Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux unveiled the bulk of the Official Selection for the 76th edition of the festival at a packed press conference Thursday morning in Paris.
In a lineup mixing established auteurs with rising directors, Palme d’Or winners Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Nanni Moretti, Ken Loach, Wim Wenders and Hirokazu Kore-eda return to the main competition alongside first-time contenders Kaouther Ben Hania, Justine Triet and Ramata-Toulaye Sy.
Talking points include the record number of women-directed films in competition, whether Martin Scorsese might segue out of competition to compete for the Palme d’Or with Killers of the Flower Moon and the selection of Euphoria creator Sam Levinson’s reportedly challenged series The Idol.
Deadline sat down with Frémaux after the press conference to drill down on the Selection and the process of bringing it together this year.
DEADLINE: The selection process always goes up to the wire ahead of the main lineup announcement. What time did you manage to wrap things up overnight?
THIERRY FRÉMAUX: There have been editions where we’ve finished at 3 in the morning. This time we all left at 1 a.m. We even took the time to eat pizza with the team. Of course, I ended up fielding a few texts and messages at home.
DEADLINE: One of the final tasks is tying up the selection of French films in the lineup. I read in the French press that you received 600 French films this year. Is that true?
FRÉMAUX. It’s probably more like 200 French films, but that’s still a lot. When it comes to world cinema, we’re not selecting from the entire production available across a whole year — it’s more films that are ready for this period. For French cinema, there are really people who wait for Cannes, even if the work is ready to go out earlier.
DEADLINE: Why is Cannes so important for the French?
FRÉMAUX: There’s a nice alliance between the Cannes Film Festival and the French cinema world, which I am proud of because it was not always the case. And then, it’s simply a question of artistic satisfaction.
DEADLINE: This must put a lot of pressure on you and the selection team as you probably know many of the French professionals.
FRÉMAUX: The reason we end up so late is because of the French cinema. We have to be very diplomatic and take care to write and call everyone.
DEADLINE: News broke last week that Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of investigative news website Médiapart, has filed a complaint for violence against Maïwenn, director of the festival’s opening film Jeanne du Barry. Could this complaint impact the film’s screening in Cannes?
FRÉMAUX: No. It’s a private matter between two people. It has nothing to do with her film and nothing to do with the Cannes Film Festival. There is a complaint against her. The complaint will be dealt with according to judicial procedures; perhaps it will be declared invalid, or perhaps there will be a trial. We don’t know the outcome.
DEADLINE: What drove your decision to select Jeanne du Barry as the opening film?
FRÉMAUX: It’s a beautiful film, and Maïwenn is also part of the history of the festival. The opening film also has to come out simultaneously in French cinemas; we don’t put platform films in that slot, because we want France to participate in the festival. The film is a success, and Johnny Depp [as Louis XV] is magnificent in it. It recounts something about the history of women inside history and the place of women in relation to the king.
FRÉMAUX: Six of the 19 films in the main competition are directed by women this year, which is a record for the festival. Is this fruit of a deliberate festival strategy or is it an organic development reflecting changes in the industry?
FRÉMAUX: We came under fire one year [2014] when there was not a single woman in competition. At the time, if I dare say it, those questions weren’t being asked so much, but it made me interrogate the situation and take a closer look, even if I had the impression that things were getting better.
For me, it has always been about the films. Nobody wants to say it, but things are getting better. There are more women directors everywhere in the world. Things have changed. We and all the festivals are taking more care. I am not going to say that it’s a strategy, it’s rather a reflection of something natural.
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What is interesting about this bigger presence of women directors is what they recount. It’s the female gaze.
That is also going to enrich the story of cinema, which is fantastic for us cinephiles. The films of Dorothy Arzner and Ida Lupino are not the same as the other film noirs being made in the same period.
Justine Triet’s film [Anatomy of a Fall] is about a trial, and the accused is a woman. Of course, we’ve seen that in the history of cinema before, but it’s not the same when it’s told by a man, as when it’s told by a woman. There’s a scene where the woman reunites with her child. It’s a woman’s scene, written by a mother, Justine. It’s a feminine artistic spirit.
I’m not for rejecting John Wayne. I am rather for welcoming the arrival of new filmmakers. I hope there will be a female Howard Hawks or Francois Truffaut so that the history of cinema can rebalance.
It’s also about results. I don’t stop repeating that in 2021 when Titane won the Palme d’Or, a woman director also won Berlin, Venice and San Sebastian. In Cannes that year, women won everything — the competition, the short film, the Camera d’Or and Un Certain Regard. Nobody talked about it. We only talk about things when they aren’t going well. I also want to talk about it when things are going well. Six [women in competition], we’re not there yet, but it’s approaching 30%, and we might add another.
DEADLINE: There also seems to be more diversity across the different sections, with a strong North African presence this year.
FRÉMAUX: My cinephilia is to know the cinema of Glauber Rocher in Brazil or Ousmane Sembène in Senegal. Diversity has always been there. We were the first to say that in North Africa, there are interesting women directors, and in Africa. And this year’s selection is proof of that, and they’re good films. We’d like to open more to South Africa, and we had the young Kenyan cineaste Wanuri Kahiu. It’s going to come.
DEADLINE: So far you have announced 52 titles in Official Selection. Are you planning any additions?
