The View From the Croisette
Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux opens up about what to expect at this year’s festival
Thierry Frémaux is putting the finishing touches on the lineup for the Cannes Film Festival’s 76th edition, a Herculean task that’s sent him globe-trotting from one screening room to the next in a quest to curate a mix of Hollywood blockbusters and auteur-driven films. Last year was one of Cannes’ most successful ever: It featured buzzy premieres such as “Top Gun: Maverick” and launched acclaimed international features like “Triangle of Sadness.” How does Frémaux plan to top himself? Here, the festival chief talks to Variety about the movies he hopes to land, the festival’s efforts to attract more women directors, and its controversial partnership with Tiktok.
Are you in talks to premiere Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”? Yes, we’re in discussions. For 2023, the important thing is to make sure that Martin Scorsese attends with his new film, which is an important work. The last time he came with a film was for “After Hours” in 1986.
Will Netflix ever return to Cannes? Netflix films are welcome. Since they don’t come out in theaters, they can premiere out of competition. I’d like to convince them to come, to not stand aside. But I know they wish to be in competition — [Netflix co- CEO] Ted [Sarandos] has a competitive spirit!
Your rule must change at some point, right? The world is changing, but Cannes is a film festival that defends theaters.
Ruben Östlund will lead the jury this year. How do you assemble a jury? The presence of Ruben Östlund guarantees that we’re going to speak about cinema. We’d like to reaffirm the fact that cinema isn’t just filmmakers and actors but also crew members, musicians, screenwriters and producers. But it’s more and more difficult to assemble juries. Why? Everyone works a lot! There’s also yet another man presiding over the jury. Did you try to have a female jury president? For 2023, we had a beautiful list of potential female jury presidents, and none were available. In competition, there have been slightly more female directors in recent years but never more than five. Can we expect to see more in 2023? I also hope there will be more. The place of women in film is progressing undeniably. The selections must reflect this progression more strongly. At the same time, we don’t say enough about the fact that in 2021, female directors won Cannes, Berlin, Venice and San Sebastian. We must cheer up about the evolution of things, not just throw our hands up as if nothing is ever changing. Will Cannes screen movies from filmmakers who are considered “canceled,” such as Roman Polanski or Woody Allen? Both have new films. I don’t think Roman Polanski’s film is ready for Cannes. Maybe Woody Allen’s film will be. We will position ourselves depending on the situation.
Will the next “Indiana Jones” premiere at Cannes? I saw it — the film is wonderful. We would be delighted to show it.
There are rumors of Pedro Almodóvar’s short opening the festival. It’s a short film, so no, not on opening night. It’s a rumor, but I like rumors — they’re part of the Cannes mythology.
Tiktok is being banned in some countries over concerns it is sharing user data with the Chinese government. It sponsored Cannes in 2022. Will it return? We partnered with Tiktok for the first time in 2022 to address younger audiences. And the numbers are impressive. We also know that Tiktok raises a lot of questions because it’s a Chinese firm. When it comes to us, we’re looking at how creators are paid royalties, and Tiktok is reassuring us of their intentions in that regard. So we’re happy about the results of this partnership and the relationship we have forged with them.