Cannes row over Tiktok’s ‘interference’ in the judging of short films

Social media app tried to meddle with jury, claims director as festival purists vent anger at sponsorship

CANNES has become embroiled in a row over Tiktok, after a judge quit a competition jury claiming the social media giant was interfering in its work.

The video-sharing platform is a partner of the film festival this year, to the displeasure of veterans of the Riviera event, and executives planned a raft of promotional activities including a parallel competition for short films.

Rithy Panh, a Cambodian director, was selected to head the jury of Tiktok’s inaugural short film competition but quit claiming the social media giant tried to meddle in the judging process.

Mr Panh said: “They need to know that an artistic jury is a jury, not just an algorithm.”

The Oscar-nominated director criticised the company, saying that if Tiktok wanted a “real film competition” the “independence and sovereignty of the jury has to be respected”.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Mr Panh explained that his adversaries at Tiktok capitulated after his protests and a brief time away from the judging panel.

The jury was ultimately able to hand out two top prizes, which had been his initial suggestion.

The main prizes for the short films, which lasted from 30 seconds to three minutes, went to Japanese Mabuta Motoki and Slovenian Matej Rimanic. The competition videos had been viewed four billion times.

A spokesman for Tiktok said: “As with any creative competition where the selection of a winner is open to subjective interpretation, there may be differences of artistic opinion from the independent panel of judges. We were extremely happy to have seen an incredible enthusiasm from all our jury members.”

The controversy comes after Tiktok was announced as an official partner of Cannes, meaning it is allowed to enjoy a great deal of influence and exposure at the festival, including allowing videoproducers from the platform to walk on the red carpet.

Cinematic purists have been disgruntled about the distraction from film at this year’s festival, which has also held discussions on the modern trend of non-fungible tokens, or NFTS.

Tiktok is seeking to expand its market across Europe, having established a recent partnership with Eurovision as well as a string of relationships with British arts institutions, from the Black

‘An artistic jury is a jury, not an algorithm. Independence and sovereignity of the jury has to be respected’

Country Living Museum to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The list of partnerships has been described by Rich Waterworth, Tiktok’s European boss, as “mutually beneficial” because it brings younger audiences to cultural events and institutions in exchange for visibility.

He also says that the list is set to grow, with the Hay literary festival last week announcing it would be working with the platform in future.

It is thought that as well as tapping into a younger audience, the platform could provide welcome sponsorship.

A statement of reassurance from Tiktok following its controversy in Cannes said: “Tiktok is an entertainment plat- form that values and supports creative and authentic expression.”

It highlighted the scale of its reach, saying that the competition entries were viewed billions of times across 44 different countries.