Hollywood star Demi Moore and Korean auteur Park Chan-wook kicked off the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday with a series of careful but unequivocal statements defending the role of politics in cinema.
Asked whether she had concerns about political statements during the festival potentially distracting from the films themselves, Moore said she strongly hoped not. “I think part of art is about expression, so if we start censoring ourselves then we shut down the very core of our creativity, which is, I think, where we can discover truth and answers,” she said.
Park, who is chairing this year’s Cannes jury, then offered an extended defense of political filmmaking in response to a similar question, which quickly became the dominant theme of Cannes’ first press conference.
“I don’t think politics and art should be divided,” the South Korean auteur said. “I think it’s a strange concept to think they’re in conflict with each other. Just because a work of art has a political statement, it should not be considered an enemy of art. At the same time, just because a film is not making a political statement, that film should not be ignored.”
But Park also noted that the most “brilliant political statement” can easily devolve into “propaganda” if it’s “not expressed artfully enough.”
“I am prepared to watch films with the pure eyes of an audience member, without any prejudice or stereotype, just excitement to watch films that will surprise me,” Park later added.
The remarks came three months after this year’s politically embattled 76th Berlin International Film Festival, where jury president Wim Wenders told reporters during the opening press conference that filmmakers “have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics.” The comments drew immediate online backlash and helped set off one of the most acrimonious editions in the German festival’s recent history. The fallout included an open letter signed by more than 80 industry figures — among them Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton — criticizing the Berlinale for what they called its “silence” over the war in Gaza, and prompted Germany’s culture ministry to convene a meeting on the festival’s future direction.
This year’s nine-member Cannes jury is characteristically stacked with filmworld talent. Park is joined by Moore; Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Hamnet); Swedish veteran Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value); French actor Isaach De Bankolé (Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai); Irish-Ethiopian actress Ruth Negga (Loving); Belgian filmmaker Laura Wandel (Adam’s Sake); Chilean director Diego Céspedes (The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo); and Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, the longtime collaborator of Ken Loach.
Later in the press conference, Moore was asked about the rise of artificial intelligence in filmmaking and took a more measured stance. “AI is here, and so to fight it is to, in a sense, to fight something that is a battle that we will lose. So to find ways in which we can work with it, I think, is a more valuable path,” she said. “Are we doing enough to protect ourselves? I don’t know. My inclination would be to say probably not.” Even so, Moore said the technology has its limits. “There’s beautiful aspects of being able to utilize it, but the truth is, there really isn’t anything to fear, because what it can never replace is what true art comes from, which is not the physical. It comes from the soul. It comes from the spirit of each and every one of us sitting here.”
Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty was by far the most outspoken among the Cannes jurors on the festival’s opening day, offering a sharper critique of the industry’s embrace of AI.
“I think we have to look at the first thing and see who owns it, because they decide on the algorithms that affect our lives in the deepest way,” the Scottish screenwriter said. “And what seems to me to be absolutely incredible is that they do it and then they assume the rest of the world will follow and swallow it, no matter what the consequences are. Look at the whole crisis now in data [centers] affecting sustainability, water, affecting populations.”
He continued: “I think people are beginning to realize that we should not let these tech bros — billionaires who are — mostly right wing libertarians, dictate how we live our lives. What’s the effect on workers — beyond artists, ordinary workers — in society and our children. So we have to examine who owns it, and we must make it transparent, and we must demand, I think, that it’s that we make it in a way that is transparent and more democratic. It’s far too important to leave it to these guys.”
He also shared his view on the value of cultural events like Cannes in a world increasingly riven by war and conflict.
“When you see so much systematic violence — genocide in Gaza and all these terrible disputes — the idea of coming to a festival, which is a celebration, you know, of diversity, imagination, tenderness, nuance, beauty and inspiration — it knocks me out, to be honest,” he said, adding: “I can’t wait to begin the adventure with these wonderful characters beside me.”
Park’s jury will hand out the Palme d’Or to one of the 22 features in this year’s competition at the festival’s closing ceremony on Saturday, May 23. The 79th edition of Cannes opens Tuesday evening with the world premiere of Pierre Salvadori’s roaring twenties rom-com La Vénus électrique.
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