Rithy Panh Resigns From Cannes’ TikTok Short Film Jury Citing Lack of Artistic Independence (Exclusive)
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The prestigious Cannes Film Festival’s sudden embrace of the TikTok era appears to have hit a rough patch.
Cambodian auteur Rithy Panh has resigned from his position as chair of the jury for Cannes’ inaugural TikTok short film competition (aka #TikTokShortFilm) after a disagreement over artistic independence.
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“After a persistent disagreement over the independence and sovereignty of the jury for the TikTok Short Film Festival, I have decided to step down from my position as president of that jury,” Panh said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
TikTok became an official partner to Cannes this year, and a key component of the social media company’s new involvement was the launch of the #TikTokShortFilm competition.
Panh, whose acclaimed films focus on the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, was to preside over a jury comprising three fellow art house filmmakers (Camille Ducellier, Basma Khalifa and Angele Diabang) and one TikTok star (Khaby Lame). TikTok’s international team had assembled a selection of competing shorts — videos between 30 seconds and 3 minutes in length, all created within the TikTok app and submitted by aspiring filmmakers from around the world. Panh’s jury was then to pick three winners for an awards ceremony to be attended by Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux.
Said Frémaux in conjunction with the competition announcement: “With this collaboration, which is part of a desire to diversify the audience, we’re looking forward to sharing the most exciting and inspiring moments from the festival and seeing the festival reimagined through the lens of TikTok creators and (the TikTok) community.”
The partnership has been a buzzy topic at this year’s festival, which famously maintains a ban on festivalgoers taking selfies while walking the red carpet. But as part of the new Cannes-TikTok alignment, the social platform invited 20 TikTok creators from different nations, including the U.S., to attend the fest, during which they will shoot, edit and post their authentic Cannes experiences. TikTok also has planned in-app programming for the duration of the festival, which runs May 17-28, including a 60-minute show (in English) that will combine prerecorded content with live moments from the red carpet, where hosts will be stationed to do interviews with celebrities. Questions (and quizzes) for those chats are said to be inspired by queries from the TikTok community.
The jury for the TikTok competition was put together by Éric Garandeau, former president of France’s National Film Board (CNC), who is now head of public affairs for TikTok in France and played a central role in the company’s groundbreaking agreement with Cannes. Garandeau previously helped secure the luxury brand Kering’s long-running support of Cannes.
It is now unclear if the TikTok short film competition even will go forward. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to organizers for comment.
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