Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 7 May 2018
Is Cannes ready to adapt to the age of #MeToo?

By JAKE COYLE to a premiere), and that
AP Film Writer Cannes is overly in the thrall
The experience of watch- of male auteurs.
ing a few dozen or more Cannes has regularly been
films inside two weeks at home to Roman Polanski
the Cannes Film Festival (he premiered his "Based
can be jarring, exhilarating on a True Story" at Cannes
and exhausting — even for last year), even while other
those who live and breathe institutions — like the Acad-
cinema. emy of Motion Pictures Arts
Jessica Chastain, an ac- and Sciences — have dis-
tress and regular attendee tanced themselves from
of the French Riviera fes- the director. This year,
tival, last year reflected Cannes welcomed back
on her time spent on the Danish director Lars von Tri-
Cannes jury shortly after er, who's premiering his "The
they selected Ruben Ost- House That Jack Built",'' star-
lund's "The Square" as the ring Matt Dillon and Uma
Palme d'Or winner. She was Thurman. Von Trier, who
both overwhelmed and was declared "persona
disappointed. non grata" at the festival
"This is the first time I've in 2011 after making sym-
watched 20 films in 10 days, pathetic comments about
and I love movies," said Nazis, was last fall accused
Chastain. "The one thing by Bjork of sexual harassing
I really took from this ex- In this May 19, 2015 file photo, actress Cate Blanchett poses at the screening of the film "Sicario," her on the set of "Dancer
perience is how the world at the 68th international film festival, Cannes, southern France. in the Dark," a charge von
views women, from the fe- Associated Press Trier denied.
male characters that I saw This year's jury is headed
represented. And it was and Javier Bardem, Chas- Palme contenders, have timers. He has banned self- by Cate Blanchett, an
quite disturbing to me, to tain's piercing criticism still done little to quell pleas ies from the red carpet, ir- outspoken member of the
be honest." hovers over a festival that by Chastain and others for ritated by their interruption Time's Up movement. Her
On the cusp of the 71st finds itself, unlike it has in more female storytellers to the highly orchestrated, jury of nine includes Ava
Cannes, which begins Tues- decades, in tumult. at the world's most pres- star-studded procession on DuVernay, Kristen Stew-
day with the premiere of As- This year's selections, in- tigious film festival. Ques- the most famous red car- art, Lea Seydoux and Bu-
ghar Farhadi's "Everybody cluding three female di- tions of gender equality pet next to the Oscars. He rundian singer Khadja Nin.
Knows," with Penelope Cruz rectors among the 21 are especially pointed at has, after a public scuffle, Among the films vying for
Cannes, which for the last accepted the absence of the Palme are Spike Lee's
20 years had been a sea- Netflix films from the festi- "BlacKkKlansman," Pawel
side playground for Harvey val after being unable to Pawlikowski's "Cold War,"
Weinstein, long one of the secure theatrical releases Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "The
festival's most ubiquitous for its entries. And he has Wild Pear Tree" and David
operators. Cannes remains brought "Star Wars" back to Robert Mitchell's "Under the
perhaps the most supreme Cannes for the megawatt Silver Lake," with Andrew
and heightened realm of premiere of "Solo: A Star Garfield.
moviedom, but its rarified Wars Story." Also in the mix: "Happy as
stature has been increas- Cannes, a feverish pag- Lazzaro" by Italian Alice
ingly challenged by both eant of celebrity and cin- Rohrwacher; "Girls of the
the era of #MeToo and the ema, is trying to both rigor- Sun," by French director Eva
age of Netflix. ously guard tradition and Husson; and "Capernaum,"
"There have been seismic, adapt to fast-changing by Lebanese filmmaker Na-
tectonic changes in the times. The festival this year dine Labaki. Asked if she
industry that are still unfold- even altered its sacred was proud to be one of
ing," says producer Simon schedule to eliminate the three women in com-
Chinn, who will be premier- morning press screenings petition, Labaki replies: "I'm
ing the Whitney Houston ahead of premieres — a proud but I'm proud to be
documentary "Whitney" strategic switch intended there, full stop."
— "a corrective to the tab- to blunt the effect of press- "This is recognition for my
loid story," he says, and corps boos marring film work as a filmmaker, not
shopping a documentary premieres, a practice that for my work as a female
on Weinstein titled "Citizen had emerged as a kind of filmmaker," says Labaki.
Weinstein." ''This will be a blood sport at Cannes. "For me, I don't think that
very different Cannes with- Yet some say it's not enough the choice should be
out Weinstein." for Cannes to change its made because of that. It
Festival director Thierry clocks. Critics says the fes- has been irritating to me
Fremaux, who called the tival has lagged in gender to think that I'm in Cannes
Weinstein revelations an equality (only one female because I'm a woman film-
"earthquake" for Cannes, director, Jane Campion, maker and that now, with
has promised this year her- has won the Palme; in 2015 everything that's happen-
alds "a great renewal." He a minor scandal erupted ing, the world has decided
has stocked the competi- when women not wearing to put females in the spot-
tion lineup with eight first heels were denied entry light." q