Invited Sunday in Europe 1, Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, took stock of the fortnight, between the coronation of Julia Ducournau and her film "Titane", and the particular health context in which the event.
INTERVIEW
At the end of a colorful edition, the Cannes Film Festival ended on Saturday evening with the closing ceremony and the revelation of the winners by Spike Lee and his jury.
And it was the French Julia Ducournau who won the Palme d'Or for her film
Titanium
, becoming the first woman to be awarded this prestigious prize since Jane Campion.
And beyond the films, this 74th edition marked the return of the Festival for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Europe 1, the general delegate of the Festival Thierry Frémaux took stock of this fortnight.
ANALYSIS - Cannes Film Festival: a shocking Palme d'Or for "Titane" and a sharp prize list
Asked about the blunder of the president of the jury Spike Lee, who announced the name of the winner of the Palme d'Or at the beginning of the evening instead of the price of male interpretation, Thierry Frémaux does not hold it against him.
"It proves that all of this is spontaneous, it's alive," he replies.
Titanium, "not a violent film"
But what does the general delegate of the festival think of the jury's choice to reward Julia Ducournau's shocking film, a choice that should not fail to make people talk? Claiming to be "happy" with this choice, Thierry Frémaux, on the other hand, does not think that the fact that no woman has been awarded a prize for 28 years could have influenced the decision, just as he does not see in this choice of a radical film a committed gesture on the part of Spike Lee. "I think it was the cinema that spoke. It's not really the idea of doing an act or of marking symbols by rewarding these films. I believe that it is films that they liked. "he said.
While
Titanium
also marked the spirits by its violence, the guest of Europe 1 "does not believe that it is a violent film".
"It's a different film, a genre film, a romantic film," he describes.
For Thierry Frémaux, this prize list "expresses well what cinema is today: a creative act. It is a way of putting it back in the heart of the world".
Covid: "People were careful"
While the holding of the Festival could give rise to fears of complications due to the health situation, the bet was rather successful. In the end, the event did not create a cluster. The Festival "took place under absolutely miraculous conditions", notes Thierry Frémaux. "We did between 3 and 5,000 tests a day, and there were only 4-5 positive tests ... This proves that people were responsible, that they were careful, and that neither the Festival, nor even no cinema hall in France or in the world has ever been a cluster as has been said. "