Why Deadline Can’t Publish Our Magazine Interview With Cannes Film Festival Head Thierry Frémaux
deadline.comLong a bastion of artistic freedom, the Cannes Film Festival has a secret: it censors interviews with festival head Thierry Frémaux.The festival has not only been demanding copy approval as a condition for interviews with Frémaux (something no other festival or organization has asked of us), but after pledging not to make any changes to copy, it has been removing content including potentially uncomfortable answers from Frémaux relating to diversity and controversial filmmakers.Last month we were in Paris following the lineup announcement to interview Frémaux about the selection and the festival more generally for our Cannes Disruptors magazine.Following an entirely amicable and interesting on-record interview, I was belatedly told by the press team about the copy approval requirement.
I was told that these conditions were adhered to by trade and French press, including Deadline in the past. I contested the practice as unethical but was told this was done primarily as a fact-checking exercise and a language check.This turned out not to be true.
Among sections that were later watered down by the press department was a response to a question about whether the festival would welcome back filmmaker Roman Polanski.
Frémaux called the question “very interesting” during our chat and gave a measured, thought-provoking but also potentially problematic answer, in which he noted that the laws haven’t changed in France since Polanski won the Palme d’Or, implying that there wouldn’t be an ethical problem with the director’s attendance.Comments made in response to a question about the lack of women filmmakers were also removed.We decided not to run the magazine interview given that it was tainted.We’re aware that another publication
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