This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/movies/cannes-lineup-netflix-boycott.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Spike Lee and Godard Films to Compete at a Cannes With No Netflix | Spike Lee and Godard Films to Compete at a Cannes With No Netflix |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Cannes Film Festival on Thursday announced the lineup of movies vying for this year’s Palme d’Or. No Netflix titles were among them: After a disagreement last year, Cannes toughened its competition rules, and the streaming service announced on Wednesday it was boycotting the festival entirely. | The Cannes Film Festival on Thursday announced the lineup of movies vying for this year’s Palme d’Or. No Netflix titles were among them: After a disagreement last year, Cannes toughened its competition rules, and the streaming service announced on Wednesday it was boycotting the festival entirely. |
| This year’s Palme d’Or contenders include Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman,” about an African-American police officer who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan, and “Le Livre d’Image” (“The Image Book”) by Jean-Luc Godard, the pioneering filmmaker of the French new wave. Also getting its world premiere at Cannes, though outside the official competition, is “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” a spinoff from the franchise, directed by Ron Howard. The festival runs May 8-19, and the Australian actress Cate Blanchett is the chairwoman of the main jury. | |
| Last year, two Netflix movies were in the running for the top prize. But a rule now requires all competition titles to be released in French movie theaters. France protects its film industry through a system of subsidies and regulations, and one regulation forbids cinema releases from being streamed in the country on services such as Netflix for three years. | Last year, two Netflix movies were in the running for the top prize. But a rule now requires all competition titles to be released in French movie theaters. France protects its film industry through a system of subsidies and regulations, and one regulation forbids cinema releases from being streamed in the country on services such as Netflix for three years. |
| At Thursday’s Paris news conference, the festival’s artistic director, Thierry Frémaux, said he had asked to include two Netflix films this year: One in competition, which he did not name, and the other out of competition, the Orson Welles movie “The Other Side of the Wind,” which was unfinished at the time of his death and only completed in 2018. Mr. Frémaux said it was “a shame” that the Welles film in particular was being kept out of the festival, as the director had been a Palme d’Or winner and a jury president. | |
| Netflix announced its boycott of the festival in a Variety interview with its chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, published on Wednesday. | Netflix announced its boycott of the festival in a Variety interview with its chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, published on Wednesday. |
| “We want our films to be on fair ground with every other filmmaker,” Mr. Sarandos said. While Cannes would have allowed Netflix movies to be screened out of competition, accepting that offer would amount to “having our films and filmmakers treated disrespectfully at the festival,” he said, adding, “I don’t think it would be good for us to be there.” | “We want our films to be on fair ground with every other filmmaker,” Mr. Sarandos said. While Cannes would have allowed Netflix movies to be screened out of competition, accepting that offer would amount to “having our films and filmmakers treated disrespectfully at the festival,” he said, adding, “I don’t think it would be good for us to be there.” |
| Michel Abouchahla, publisher of the French movie trade magazine Ecran Total, said, “I think it’s a shame that a streaming service like Netflix, which makes good movies, should be absent in Cannes.” | Michel Abouchahla, publisher of the French movie trade magazine Ecran Total, said, “I think it’s a shame that a streaming service like Netflix, which makes good movies, should be absent in Cannes.” |
| “Children spend their time watching movies on their smartphones and computers, and only exceptionally go to movie theaters,” he said, adding that the French government was looking into shortening the delays, which he described as “a step in the right direction.” | “Children spend their time watching movies on their smartphones and computers, and only exceptionally go to movie theaters,” he said, adding that the French government was looking into shortening the delays, which he described as “a step in the right direction.” |
| In other signs of resistance to the internet age, Cannes has banned premiere attendees from taking selfies on the red carpet, and eliminated morning press screenings that allowed journalists to see movies hours before the official red-carpet gala — and potentially pan them on social media. | In other signs of resistance to the internet age, Cannes has banned premiere attendees from taking selfies on the red carpet, and eliminated morning press screenings that allowed journalists to see movies hours before the official red-carpet gala — and potentially pan them on social media. |
| At the news conference, Mr. Frémaux defended the selfie ban, saying the picture takers caused “a big mess” by holding up proceedings and even causing some tripping and falling on the steps. | At the news conference, Mr. Frémaux defended the selfie ban, saying the picture takers caused “a big mess” by holding up proceedings and even causing some tripping and falling on the steps. |
| Two other films in the competition are by directors who are banned from leaving their country: Iran’s Jafar Panahi presents “Three Faces,” which Mr. Frémaux described as “a road movie in present-day Iran,” and Russia’s Kirill Serebrennikov has “Leto.” | Two other films in the competition are by directors who are banned from leaving their country: Iran’s Jafar Panahi presents “Three Faces,” which Mr. Frémaux described as “a road movie in present-day Iran,” and Russia’s Kirill Serebrennikov has “Leto.” |
| Mr. Frémaux said a formal letter was being addressed to the Iranian government requesting that Mr. Panahi be allowed to attend the premiere of his film at the festival and return home. | Mr. Frémaux said a formal letter was being addressed to the Iranian government requesting that Mr. Panahi be allowed to attend the premiere of his film at the festival and return home. |
| Cannes has also come under fire in recent years for the absence of female filmmakers in the running for the Palme d’Or, and there were only three women in the official competition announced on Thursday: Eva Husson, with “Girls of the Sun;” Alice Rohrwacher, with “Lazzaro Felice;” and the Lebanese director Nadine Labaki, whose “Capharnaüm” depicts the everyday life of street children and migrants in the Beirut of today. | |
| “The films in the selection were chosen for their quality, and there will never be a selection based on positive discrimination,” said Mr. Frémaux. “Like everyone else, we regret the fact that there has only ever been one female Palme d’Or winner,” he added. | |
| Stéphane Delorme, editor in chief of the French film publication Les Cahiers du Cinema, welcomed the selection overall. | Stéphane Delorme, editor in chief of the French film publication Les Cahiers du Cinema, welcomed the selection overall. |
| “We were worried that the competition this year would look like previous competitions, with more or less the same names,” he said. “It’s a good sign to see a freshening up of the selection.” | “We were worried that the competition this year would look like previous competitions, with more or less the same names,” he said. “It’s a good sign to see a freshening up of the selection.” |