Thierry Fremaux dodged politically charged questions and tried to refocus attention on the films amid a flurry of questions from the media about how to approach festival-goers and rumors #MeToo on the eve of the start of Cannes on Monday afternoon.
“Before we only talked about movies. Our biggest fear is movies: will they be enjoyed or will they be hated?” recalled the general delegate of Cannes.
While alluding to the backlash over Maiwenn’s Jeanne Du Barry variety with Johnny Depp for last year’s festival opening – “Last year, it’s no secret that there were controversies” – he explained that this year he and his groups made a conscious effort to avoid such distractions.
“This year we have tried to have a festival without any controversy,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that there may not be any, but possibly there is not one of the festival itself. The explanation for why we’re all here is cinema. . We need to put cinema back in the spotlight.
Fremaux is coy when asked about rumors about a potentially explosive report that would have caused the festival’s president, Irishman Knobloch, to speak in a recent interview with Paris Match about how the festival would react if industry figures with films of the official variety were publicly accused of attack (the answer: on a case-by-case basis).
He explained how, in his opinion, these types of controversies, even unrelated to the selected films, have an impact on the industry in general.
“The genuine factor is that of artistic censorship, which can be affected simply by what exists in the existing social context or in the relations between men and women. “
He added: “The conversations we’re having now with salespeople and sales agents are this: Will all this have an influence on the number of films that will be made?
Fremaux raised the option of many self-employed workers at the festival going on strike to demand wages. He said the festival “paid a lot of attention” to the stage, adding, “not only because we need to avoid a strike, but also because they need to avoid a strike. “
Although he is under pressure because the festival is not in a position to make decisions, he is in “constant dialogue” with the CNC, the workers’ union, his own collectives and the Ministry of Culture to find a solution.
An organization of independent festival-goers, known as Under the Screens the Waste, is gearing up to protest against hard-work reforms that would cut their unemployment benefits, a move that could potentially disrupt festival logistics at all levels. The organization told Pantalla that it expects an assembly between the CNC and the Ministry of Culture in the first days of the festival and that it will go on strike if its demands are met.
When asked about the possible risk of anti-Israel protests and the lack of Israeli films in the offer, Fremaux simply replied: “The variety is in the films we see. It’s an artistic choice, made independently of anything that has nothing to do with cinema.
Fremaux said he focused on the videos and ended with a bit of humor. I pay attention to other people walking the red carpet and I say things like, ‘I don’t know who decided the movie yesterday, but it was awful,’ and I said, ‘Hey, that’s me. ‘
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