1973. “Ruben is also in the midst of a creative effervescence... The whole of Scandinavian cinema is,” said Frémaux.
With the Cannes Film Festival starting in the shadows of two protests, questions about the repercussions of the anti-pension reforms demonstrations in France and Writers’ Guild of America strike were bound to creep up, particularly in the light of the overwhelming presence of Hollywood at the Cote d’azur this year.
Regarding the unrest in France, Frémaux said that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will be talking with the trade unions and the festival itself was in a “positive dialogue” with the CGT (General Confederation of Labour).
He said that he respected the WGA strike but confessed to not being very well informed about it or its possible consequences for the festival.
He called the festival a special, highly protected zone but one where anyone can stake a claim and highlight a matter, ask questions on burning issues. He pointed out that he was himself wearing a Ukraine badge and that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was part of the opening last year in solidarity with the country and its people.
The festival will have a Climate Day next week and will be contributing 20 euros per festival goer to be invested in relevant projects. Incidentally, the festival had to refuse 10,000 festival goers (not including the press) this year for reasons of management.
Frémaux dismissed the Hollywood presence in Cannes this year as a “fruit of Top Gun” last year. “They have been represented at Cannes for decades... We are talking about the return of the studios, but they never stopped coming... There have been strong links between France and the US even in the birth of the festival,” he said.
He expressed happiness at the “new entrant”, Apple TV+ whose Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon is playing at the festival. Every film screened in Cannes must have a theatrical release window in the country and Apple has tied up with Paramount for wider release of the film anyhow.
Frémaux clarified that the festival doesn’t select movies with any theme or issue in mind. There’s no thread running through its selections. “It’s not like fashion designers picking a colour of the season... Cinema holds its own future in its own hands,” he said while wishing the scribes a happy festival when “cinema will be at the heart of the world for two weeks”.
