Update: During the Cannes opening ceremony, Juliette Binoche answer “you will maybe understand it a little later” to a reporter at the official jury press conference made more sense. In her introductory remarks, Binoche noted, “In every region of the world, artists are fighting every day and make resistance into art. On April 16, at dawn in Gaza, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna and 10 relatives were killed by a missile that hit their home. The day before, she had learned that the film she features in had been selected for Cannes. She should have been here tonight with us.”
It is still unclear why Binoche did not sign the open letter, but perhaps that will change or be revealed in the days ahead.
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CANNES – Film and television press conferences are, for the most part, non-starters. Moderators and press, not looking to ruffle feathers, usually ask cupcake questions, staying on topic. The global press at Cannes is a different beast. There are reporters from the New York Times, Washington Post, and major trade publications in the audience who would never attend one of the aforementioned press Q&As. The jury for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival was likely hoping the questions raised would be on the softer side. They were not, and finding herself at the center of all of it was Jury president Juliette Binoche.
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Today, legendary French actor Gérard Depardieu was found guilty of sexual assault and given an 18-month suspended sentence. Binoche took issue with a reporter describing “The Green Card” star as a “Monster.”
“He’s not a sacred monster, he’s a man who lost his aura owing to facts that occurred and were looked at by a court,” Bionche said. Adding, “A star in the cinema is a man. For me, what is sacred is when something happens. When you create. When you act. When you are on stage. We have no grasp of the sacred. He’s no longer sacred, that means you need to think hard about the power wielded by certain people and the power should be elsewhere.”
Yesterday, a group of over 350 movie and television industry figures signed a letter condemning the killing of Fatma Hassona, a Palestinian photojournalist, in an Israeli airstrike. Hassona will be the subject of the new documentary “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk.” Some of the notable names who signed the letter included Ralph Fiennes, Melissa Barrera, Yorgos Lanthimos, Javier Bardem, Hannah Einbinder, Pedro Almodóvar, David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Leigh, Alex Gibney, and Viggo Mortensen. A reporter for Al Jazeera English asked Binoche, who is usually outspoken politically and is the president of the European Film Academy, why she had not signed the letter.
Binoche took a brief moment to consider and then responded, “You will maybe understand it a little later. So, what is your specific question?”
The journalist clarified, “My question is, was there a reason you chose not to sign this letter? You are well-known for speaking out about a variety of causes that are close to your heart. Was there a reason for you not to sign this letter?”
“Yeah,” Binoche replied.
The reporter followed up, “Would you share it with us? Would you share what the reasons behind it were?”
After an awkward pause, Binoche replied, “I cannot answer you.”
It’s possible Binoche did not want to give away a moment from tonight’s opening ceremony, which will be broadcast on French Television. It’s also possible she was simply unprepared for the topic. Whatever the case, the awkward interaction was a reminder of how being on the Cannes jury can put someone in the political spotlight. Earlier, Binoche was asked about the threat of tariffs on international film production by the American president.
“I am not sure I’m capable of answering that because it requires an analysis of the industry of cinema in the world,” Binoche said. “And I understand President Trump is trying to protect, and we understood that from the beginning. He was trying to protect his country. But for us, I mean, we have a very strong community of filming on our continent in Europe. So, I don’t know what to say really about that. I think that we can see that he’s fighting and he’s trying in many, many different ways to save America and save his ass.”
Jeremy Strong, who just earned an Oscar nomination for portraying Roy Cohn, Trump’s one-time mentor, in “The Apprentice,” also spoke up about the threat the film industry and the world is facing.
“I couldn’t be here with the film last year. I was doing a play in New York,” Strong notes.
But I think ‘The Apprentice,’ the film that you’re referencing, really underlines the stakes that we were talking about a few minutes ago. Roy Cohn, I see, essentially as the progenitor of fake news and alternative facts. And we are living in the aftermath of what I think he created. I think that this time where truth is under assault, where truth is becoming an increasingly endangered thing, that the role of stories, of cinema, of art, but here specifically at this temple of film, the role of film is increasingly critical because it can combat those forces and the entropy of truth and it can communicate truths, individual truths, human truths, societal truths, and affirm and celebrate our shared humanity. So, I would say that what I’m doing here this year is, in a way, a counterbalance to what Roy Cohn was doing last year.”
Yes, a very Jeremy Strong answer.
This is only Halle Berry’s second time at the Cannes Film Festival (she noted she is a regular at Cannes Lions, a confab on global communications and advertising), and her first official press conference. You could tell she was attempting not to roll her eyes when asked if her character Jinx from the James Bond movie “Die Another Day” could get a spin-off series or movie now that Amazon MGM Studios have full control of the franchise. She was even asked if she would be interested in playing a new incarnation of Bond.
“I don’t know if 007 really should be a woman,” Berry says. “I mean, in 2025, it’s nice to say, ‘Oh, she should be a woman,’ but I don’t really know if I think that’s the right thing to do. And no, I doubt there’ll be a Jinx spinoff. There was a time that that could have happened. Probably should have happened. I would’ve loved for that to happen, but I think that time has passed.”
Berry was also asked about the clarified red carpet standards revealed by the festival this morning. Moving forward, nudity is not allowed (it never really was), and gowns can no longer be volumous (whatever that means). Berry noted, “I had an amazing dress by Gupta to wear tonight, and I cannot wear it because the train is too big. So, of course, I’m going to follow the rules. So, I had to make a pivot. But the nudity part, I do think, is probably also a good view.”
The 2025 Cannes Film Festival will run from May 13 to 24. Look for continuing coverage, including previews, interviews, and reviews on The Playlist.
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