Cannes Film Festival Head Thierry Frémaux On #MeToo Wave: “We Are Trying To Have A Festival Without These Polemics”

deadline.com:

As a #MeToo wave looked to rock the 77th Cannes Film Festival with rumors swirling that filmmakers with films at the event would be tagged, Thierry Frémaux emphasized his event isn’t about polemics, rather the picture that’s on the screen.

If there are controversies during Cannes “we try to avoid them” he said today during an afternoon presser. “Last year, as you know, we had a few polemics, and we realized it, and so this year we decided to host a festival without polemics to make sure that the main interest for us all to be here is cinema,” Frémaux said. “So if there are other polemics, it doesn’t concern us.” “It’s about the movies and whether they deserve or not, in aesthetic or artistic terms, to be there,” Frémaux said. “There is no ideology guiding the selection committee.” “We would like to have a festival without polemics,” the Cannes Head continued, “the politics should be up on the screen.” “We’ll talk about it in five years.

I may not be there any longer, but will there be self-censorship coming from artists?” he asked. “What’s happening today, with the new social relationships, and the rapports between women and men in the world, will it spur new type of stories?” Deadline had asked Frémaux about whether he agreed with Cannes Mayor David Lisnard published comments in L’Opinion equating France’s recent #MeToo movement to the East German Stasi.

The Cannes Boss responded that he wasn’t familiar with the article. Speculation had been rife prior to Cannes that a rumored bombshell report would be published on investigative website Mediapart, which has done a number of in-depth reports into #MeToo accusations in France.