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| Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux on the eve of the opening: 'The United States remains a great country for cinema' Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival |
As the Cannes Film Festival prepares to unleash its annual salvo of glitz, glamour, tributes, and doubtless the odd scandal and skirmish the event’s artistic director Thierry Frémaux gathered the media for his annual pre-start get-together.
It's never one of the busiest gigs in the press conference room, partly because many hacks (mindful of budgets) will not arrive until opening night – Tuesday, May 13 to save on hotel nights.
Nothing daunted Frémaux was his usual chipper self with a sitting target in his sights – US President Donald Trump who has thrown the global film industry into turmoil with the threat of 100 per cent tariffs on all films made outside the United States.
With a guarded smile Frémaux said he would hold off firing on all cylinders as the incumbent of the White House has rather a reputation for changing direction.
Warming to his topic, though, Frémaux said: “The idea that American cinema could be penalised by foreign countries is, I think, an idea that can be discussed, but there is one thing we have noticed, particularly in the months and years following Covid in 2021 and 2022, which is that there were fewer American films around the world, so local (non US) productions have been more successful, and cinema always finds a way.”
With the latest Mission Impossible set to storm the Croisette early doors as part of its global release and debut films by actors-turned-directors Scarlett Johansson (Eleanor The Great) and Kristen Stewart (The Chronology Of Water) in the line-up and Spike Lee, no less, offering Highest 2 Lowest (a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low) there is no shortage of US titles receiving pride of place.
Frémaux added: “The United States remains a great country for cinema. I belong to a generation for whom loving cinema meant loving American cinema.”
Various French filmmakers have signed the open letter that suggests that France’s “proactive cultural policy” and regulations are responsible for the country’s healthy theatrical market, which has Europe’s largest number of cinemas. They also pointed out that France’s unique system of a levy on every movie ticket sold is “highly beneficial to American films, which account for an average of 45% of the French box-office, and for which France remains one of the leading markets.”
The choice of opening title tomorrow (Tues 13 May) will keep the Festival’s domestic audience happy: a first feature by an unsung first-time director Amélie Bonnin Leave One Day (Partir un jour) featuring singer turned actress Juiliette Armanet back on her rural home turf after her father has a heart attack. Bonnin has expanded her short film into the fully-fledged feature.
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| Tom Cruise to storm the Croisette in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Photo: © 2024 Paramount Pictures |
It also gives the chance for the Cannes razzamatazz and red carpet flurry to be screened in live streaming in 400 or so cinemas throughout France at the same time as it’s all happening on the Croisette.
Tomorrow, president Juliette Binoche meets the press with her jury colleagues who comprise: American actress and filmmaker Halle Berry, Indian director and screenwriter Payal Kapadia, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani, as well as Congolese director, documentarist and producer Dieudo Hamadi, Korean director and screenwriter Hong Sangsoo, Mexican director, screenwriter and producer Carlos Reygadas and American actor Jeremy Strong.
In a statement she said: “In 1985, I walked up the steps [of the Palais des Festivals] for the first time with the enthusiasm and uncertainty of a young actress; I never imagined I'd return 40 years later in the honorary role of President of the Jury. I appreciate the privilege, the responsibility and the absolute need for humility.” Their work will be done when the Festival reaches its closing gala ceremony on Saturday 24 May with the announcement of the Palme d’Or winner and other prizes.
