Palme d’Or winner Justine Tritt sparks a stir with political speech – Misc

Courtesy of the Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes Film Festival managed to avoid pension reform protests and blackouts during its entire duration, but Palme d’Or-winning director Justine Tritt made up for both with fiery political rhetoric aimed at the French government. Her impassioned plea spread instantly and made headlines in the French media.

After introducing Jane Fonda on stage and thanking her film partners and the Cannes jury, Treat said the country had been “rocked by an unprecedented protest movement that was so powerful and united against pension reform.” “The protest has been repulsed and horribly suppressed,” she said, “and this pattern of increasing unchecked domination of power is now operating in several areas; eliciting boos and some jeers from the captive audience inside the Théâtre Lumiere, evidently socially the place most Shockingly, but we also see it in all areas of society, and the film industry has not been spared.

She went on to blame the “neoliberal government” for promoting the “commodification of culture” and for “breaking the cultural exceptionalism of the French model”.

Treat “dedicated her award to all young women directors and to those who today cannot make films”. We have to make room for them, give them the place they occupied 15 years ago when I started, in a world that was a little less hostile where it was possible to make mistakes and start over.”

The director appeared to be alluding to discussions last fall during an exhibition conference during which a number of industry luminaries attributed the country’s box-office decline to so-called “auteur” French cinema, and called for a reduction in French films. being funded and produced. Shortly after the Exhibitors Conference, a large conference called Appel aux Etats Generaux (Call for General Assemblies) was organized by some French producers and directors, notably Arthur Harari, Triet’s partner and co-writer of “Anatomy of a Fall”. During the event, participants urged the French government to take concrete steps to protect the industry’s unique financing and distribution model at a time when the profitability of domestic films is in dispute.

French Culture Minister Rima Abdelmalek was the first to respond to Triet’s comments on Twitter, saying she was “appalled by her unfair rhetoric”. “This film would not have been possible without our French model of film financing, which allows for a unique diversity in the world,” Abdel Malek continued.

Others criticized Tritt for criticizing the government even though Anatomy of the Fall was funded with the help of National Film Council subsidies, as well as regional subsidies and advance purchases from the French French television company.

Treat later clarified her talk, saying that “it was always a place where filmmakers could express their political or social interests.” She said it is important for emerging directors to create films without being pressured by box office performance and profitability. Although her second film, “Victoria” was a commercial success — it sold more than 700,000 tickets in France — she said her films weren’t always successful; However, she was given the opportunity to continue making films.

A feminist courtroom drama, Anatomy of a Fall stars Sandra Höller (“Toni Erdmann”) as a successful German novelist on trial for the murder of her husband (Samuel Theiss), who died under mysterious circumstances in a remote corner of the snow. French Alps. Their visually impaired 11-year-old son (Milo Machado Graner) is called on the witness stand, dissecting Sandra’s behavior as a wife and mother. Throwback by Mk2 Films, “Anatomy of a Fall” was purchased by Neon shortly after its world premiere in competition.

“Anatomy of a Fall” is expected to be a strong contender to represent France in the international race for feature films at the Oscars, even if it features a good deal of English-language dialogue.