Cannes’ curtain raises tonight
Biggest cine stars will walk on the red carpet rolled out at the 79th Cannes Film Festival
ATT Desk Report
The 79th Cannes Film Festival has officially opened in France tonight, grappling with two major challenges, the rapid disruption of artificial intelligence and the notable absence of major Hollywood studios.
Twenty-two films are competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or, following last year's win by Jafar Panahi's politically charged Iranian film It Was Just an Accident. However, off-screen discussions have dominated this year's festival, particularly regarding AI's impact on an industry already experiencing job losses among dubbing artists, translators, writers, and actors.
Cannes director Thierry Fremaux has taken a firm stance against AI, declaring at a Monday news conference: "We stand with the artists, we stand with the screenwriters." He suggested that future films might receive labels similar to organic food certification, indicating productions made without artificial intelligence. Despite this position, the festival announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with Meta, the social media giant heavily invested in AI technology.
The controversy intensifies with Steven Soderbergh's documentary John Lennon: The Last Interview, which used Meta-generated AI video of the late Beatle and Yoko Ono. This echo concerns from the 2023 Hollywood strikes, where actors and writers warned of unchecked technology's dangers.
Meanwhile, no major US studio agreed to launch a blockbuster at Cannes or at the Berlin festival in February, raising questions about why Universal, Disney, and Warner Bros. are avoiding European events. Fremaux expressed hope that studios would "come back," attributing their absence to scheduling issues and industry turmoil. Nevertheless, American cinema is represented by James Gray’s Paper Tiger and Ira Sachs' The Man I Love.
The festival opened with French film The Electric Kiss, with the main competition jury led by South Korean director Park Chan-wook, the first Korean to hold this position alongside Demi Moore. A-list attendees include John Travolta, Adam Driver, and a Fast and the Furious cast reunion. The Palme d'Or will be awarded on May 23rd.
