Why Cannes is fighting to stay relevant?
- by Radhika Seth
As one of the most prestigious showcases in the world, Cannes is eager to protect its reputation and preserve its heritage—going as far as banning selfies on the red carpet, asking women to wear heels and discouraging Netflix from participating in competition. But as rival festivals make strides in representation and face up to the rise of streaming, is Cannes at risk of being stuck in the past?
On April 15, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled the official poster for its 72nd edition, due to run from May 14-25. Fittingly, it featured a photograph of Agnès Varda, the beloved director and pioneer of the French New Wave, who had passed away just two weeks prior. Varda had long been a fixture at Cannes—Cléo from 5 to 7 featured in competition in 1962; she received an honorary Palme d’Or in 2015 and returned two years later with the documentary Faces Places. However, the image on the new Cannes poster was not of Varda as we know her today, with her trademark two-toned bowl cut and Gucci knits at the age of 90. It showed her at 26, perched atop a technician shooting her first film La Pointe Courte in 1954. The choice seemed a deliberate one: an indication, among others, that Cannes is still a festival that looks to the past for reassurance.
Image: La Pointe Courte
Its nostalgia for the golden age of cinema is no secret. Over the past decade, the festival’s posters have featured Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina in 1965’s Pierrot le Fou, Marilyn Monroe blowing out a candle on her birthday cake in 1956 and Claudia Cardinale twirling on a rooftop in 1959. Although founded in 1946, Cannes reached the peak of its influence in the 1950s and 1960s when the Croisette became the epicentre of European glamour. It was a time when Brigitte Bardot frolicked on the beach, Jean Cocteau presided over the jury, and Grace Kelly, while at the festival, was invited to meet Prince Rainier of Monaco. The films that won the Palme d’Or, from Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita to Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up, heralded a new era in filmmaking.
Image: Getty
Since then, Cannes has continued to champion bold, provocative work, rewarding Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now and Pulp Fiction, but it has also been enamoured with its own history and stubbornly resistant to change. Films directed by women have never accounted for more than a small percentage of those in competition. In 71 years, only one woman, Jane Campion, has ever won the Palme d’Or and just 82 women have been nominated, compared to 1,645 men.
The figure came into focus last year when jury president Cate Blanchett led a red-carpet protest against gender inequality arm in arm with 81 other women, including Ava DuVernay, Léa Seydoux and Varda herself. Reading from a statement she and Varda had prepared together, Blanchett said, “Women are not a minority in the world, yet the current state of our industry says otherwise. We demand that our workplaces are diverse and equitable so that they can best reflect the world in which we actually live, a world that allows all of us in front and behind the camera to thrive.”
Despite assurances from organisers that parity would soon follow, progress has been slow. This year, 13 of the 47 films in the official selection are directed by women and four female directors are in contention for the Palme d’Or—fewer than those at Sundance, Berlin and Toronto but, shockingly, a record high for Cannes. Thierry Frémaux, who has been the festival’s artistic director since 2001, dismissed the women directors debate at a press conference last year as something that has “become fashionable to talk about”. He still bristles at the criticism, telling Variety in a recent interview: “I continue to find it difficult to consider films based on gender. How could Cannes be the miracle of a potential parity if the film world as a whole has yet to accomplish it?”
Frémaux’s reluctance to respond to the changing tides of the industry extends to his relationship with Netflix. After two of the streaming platform’s releases, Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories, premiered at the festival in 2017 and sparked a row over theatrical release models, Frémaux responded with a new rule that barred Netflix from competition. As a result, Cannes lost one of 2018’s biggest releases, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, to Venice where it won the Golden Lion.
The Italian film festival has been the main beneficiary of its French rival’s perceived snobbery. Last year, when Cannes debuted high-brow critical hits like Burning, Cold War and Shoplifters, Venice had a splashier A-list line-up that included The Favourite, Never Look Away and A Star is Born. In recent years, Venice has become the kingmaker for films seeking Oscar glory, while Cannes is at risk of becoming an echo chamber for predominantly male auteurs who return time and again.
The festival’s commitment to its regular players has often come at a cost. Palme d’Or winner Lars von Trier was blacklisted in 2011 after joking about sympathising with Hitler, but returned to Cannes last year with the serial-killer horror The House That Jack Built. Speaking to Cineuropa, von Trier admitted that Frémaux had him reinstated. Björk’s claim that the director had sexually harassed her during the making of Dancer in the Dark appeared to have no impact on the decision. Roman Polanski and Woody Allen have yet to be excluded—both have also faced sexual misconduct allegations—and Harvey Weinstein, who according to actress Asia Argento used the festival as “his hunting ground”, was shunned only recently.
Image: Loic Venance
This year, Cannes has once again come under fire for its decision to give Alain Delon an honorary Palme d’Or. The star of Plein Soleil and The Leopard, Delon is an icon of French cinema, but in the past few years the actor has made many controversial statements, saying that being gay is “against nature”, supporting France’s far right party the National Front and admitting that he has slapped women. Melissa Silverstein, the founder of gender diversity organisation Women and Hollywood, responded saying, “By honouring Mr Delon, the festival is honouring these abhorrent values.” Nevertheless, the festival pressed on with their decision, telling Variety they would be honouring him “because he is a legendary actor and part of Cannes history.”
Image: Getty
When faced with such moral dilemmas, the festival has always argued the need for continuity and celebrated Cannes’ illustrious past even at the expense of its future. Asked by The Hollywood Reporter why he believes Netflix’s business model is incompatible with his own, Frémaux replied: “They do something very new, and we preserve tradition.” It is the same impulse that prompted Frémaux to impose stringent rules for the Cannes red carpet. Formal wear is a requirement, heels are encouraged and selfies, which Frémaux described as “grotesque”, have been banned. “Selfies didn’t exist 10 years ago,” he told Variety. “It’s obviously not the most important thing in the world. My work and my team’s work is to preserve the prestige of the most important film festival in the world.”
Image: Getty
But what exactly does Cannes have to gain from its rejection of the 21st century? Nadine Labaki may have the answer. The Lebanese actress and director who last year won the jury prize for the critically-acclaimed Capernaum returns this year as jury president for its Un Certain Regard section. “Cannes is militant about art,” she tells Vogue. “Their choices have integrity and they want to sit apart from the rest. Here, it’s not just about box office or the films coming from Hollywood.”
Image: Andreas Rentz
Despite being a woman of colour at a festival dominated by men, she says she has felt supported. “I am a child of the festival,” Labaki explains, adding that she wrote her debut film Caramel at a Cannes-sponsored residency. In her view, the festival has always promoted the work of women filmmakers, albeit quietly, and many of those featured this year—from Céline Sciamma to Jessica Hausner—have appeared at Cannes before. Over the next few years, Labaki hopes they can stand alongside festival favourites like Pedro Almodóvar and Quentin Tarantino. “For me, it’s always been about great work,” she adds. “#MeToo and Time’s Up have shown us that we have a long way to go and now we can start the healing process. Soon, I hope we won’t be talking about this anymore.”
The inclusion of Labaki, as well as veteran director Claire Denis who will preside over the short film and Cinéfondation jury, is a step in the right direction for a festival whose influence is waning. Progress has also come in the form of the 5050×2020 pledge which Frémaux signed after last year’s red-carpet protest, promising to work towards parity. Going forward, much will depend on the festival’s willingness to compromise. In response to the Netflix question, Labaki says, “I don’t want to see cinema die and there are hard choices we need to make to ensure its survival. I respect Thierry’s decision, but I do think we can find common ground.” So, can Cannes survive? Only if it evolves, and soon.
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