Wasteful film industry ‘on a learning curve’ as Cannes wants to go green

The Cannes Film Festival has vowed to go green this year and shed its consumer image. “The French Dispatch” on Monday evenings.

For hardcore movie buffs, Cannes is primarily a test of stamina, sitting — and often dozing — through three, four, five movies a day (and then sometimes writing about them). It’s a frenetic race between screenings, past successive badge scanners, vaccine pass scanners, metal detectors and meticulous bag searches.

This year, critics are being pushed to the eye with the big screen, so is the plethora of movies on offer. After last year’s Covid-19 washout, festival organizers have stacked the 11-day movie bonanza with enough material to beat the next pandemic, 24 films in the main competition and more than five times the number in the many sidebars – perhaps to make on for the lack of parties.

The deluge of films can result in somewhat awkward tone and topical shifts — such as starting at 8 a.m. Monday with Sergei Loznitsa’s haunting “Babi Yar.” Context”, about one of the biggest single massacres of the Holocaust, and ending the day on a sun lounger before the beach screening of “Fast & Furious 9” at the Cinéma de la Plage in Cannes.

In between, two of this year’s most popular tickets delivered a shock to the Palme d’Or race. Russian iconoclast Kirill Serebrenikov premiered his ‘Petrov’s Flu’, a surreal nocturnal trek through a post-Soviet urban landscape (although the authorities in Moscow again barred him entry). And Wes Anderson released his long-awaited tribute to print, “The French Dispatch,” starring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Timothée Chalamet, Adrian Brody, Willem Dafoe, and just about every other actor you’d expect to see in a Wes Anderson -movie .

From left to right: Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray and Benicio del Toro on the red carpet for Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch”. © Mehdi Chebil, FRANCE 24

With its star-studded cast, the latter film was an instant highlight of the festival for the all-important red carpet photographers, although France’s Léa Seydoux – named the ‘queen’ of Cannes this year with no fewer than four films at the festival – was a no-show after contracting Covid-19.

‘We need a planet’

Two films were also screened Monday night from a brand new segment on climate change, part of Cannes’ efforts to put the ecological emergency at the heart of the pandemic’s aftermath. Among them was Rahul Jain’s ‘Invisible Demons’, a terrifying portrayal of the catastrophic pollution plaguing New Delhi, the director’s hometown.

Speaking to Jowharahead of the film’s premiere, Jain said it was high time major film festivals tackled such issues.

“For all the stories, all the wars and all the peace treaties, and all the romance and all the sports days, we need a planet,” he said. “So I’m really happy that this is finally happening. Anyone and everyone in a position of power and cultural proliferation should pay attention.”

Indian director Rahul Jain keeps Covid-19 and pollution at bay on the red carpet. His New Delhi pollution photo “Invisible Demons” was shown earlier on Monday. © Mehdi Chebil

Other photos adorning the new section include ‘I Am So Sorry’ by Chinese Zhao Liang, on the dangers of nuclear energy, and ‘Above Water’ by Senegal-born French actress Aïssa Maïga, who looks at the impact of nuclear energy. global warming in Niger.

“Cinema has an impact on our imagination, on our social ties and sometimes even on politics,” Maïga told Jowharearlier at the festival. “And in terms of climate change, I think it’s a great way to connect on a global scale. to do with the public, and it’s a great way to give the voiceless a voice.”

Making the red carpet greener

In addition to the new program, Cannes organizers have announced an environmental action plan to reduce waste and reduce the event’s environmental footprint.

Going green represents a delicate balancing act for a festival reluctant to throw a wet blanket at celebrations. Cannes knows it’s as much about the glamor as it is about the movies. It relies heavily on movie stars flying in from all over the world and on festivities that tend to generate mountains of trash.

A few years ago, a viral video posted by a local diver revealed a pile of rubbish along the seabed just a few hundred meters from the sandy beaches of Cannes. As a reporter noted upon closer inspection, the junk contained press kits for the festival’s forgettable 2014 opener “Grace of Monaco.”

As the glitziest stop in the movie world’s endless circus of festivals and parties, the Cannes Film Festival has long been an environmental hazard. It has also fallen behind other gatherings, such as the Berlinale, which recently launched red carpets made from recycled fishing nets.

This year’s Cannes red carpet will be half the size of 2019. © Alberto Pizzoli, AFP

To make up for it, this year Cannes has halved the volume of its famous red carpet and made it from recycled materials instead of the usual PVC. It has also banned plastic bottles, deployed a fleet of electric cars and instituted a contribution of €20 per participant to offset some of their carbon footprint.

‘Motivated by hope’

Similar steps need to be taken across the film industry, French writer and filmmaker Flore Vasseur told reporters on Sunday during a press conference at the Palais des Festivals, where documentary makers and environmentalists gathered.

“This industry does not have an extraordinary track record in this area,” Vasseur said. “We are all on a learning curve, we are all looking for solutions.”

Produced by Marion Cotillard, Vasseur’s documentary “Bigger than Us” follows Indonesian teenage activist Melati Wijsen as she travels the world to meet other young people fighting for climate and social justice. Vasseur said the young activists had pressured her crew to take steps, such as removing plastic from the set.

In a speech to Jowharlast week, Wijsen urged young people around the world to “don’t underestimate” their ability to mobilize and effect meaningful change.

“If you want to take action, do your homework, do your research: what’s local to you, what’s happening, what isn’t, and understand where you can play a strong role,” she said. “Remember that we are in this together, and that (…) we can create change together.”

Teen activists also take center stage in Cyril Dion’s “Animal,” which stars 18-year-old Briton Bella Lack along with veteran animal conservationist Jane Goodall.

“People believe that all young people are terrified and motivated by fear (…). I am actually motivated by hope and by imagination,” Lack told the press conference on Sunday. “That’s what the cinema industry and Cannes can do – as a means to stimulate the imagination of adults.”