FRÉMAUX: Maybe five or six more. There are things that arrived at the last minute and are even arriving now. They’ve warned us. The press conference was due to take place on April 13th or 20th, We decided to go on April 13, so that you can get on with your work. It’s better for everyone. We don’t want more than 60 titles. We want each film to be properly looked after.
DEADLINE: There was strong buzz that Woody Allen’s new film Coup de Coeur was going to figure in the selection. Is it under consideration?
FRÉMAUX: We haven’t seen Woody’s film, and to pre-empt the question, or Polanski’s film.
DEADLINE: There have also been rumors that one or more of the late Jean-Luc Godard’s final projects might screen in the festival? Are you planning to do anything to commemorate the director?
FRÉMAUX: Yes, we’re planning something. That will be one of our future announcements. There will be a tribute. We’re still reflecting on the details.
DEADLINE: You held out hope year after year that Godard would return to Cannes, but he never did...
FRÉMAUX: I would visit him a lot in his home. He would always promise to come to Cannes, or to Lyon [where Frémaux is head of the Lumière Institute and its festival]. In the end, I think he preferred to stay at home and work. He worked right up until his final days.
Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
Apple TV+ /Courtesy Everett Collection
DEADLINE: One of the big coups of this year is securing Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Were you worried it might not happen?
FRÉMAUX: We talk all the time. We’re friends. I saw the film very early [in November], and of course as soon as I saw it, I immediately invited it. But it’s always a long negotiation. He really wanted to come to Cannes and to respond to our invite, but there is also a producer, Apple, which also had its own ideas. When it was decided that the film would come out in the autumn, Apple could have said May was too early, but it made this fantastic gesture and said it wanted to come to Cannes. At that point, we didn’t know it was going to come out [in cinemas in France].
This is part of our profession in that from the end of November to April, it was between yes and no.
The idea of coming to Cannes was always strong for Apple, Scorsese and his team, his agent Rick Yorn. Leo DiCaprio and Bob De Niro also really wanted to come, but at the same time, I understand there can be other economic or strategic obligations or imperatives.
DEADLINE: Do you think the fact that the film is playing in Cannes influenced Apple’s decision to give it a theatrical release in France?
FRÉMAUX: I can’t make any claim to that. What I do know is that Marty, like all cineastes who are produced by the platforms, also wanted the film to come out in theaters so it could meet its public.
Both outcomes are fantastic: In the first one, the film wasn’t destined for a theatrical release, but they accepted to come out of competition, which is what we’ve invited Netflix to do on a number of occasions in the past. Apple accepted, in the same way, Amazon can accept too.
Then they decided to release the film in theatres, which is why I said I can now invite the film to competition.
DEADLINE: At the moment, the film is set for an out-of-competition screening. Do you think this might change?
FRÉMAUX: The invitation has been sent. I can understand if the answer is no. Once he had won the Palme d’Or, Fellini stopped participating in the competition. Marty might say he already has the Palme d’Or and go down the same route.
DEADLINE: By when would a decision need to be made?
FRÉMAUX: By the day of the opening, so the jury knows. We have a month. I don’t to want to in any way force my hand, and if Marty decides to play the film out of competition, that’s still a very noble decision.
DEADLINE: Another coup has been securing Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Will executive producer Steven Spielberg be joining director James Mangold and Harrison Ford on the red carpet?
FRÉMAUX: We haven’t got into the details yet. I would love it if he did, because I would love to congratulate him for The Fabelmans.
DEADLINE: Another buzzy selection is the HBO and A24 series The Idol, directed by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and starring Lily-Rose Depp, which screens out of competition. How much of the series are you going to screen?
FRÉMAUX: We’re showing the two episodes, and together they are like a film. We like to show series by cineastes. Sam Levinson is a very interesting young cineaste. In the past, we’ve shown drama series by David Lynch, Jane Campion, Marco Bellocchio, Nicholas Winding Refn and Olivier Assayas.
DEADLINE: Steven McQueen’s Amsterdam-set film Occupied City is getting a Special Screening. You gave a shout-out to the director in the press conference, saying next time you want to select him for the main competition. Do you have your eyes on Blitz for 2024?
FRÉMAUX: I meant next year, next time. We’ll see. We talk all the time, but I haven’t seen it yet.
DEADLINE: Looking at the lineup, there are just four films in the Cannes Premiere sidebar you introduced three years ago for more established filmmakers. Are you getting pushback from directors with regard to that section?
FRÉMAUX: Actually, it’s the contrary. Everyone wants to be in Cannes Premiere, especially after the success of The Night of the 12th and The Beasts. The way in which the films are shown in the section is very special. It’s with the same prestige and red carpet but without the same effervescence that you have around the competition.
When people go see a Cannes Premiere film at the Debussy, it’s generally because they really want to see that particular film. Cannes Premiere also allows a cineaste to show their film more calmly which sometimes is an advantage.
DEADLINE: It’s your first edition working with the new president Iris Knobloch, having previously worked with Pierre Lescure and before Gilles Jacob. Does it mark a big change for you?
FRÉMAUX: On one hand, it’s a continuation. Cannes is an institution with strong foundations and an administrative board, in which there is the Ministry of Culture, the National Cinema Centre, Cannes City Council and the professionals. We all work together.
The artistic part is very sovereign and independent but also connected to the historic ties between the delegate general and the president. At the same time, Iris has her style and that is not the same style as Gilles Jacob or Pierre Lescure. Her profile is that she comes from the industry side. She also has a strong understanding of partnerships and knows exactly what she can bring. I find her analysis of things very useful.
