Incoming Cannes Film Festival President Iris Knobloch used her maiden speech in the role to herald the return of the theatrical experience as studios move away from day-and-date practices adopted during the pandemic.
The former Warner exec made her comments in the opening remarks of the festival’s lineup press conference in Paris on Thursday.
“I’ve taken up my role at a time which is especially exciting for me, in which we are seeing a re-falling in love, a return to the cinema,” she said.
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“Films are back in cinemas and the audiences are back in cinemas. Cineastes, auteurs, artists and professionals all agree that nothing can replace the cultural event represented by the release of a film in a theater,” she said.
“The studios have abandoned all types of day-and-date. Films are no longer coming out simultaneously in theaters and via streaming. Several platforms have announced large investments in productions destined first for a theatrical release,” she continued.
“It’s as if this multiplication of individual screens has reinforced the desire for a shared experience in the cinema, which is not replaceable. The Cannes Film Festival can be proud for always having been the torch-bearer for this type of cinema.”
Cannes is one of the few major film festivals in the world that will not accept films in competition unless they are guaranteed a theatrical release in France. It’s a stipulation that has kept Netflix away from the Croisette with its major releases in recent years.
Knobloch suggested the festival’s defence of the theatrical experience and the act of showing films on the big screen was not a retrograde move.
“We could say this is ‘back to basics’. I’d say rather it’s back to the future. It’s a return to theaters, but also, back to the future of cinema. Each and every year, we take the pulse of creation and the films being made.”
Knobloch also commented on the fact that she is the first woman President of the festival, saying she expected her “tandem” with Delegate General Frémaux to work well.
“Thierry and me, we share the same vision of the festival, a festival that is faithful to cinema and filmmakers and at the same time as being turned towards the future.”
Citing St Exupéry, she said, “The secret of a successful couple is to look in the same direction.”
Knobloch, whose experience at the festival has been that of an industry professional up until now, revealed her first time at the festival was in 1998.
“If someone had told me that one day I would become president, I would never have believed it,” she said.
The former studio exec said her experience at the festival as a professional had taught her that Cannes was “a game-changer” for the future performance of the films featured in its Official Selection.
“I observed how there is a before and an after Cannes. Every year, the Selection and the Palme d’Or open the way to fantastic success in theaters. We saw this with the last edition, with films such as Triangle Of Sadness, Decision To Leave, Boy From Heaven, or The Beasts, without forgetting the performance of Top Gun: Maverick,” she said.
“The Cannes Film Festival is an extraordinary springboard for cinema from all over the world and of every genre.”
