In Cannes 2023 the screenwriters’ strike is taking center stage, a topic addressed in the press conference by the jurors and by the president Ruben Östlund, but the controversy over the presence of Johnny Depp is also rekindled.
There are two burning issues that animated the Press conference from the jury Of Cannes 2023: the writers’ strike and the “uncomfortable” presence of Johnny Depp, protagonist of the opening film Jeanne DuBarry, which will be screened in a few hours. Talking about the WGA strike is the screenwriter, director and actor Paul Dano, who in these two weeks will fulfill his duties as a juror before returning home and returning to the picket line together with his wife Zoe Kazan and their second son of only six months .
“My wife is currently staking with my six month old strapped to her chest”has explained Paul Danomember of the WGA, expressing his support for the cause. “I’ll be there on picket line with them when I get home”.
Also Brie Larson and the president of the international jury Ruben Östlund (jury also composed of the director of the Palme d’Or Titanium Julia Ducournau, filmmakers Rungano Nyoni, Damián Szifron, Atig Ranimi, Maryam Touzani and French actor Denis Ménochet) showed solidarity with the screenwriters who raised issues such as fair compensation, the fight against precarious work and the demand of specific legislation on the use of artificial intelligence in drafting screenplays for cinema and TV. Ostlund said: “I think it’s great that people have such a strong collegial feeling that they decide to go on strike. I’m definitely in favor.”
Brie Larson and the Johnny Depp Affair
If the studios and sets of New York and Los Angeles are paralyzed by the pickets of screenwriters registered with the WGA, there are those who contest the decision to have Cannes inaugurate in Johnny Depp after allegations of domestic violence by his ex-wife Amber Heard. Even after a court found Johnny Depp right, the shadows on his person have not yet been completely erased, so much so that there are some who openly contest his return to the spotlights of a stage like Cannes. The director of the festival Thierry Fremaux himself intervened to defend the choice of Johnny Depp asking the media to focus on his figure as an actor and not on his private life.
Questioned by the media whether she will see tonight or not Jeanne Du Barry – The Royal FavoriteBrie Larson, women’s rights activist and member of the Time’s Up movement, was a little surprised by the question before answering: “I don’t understand the correlation with my person, but I still don’t know if I’ll see the film. It depends on how I feel”. (Being a film from Out of Competition, of course the jurors have the freedom to choose whether to see it or not).
The interpreter of Captain Marvelfor the first time a guest in Cannes, said she was honored to be present at the event explaining: “Cinema is so close to my heart, being in the company of these people that I admire so much is an incredible honor”. When asked if he thinks it’s okay to screen a Marvel film at an event like Cannes, Larson replied: “I’ve never curated a film festival. When I make a film, I put the same level of care and preparation into it regardless of the budget. A film is a film!”
Cannes 2023: from Johnny Depp to Scarlett Johansson, all the stars arriving at the festival
The jury’s criteria for choosing the best film
Naturally cinema and the criteria of the jurors in view of the attribution of palmares to the films in competition, among which we find the Italians Nanni Moretti with Il sol dell’avvenire, Alice Rohrwacher with La chimera and Marco Bellocchio with Rapito, were at the center of the conversation . Östlund clarified: “We don’t have to be clever, we just have to follow our first instincts. I want to encourage debate among the jurors, I hope I don’t sound too intellectual. But I promise you one thing: the jury will keep their mouths completely shut, so there will be no rumors about what projects they will win before the final verdict”.
And if he had to choose between another Palme d’Or and the Oscar? The president’s response is not long in coming: “It would be an easy choice. Better an extra Palme d’Or than an Oscar”.