Cannes’ delegate general Thierry Fremaux has apologised for glitches in the festival’s ticketing system, defended the selection of Johnny Depp-starrer Jeanne du Barry as opening film and addressed the threat of civil unrest in France spilling over into the festival.
At a press briefing on the eve of Cannes, Fremaux acknowledged problems with the festival’s online ticketing system which has seen some press, critics and other festgoers having trouble in securing spots for high profile titles.
“It is evident that the ticketing system whether here or [in] Berlin or Lyon for the Lumière festival, technology makes things better but also complicates them. Press and festival goers can book tickets [from] our rooms instead of waiting in line, but I know that we can do better. We refused more than 10,000 festival goers this year - there’s a problem with space in theatres and we’re working on it and open to dialogue.”
“We refused 10,000 people, spectators and professionals, but not journalists. Journalists are important. All that the festival can do, we are doing. I’m really sorry.”
Johnny Depp and Adele Haenel
Fremaux also addressed criticism, particularly from some US commentators, about choosing a film for opening night starring Johnny Depp, namely Maiwenn’s Jeanne Du Barry.
Fremaux said: “If there is one person in the world who is least interested in this ‘mediatised’ trial, it is me.”
He said Depp “is extraordinary in the film” and “you can ask Maiwenn why she chose this actor”.
He also addressed recent accusations by French actress Adele Haenel that the Cannes Film Festival is anti-feminist and protective of sexual predators. Fremaux described such complaints as “false and erroneous” and controversially added “if you thought that was true, you wouldn’t be here, you wouldn’t be accredited for a festival of rapists.”
Haenel recently sent a letter to French publication Telerama explaining her reasons for quitting the French film industry and specifically wrote: “Thierry Frémaux, from the Cannes Film Festival, puts three women in the 2022 Official Selection, so I am told that this is going in the right direction?” she said, adding: “I don’t want to be part of a feminist washing machine. It’s bullshit.”
Fremaux said: “Cannes is a manifestation with a big media echo, so people use Cannes to talk about a large number of problems. I think that’s great. But Cannes is also the object of identification that isn’t centred in reality.”
He added: “There are people who congratulate us, because there are seven female filmmakers in competition, but I refuse the praise because I also refused the criticisms. There’s an evolution.”
Protest problems
Fremaux was also asked whether threats from French labour unions and protests over pension reforms might affect the festival, Fremaux said: “Today, the prime minister is welcoming the unions at Matignon [his official residence]. We’re having constructive dialogue with the CGT, so we’ll see.”
He added: “It’s true that the Cannes film festival is both protected for 15 days, but also a place where voices can echo. Even when things are going well there is always something that could become a moment of expression.”
For example, Fremaux said that the festival is talking to French filmmaker and high-profile environmental activist Cyril Dion: “It’s not out of the question that we’ll welcome [environmental activists] to express themselves during Monday’s day devoted to climate change.”
He pointed out he continued to wear a badge in support of Ukraine on his jacket and that it “shouldn’t become a forgotten war.”
No agenda
Speaking of the festival’s Official Selection as a whole, Fremaux said he and his selection does not have a specific agenda. “We don’t say when we start our selection in the fall, this is what our selection will be this year. It’s the films that decide what we’ll select. They say: ‘We’re here, we exist.’”
He added: “We went on a grand voyage of 2,000 films and we said this is the selection this year. Aesthetically, stylistically, geographically, cinema in 2023 is this.”
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