Cannes 2025: Jury Weighs in on Global Issues Instead of Cinema
The most glamorous Film Festival of the planet has rolled out its red carpet for the 78th time on the balmy night of May the 13th at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. The formidable jury is chaired by Juliette Binoche, includes American actress and filmmaker Halle Berry, Indian director and screenwriter Payal Kapadia, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani, as well as Congolese director, documentarist and producer Dieudo Hamadi, Korean director and screenwriter Hong Sangsoo, Mexican director, screenwriter and producer Carlos Reygadas and American actor Jeremy Strong.
The jury team appeared in full force on the green lawn of the Palais des Festivals for the photo call around lunchtime, ready to face whatever journalists may throw at them at the press conference. And throwing they did indeed.
The jury press conference has long become a competition of sorts between journalists for the most provocative questions. What should have been a celebration of cinema quickly turned into a political gauntlet as the distinguished jury faced questions that strayed far from the realm of film. From Trump’s tariffs to the Gaza conflict, from #MeToo convictions to Bond franchise speculation, the assembled press corps seemed determined to draw the jurors into the world’s most contentious debates.
Jury president Juliette Binoche found herself immediately fielding a question about the recent conviction of French cinema icon Gérard Depardieu, framed as a victory for the #MeToo movement. Binoche carefully acknowledged the progress being made: “For years the film festival has tried to boost the presence of women in the jury and in terms of films. Great progress has been made on this score.” She went on to note how the festival sometimes follows social trends and sometimes spearheads them, elegantly navigating what could have been treacherous waters.
The political questioning continued unabated when a Spanish journalist directed attention to former U.S. President Donald Trump‘s proposed tariffs on European films. Binoche, clearly uncomfortable with the geopolitical pivot, admitted, “I’m not sure I’m capable to answer that because it requires an analysis of the industry of cinema in the world.” She offered a measured assessment of Trump’s protectionist policies before delicately changing course.
Hollywood Meets Geopolitics
Halle Berry, the Oscar-winning American on the jury, found herself navigating questions about Saudi Arabian cinema despite limited knowledge of the region’s film output. When asked about Middle Eastern filmmaking, Berry acknowledged her limitations: “I can’t really speak that widely about movies coming from the Middle East.” She pivoted gracefully to observations about positive changes she’d witnessed during her visits to Saudi Arabia, particularly regarding women’s increasing voice in the region.
Berry was later asked about Amazon’s acquisition of the James Bond franchise and whether she might return as her character Jinx or even take on the 007 mantle. “I don’t know if 007 really should be a woman,” she responded thoughtfully. “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.”
The Politics of Silence
Perhaps the most charged moment came when journalists pressed the jury about an open letter circulating at the festival regarding the Gaza conflict. After an uncomfortable silence, Carlos Reygadas broke the tension: “I can answer, but I don’t feel very interested.”
Leila Slimani eventually stepped in with a philosophical response about cinema’s purpose in troubled times. “The role of the festival is to highlight artists and stories and characters to show human life in what is most horrible and most beautiful,” she offered. “Yes, there are many monstrous things in human life, but life goes on.”
Later, a journalist from Al Jazeera English directly asked Binoche why she hadn’t signed the open letter condemning the situation in Gaza. The jury president’s response was a masterclass in avoidance: “Um, you will maybe understand it a little later,” she said cryptically. When pressed further about her reasons, she simply stated, “I cannot answer you.”
Cinema as Counterbalance
Among the political manoeuvring, Jeremy Strong offered perhaps the most direct engagement with the intersection of film and politics. Referencing his role as Roy Cohn in “The Apprentice,” Strong reflected: “I think that this time where truth is under assault, where truth is becoming an increasingly endangered thing, the role of stories, of cinema, of art… the role of film is increasingly critical because it can combat those forces and the entropy of truth.”
Dress Codes and Sacred Monsters
The conference wasn’t without its lighter moments. A discussion of the festival’s newly codified dress code prohibiting nudity and voluminous dresses with long trains prompted a candid response from Berry: “I had an amazing dress by Gupta to wear tonight and I cannot wear because the train is too big. So, of course I’m going to follow the rules. Um, so I had to make a pivot.”
When the discussion returned to Depardieu’s conviction, a journalist referred to him as a “sacred monster” of cinema. Binoche took issue with the characterisation: “These are two words that bothered me. He’s not a monster. He’s a man who lost his aura owing to facts that occurred and were looked at by a court. A star in the cinema is a man, a king is a man.”
Art in Turbulent Times
As the press conference came to a close, one sensed both relief from the jury and a lingering question: When did film festivals become forums for solving the world’s most intractable problems? As the nine jurors prepare to evaluate 22 films in competition over the next eleven days, their challenge will be to focus on the art of cinema in a world determined to pull them into every conceivable political debate.
For now, they have weathered the opening salvo with diplomatic skill and occasional flashes of genuine insight. The real work—and hopefully more discussion of actual cinema—begins tomorrow.
The Jury will have the honour of awarding the Palme d’or to one of the 21 films in Competition. The winners will be announced on Saturday, May 24 at the Closing Ceremony, broadcast live by France Télévisions in France and by Brut. internationally.
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).
