Greta Gerwig Speaks on Cannes #MeToo and Strike Shake-Ups: It’s ‘Only Moving Everything in the Correct Direction’

Ryan Lattanzio
·4 min read
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Jury duty began Tuesday, May 14 for this year’s Cannes Film Festival competition panelists, led by president Greta Gerwig, the billion-dollar filmmaker behind “Barbie.”

Omar Sy, Eva Green, Lily Gladstone, Pierfrancesco Favino, Hirokazu Kore-eda, J.A. Bayona, Nadine Labaki, and Ebru Ceylan, along with Gerwig, convened at the Palais des Festivals for the annual opening day press conference. Tonight’s festival launches with the world premiere of Quentin Dupieux’s “The Second Act.” The jury will discuss, debate, and deliberate on films including Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada,” Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” Andrea Arnold’s “Bird,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” and more.

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But the 77th edition of the global leading film festival is on edge right now as Cannes stares down two major scandals plaguing the Croisette and the French film industry at large. There’s a looming potential strike from a labor collective calling itself Sous les écrans la dèch, demanding backdated unemployment benefits and better wages as labor law changes in France threaten to cut benefits in half.

Then, there is also the swirling rumor of a French film industry #MeToo wave erupting out of the festival and potentially interrupting programming. A list circulating has including leading French names as well as a filmmaker at the festival. Meanwhile, a late-breaking addition to the lineup included Judith Godrèche’s short film “Moi Aussi” to the Un Certain Regard opening night. The short highlighting stories of sexual violence against women comes from a filmmaker who has leveled multiple sexual harassment and assault complaints against French industry leaders.

The jury had to address questions about both issues, with inquiries directed mainly toward Greta Gerwig, who was seated next to Lily Gladstone.

“I certainly support labor movements and we’ve certainly gone through this now in our unions, and I hope the festival and the workers can form an agreement that is good for them and supports them and supports the festival because it’s very important that people have protections and a living wage,” Gerwig said when asked about the strike.

Regarding the rumors about a #MeToo outbreak happening at Cannes this year, Gerwig said, “People in the community of movies, telling the stories and trying to change things for the better, is only good. I have seen substantive change in the American film community, and it’s important to expand the conversation I think it’s only moving everything in the correct direction to keep those lines of communication open.”

Gerwig was asked by Chaz Ebert from the press pen whether it’s the jurors responsibility to consider such controversies, and global issues elsewhere, when deliberating on the best films in the competition.

“The marvelous thing about cinema is it’s a slow art form. As we were just saying, it can often take years for a movie from the inception to when you see it. Every time we watch a film, it represents years and years of work. It’s a durational art,” Gerwig said, with “hours, two hours, three hours in that space [where] artists from all over the world get to say something extremely specific and extremely personal from their point of view. Just the very act of watching cinema and engaging with it seriously is part of the discussion of what’s difficult. … It is very important to consider it and the nature of Cannes does consider it.”

Asked about why it’s taken France longer to resonate with the #MeToo movement than America, Gerwig said, “I can’t speak to the way timelines work with movements like this. I can say, it’s evolving, it’s a destination we all reach together. It’s something we’re going to keep discussing and figuring out how we want our industry and cinema to be. This is something that’s ongoing. I would say there were very many concrete changes that have happened in the American film industry. The one I always think of is the rise of intimacy coordinators, and that is not something when I was starting out that happened at all, and it’s now being built into films. I think of it in the exact same way as a stunt coordinator and a fight coordinator. It’s … [all] part of building a safe environment.”

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