In a surprise that many attendees did not expect at the opening ceremony of the 75th Cannes Film Festival, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared in a live video call from Kyiv – at a time when Russia continues its war on Ukraine – during which he told the audience: “We will win this war.”
“It is essential for cinema not to be silent,” Zelensky told the festival’s filmmakers and press, as well as many stars.
The cinema will not be silent
During his enthusiastic speech – which was translated directly into French and then into English – Zelensky sent several references to some famous films, including Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, a satire of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, produced in 1940, attacked strongly in this period because the United States had not yet announced its entry into World War II, and did not want to show hostility to Germany, which had already invaded several European countries.
The Ukrainian president called on filmmakers not to stand idly by during the war, and noted that “the most brutal dictators of the twentieth century loved cinema,” and ironically described the films produced regarding these tyrants as “horrific documentaries and news films,” adding, “The hate will disappear and the dictators They will die.”
“We need a new Chaplin that proves that the cinema of our time is not silent; today’s cinema is not silent, remember these words, the power they took from the people will return to the people,” Zelensky said in his surprise video call at the ceremony in Cannes.
Zelensky also referred to the 1979 film Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, which denounced the Vietnam War, quoting the harsh words of one of the main war-maniacs: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” noting that the invasion of Russia’s bombing of Ukrainian cities “also began in the morning.” President Zelensky’s speech received warm applause from the audience.
Ukraine, present absent
Before that, there were multiple references to the war in Ukraine throughout the movie evening, and actor Forest Whitaker – an honorary Palme d’Or – said during a speech, “Over the past two years, some of us have lost loved ones to the pandemic or been forced to flee to other homes safely due to invasions.” and wars, such as Ukraine.
The festival – which was canceled in 2020, and curtailed last year due to Covid-19 – has kicked off this year largely without pandemic protocols, and has focused its attention on the war in Ukraine, and several films from Ukrainian filmmakers are scheduled, including the director’s. Sergey Loznitsa, The Natural History Of Destruction, and Mariupol’s 2, a documentary regarding the tragic incident in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol last month presented by Lithuanian director Mantas Kvidaravicius.
The festival opened with the horror and comedy “Final Cut” by director Michael Hazanavicius, and the film was originally titled “Z”, but the director changed the name of the film following the Ukrainian Institute sent a letter to him and the festival explaining that “Z” had become a symbol of war. Russia has attacked Ukraine, and it is used in pro-Russian demonstrations.
“My film is made for joy, and I do not want it in any way to be directly or indirectly related to this war,” the director said in a statement announcing the name change.
The Cannes Film Festival is the most important cinematic event in the world; Film lovers and makers gather for 12 days of premieres of the most important films of the year, and the festival will continue from May 17 to 28, and honor the actor Tom Cruise, whose movie (Top Gun: Maverick) is scheduled to be shown at the festival. The official festival poster in honor of the 1998 movie “The Truman Show”.
