The 2025 Cannes Film Festival is underway, and Chaz Ebert is on the ground to report on every development, including her breakdown of the opening days of the fest and Robert De Niro’s words as he received his honorary Palme d’Or. Watch the video and read the transcript below.
The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has begun, and we’re so glad to be back here in the South of France!
The sun is shining brightly on a highly anticipated slate of films, but all anyone can talk about on the street…in the cafés….and between screenings is what effect President Trump’s threatened tariffs on movies made outside of the United States will have. No one is quite sure what the impact will be not just on American films, but the entire motion picture industry around the world.
As he does every year just before the festival begins, Festival General Delegate, Theirry Fremaux, hosted an introductory press conference. He sidestepped a question about tariffs, stating that it was too early to know what might happen to the industry. But he did address a number of other issues including the rise of A.I. in filmmaking, the importance of gender parity in festival representation, and why so many filmmakers get invited back to Cannes year after year. Fremaux said the festival has a tradition of loyalty dating back decades. So although the majority of films in Cannes are from filmmakers selected by Cannes for the first time, the festival continues to support and honor returning filmmakers like the Dardenne brothers, making their 9th appearance at the festival this year with “The Young Mothers’ Home”.
Judging the Palme d’Or competition this year will be a jury headed by Juliette Binoche. She was asked about how she plans to lead the Jury as its President.
“Yesterday evening when I got into bed, I thought, what am I doing here? It’s a sort of an achievement because 40 years ago I walked the red carpet with a film by André Téchiné. I want to see the films. I want to share them. It’s a very strong desire to share them with other members of the jury, and I feel great gratitude.
I feel thankful to everybody, to people who have put together this festival. I feel very grateful indeed.”
Director Payal Kapadia, whose film All We Imagine as Light broke out in a big way at last year festival, talked about the importance of Cannes in helping to support international films.
“Coming here in Cannes and getting the recognition. Then all of you writing about it really helped us to get the film out, and that even the distribution in India was helped by that. So I, I’m really grateful that because the one thing as a filmmaker is that the film should be watched by the people in your own country and everywhere else.
So that was a really big bonus for me. And I am right now working on, two more films based on my city, which is Mumbai. So to have, like, a trilogy, but with different characters. It’s a city that is complex and full of contradiction. And it’s, there is a lot for me to explore still, and I need to get that out before I move on to anything else. Thank you.”
Jury member Jeremy Strong, Oscar nominated for his role as Roy Cohn in last year’s Cannes entry “The Apprentice”, was asked how he felt about the role of art and artists in today’s world.
“Roy Cohn I see essentially as the progenitor of fake news and alternative facts, and we’re 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. And 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 here doing this year is, in a way, a counterbalance, to to what Roy Cohn was, was doing last year.”
I posed a question to Halle Berry about her expectations for two weeks of non-stop cinema in Cannes.
“Is there any preparation? No, I don’t think there’s any preparation. And I think just being in film for 30 years, I do think I have a unique perspective. We all do. We all have a unique perspective. When we watch film, nobody, no one person owns the truth. All we will be able to do, the nine of us, is to give our own individual perspectives on all the movies that we’re going to see.
And I look forward to hearing what everybody else has to say. That’s the beauty that makes us human, is that we’re all different, and we all see things from our different cultural backgrounds, our family of origin, our age, our gender. And so I’m looking forward to the conversations and really seeing what brings us together, but also sometimes which those things that separate us because that’s also beautiful.”
She was also asked about the recent red-carpet rule changes that expressly prohibit nudity and excessively large dresses or long trains. That rule required her to change her red-carpet plans a bit.
“But I had an amazing dress by Gupta to wear tonight, and I cannot wear because the train is too big, so I 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 rule.”
The first red carpet event of the festival lead in to the opening ceremony where the festival produced a touching tribute to recently-deceased director David Lynch with photos from his life, clips from his career, and a touching song performed by Mylène Farmer.
The lifetime achievement Honorary Palme d’Or was presented to legendary actor Robert De Niro, after a touching introduction from Leonardo DiCaprio. De Niro thanked the community in Cannes, a community he feels thankful to be a part of. He also made some not-so-subtle comments about the current administration in Washington, and how he feels art and artists are under attack.
“In my country, we are fighting like hell for the democracy we once took for granted, and that affects all of us. That affects all of us here because the arts are democratic. Art is inclusive. It brings people together. Like tonight, art looks for truth. Art embraces diversity. And that’s why art is that is a threat. That’s why we are a threat to autocrats and fascists.
All these attacks are unacceptable. And this isn’t just an American problem. It’s a global one. I like a film. We can’t just sit back and watch. We have to act. And we have to act now without violence. But with great passion and determination. It’s time for everyone who cares about liberty, to organize, to protest. And when there are elections, of course, to vote, vote tonight and for the next 11 days, we show our strength and commitment by celebrating art in this glorious festival.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité.”
Finally, it was time to officially open the festival. And that job was handled by Quentin Tarantino… in the most enthusiastic way I think I’ve ever seen it done in all my years in Cannes.
“It is my honor to declare….The 78th Festival of Cannes to be officially open!”
The opening night film kicking off the festival was Leave One Day, the directorial debut from Amélie Bonnin. It’s the story of a former Top Chef winner, about to open her own gourmet restaurant, who is forced to go back home to deal with the people and places where she grew up.
The film is an unlikely musical with low-key songs popping up when you least expect them. I found it to be light and enjoyable. And I have to tell you that I could not get the film’s final tune out of my head.
That’s all for now, but we are just getting started! Be sure to join us next time as we fill you in on everything happening in Cannes including the early competition screenings, a three-film event dedicated to the war Ukraine, a new documentary about David Lynch, this year’s Immersive media competition, and the latest Mission: Impossible comes to Cannes. We’ll have all that, and so much more coming up. So throughout the festival, be sure to check in at RogerEbert.com for daily reports by our writers along with our regular video reports.
Until next time, au revoir!
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