CANNES – A celebratory press conference for Spike Lee and the 2021 Cannes Film Festival jury took a decidedly serious turn quicker than anyone might have expected. After jury members, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tahir Rahim, and filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho admitted this was the first time they will have seen a movie in a theater in 15 months, a Georgian journalist used her moment at the microphone to give an impassioned plea for the world to pay attention to the crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in her country. While the press in attendance couldn’t see her face, the jury members were visibly moved by her tears.
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Lee remarked first, noting, “I want to thank you for spreading information. I think I’m not the only one who did not know about the situation in Georgia. And this world is run by gangsters. Agent Orange, this guy in Brazil and Putin. That’s it. They are gangsters. They are gonna do what they want to do. They have no morals, no scruples, and that’s the world we live in. And we have to spread out against gangsters like that. But thank you, I did not know, I know I’m repeating myself, but I don’t think I’m the only one up here who didn’t know about the dire situation in Georgia. Thank you for sharing that with the world press. Now it’s on the journalists here to spread the word. You heard it. Do your research. You can go write. It’s not criticizing movies. You can call critics world gangsters too.”
Gyllenhaal went above and beyond, adding, “I don’t feel equipped to give any kind of advice on activism to a Georgian activist and journalist, but I would like to think about your question. I would be happy to talk to you in a couple of days and learn a little bit more. I do want to say; I think cinema has so often been inherently political. Not in a politically incorrect way, but in an emotional way.”
This year’s jury also includes filmmaker Mati Diop, director Jessica Hausner, actress, and director Mèlanie Laurent, Song Kang-ho, and musical artist Mylène Farmer. It’s the first time in 71 editions of the festival that the jury has included more women than men. And, as you’d expect, the ladies on the jury were asked their opinion of the historic lineup.
“I think it’s important. I think personally when women are listening to themselves and really expressing themselves even inside a very, very male culture, we make movies differently and tell stores differently,” Gyllenhaal says. “I remember seeing [Jane Campion’s] ‘The Piano’ and having some kind of different experience. I hadn’t had to use [a different] muscle. I think I was in High school and I was so deeply inspired. And I do think a majority of women may choose different movies. May respond differently. I’m so curious to see what happens with this new formulation and respect.”
Diop added, “It would be interesting to hear what men have to say as well. I fully share that I believe we are all eager; maybe one day we won’t have to put ‘woman’ in front of the world director. It feels almost necessary to almost insist in the fight; it is a ‘woman.’ And people have to insist there is an even balance. What I think is important is the committee and jury are as balanced as possible. One day will come, and you won’t even have to ask a question. The cinema will become the real subject. And it will have been freed from all these issues.”
For Lee, Cannes has been a regular stopover in a now-legendary Oscar-winning career. During the conference, he waxed about flying back and forth between la Croisette and New York during the ’90s to attend New York Knicks basketball games. And while he praised Cannes as the “greatest film festival” in the world, he recalled the controversy over “Do The Right Thing’s” debut at the event over three decades ago.
“The American press said this film will start race riots around America,” Lee says. “A couple of weeks ago was the 32nd anniversary of the film. It came out in 1989. I wrote it in 1988. When you see Brother Eric Gardner. You see, King George Floyd murdered, lynched, I think of [the character] Radio Rahim. And you think and would hope that 30 something mother f**king years later that black people would stop being hunted down like animals.”
Lee then paused and added, “So, I’m glad to be here tho.”
Of course, the fact Cannes is even occurring while much of the world is still not vaccinated against COVID 19 and the delta variant is spreading rapidly is remarkable in and of itself. A fact the star of the last Palme d’Or winner, 2019’s “Parasite,” made abundantly clear.
“When I first got the e-mail to invite me, I was wondering if the festival could really take place,” Kang-ho remarked through his translator. “The fact we’re all here together, I think it’s a miracle, and because of that, it’s more of an honor.”
Look for continuing coverage from the Cannes Festival through July 17 on The Playlist.