The leader of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux, promised “A Raft of Big Stars” during his 78th edition in May, while recognizing the challenges with which Hollywood faces Hollywood and questions around his future.
Addressing journalists after announcing his official selection in 2025 in Paris on Thursday morning, Frémaux answered a question on the question of whether the alignment offered the prospect of fewer Hollywood stars this year, even if names ready to hit the red carpet understand Tom Cruise, Scarlett Johasson, Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone.
“There are many American films, especially in competition, because even the South African film Oliver Hermanus is an American film,” he said.
“But it is true-the question has been asked in the past two or three years, not only on the effect of external factors having an impact on Hollywood industry such as the writers’ strike or fires at the beginning of the year but also on American studios, and it is more inside American cinema, questions about the way in which the future will play for them,” he continued.
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Frémaux added that American cinema retained a historic place with regard to the delivery of blockbusters, citing the consecutive success of Oppenheimer And Barbie in 2023.
“But when there are less of these kinds of films, this undoubtedly leaves a brand on the selection,” he added, noting that Cannes had nevertheless hung the big blockbuster of spring, Mission: Impossible – the final calculation.
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Leaving on his reasons to invite the film, Frémaux expressed his admiration for Christopher McQuarrie, comparing him to Alfred Hitchcock and François Truffaut for the films he had made in the studio system.
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“Christopher McQuarrie before our eyes alongside Tom Cruise is a wonderful filmmaker, and I would like to talk to him about his work, the way he makes this kind of film, his technique, but not only. Mission: Impossible is an incredible deductible… and it is cinema. I am the kind of spectator who can like a radical Iranian film and a great public film like Mission: Impossible,He said.
“Of course, the film is out of competition. Remember with Top gunPeople told me three years ago: “Why is the film not in competition?” In a way, they are right, but the studio did not want (that). For the studio, it must be a pleasure to be there. The great American films are a piece of pure cinema. »»
Frémaux also addressed the Record for the Transport of Oscars for the selection of the festival in 2024.
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“I could have a year ago capable of guessing the fate of Anora,, Emilia Pérez Or The substance? … No. You never know. This is why this game is so wonderful. This is also why our games – I mean Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Telluride or Sundance – is something wonderful. This is art, it is a reception, more than ever, “he said.
“I mention above all The substance Because of what we did by putting it in competition and not in a midnight projection, which would have been easier in a way. What happened to The substance was incredible. It is the power of Cannes, and we give this power to the artist. »»
According to it felt pressure on the potential for rewarding the selection of 2025, Frémaux said that each edition marks a new start, but it was confident about the recent history of the festival.
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“If you look at the last seven, eight years, Cannes was great. I mean Cannes and Cannes films were great and rewarded everywhere,” he said.
“For the films I just announced this morning, I really don’t know, but what I’m really happy is the link between Cannes in May and the Oscars in March. You can arrive in Cannes in May and be still alive in March almost a year later.”
He said it was a fact that he wanted to press on American studios, suggesting that they still fed fears of deploying a film at the festival.
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“This is something that we want the studios to understand. For them, there is always a risk to come in Cannes, whether it is a film three months before its release or that it obtains a bad reception. This happens less now, and if I can say it, it is because the selections are much better,” he said.
“Cannes is also a market. We have to launch the film in the best position. Each producer wants competition, but sometimes you can have a better destiny in a certain respect, in Rauds Cannes, midnight projections. The consideration that we must have is for the 60 films and not only the 20 films in competition.”
Earlier, Frémaux unveiled a selection that blows with emerging talents and just a handful of canes such as Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne with Young people.
One of the biggest surprises in the selection was the decision to open with a first film – the French filmmaker Amélie Bonnin Go on a day – For the first time in the history of the festival.
Frémaux revealed that the selection committee had seen the film in January but had to wait until they had screened all French bids before confirming its decision.
“As you know, the rule, in order to put everyone on an equal footing, is that we see all French films and then make our decisions at the last minute, it’s last night, and it ended at 1 am,” he said.
“This film has remained. It is a choice that we are proud of. It is a film dotted with French songs, the first film of a director, who I think will delight people,” he continued. “It is also a film that talks about the relationship between Paris and the provinces, our roots, which makes us, and in particular our young people and our parents.”
