Spielberg in Cannes: "A coherent and bold choice"

Steven Spielberg came only four times in Cannes. For his fifth, he comes to the Croisette as President of the Jury.

Steven Spielberg was chosen Thursday to preside over the jury of the 66th Cannes Film Festival , which takes place from May 15 to 26 While some expect to see only sci-fi or adventure, they may be disappointed. As the director of ET is a real movie fan, well beyond its registers feature films.

Gilles Jacob , President of the Festival, has made ​​a choice "coherent and bold" by Clement Safra, author of the Dictionary Spielberg . For him, the future president of the jury "will go to Cannes with great humility," and should not "put water in the mill rewarding film especially close to his universe." Vision confirmed by Thierry Fremaux , general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival. Asked about the contents of the selection of films, he replied flatly: "It does not change anything," he explained to micro RTL .

"Rewarding the cinema as an art"

In 2010, Tim Burton and his jury gave the Palme d'Or at the Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul for his film Uncle Boonmee , far removed from the world of Sleepy Hollow and other Edward Scissorhands . On the contrary: "The jury rewarded many films called 'popular' as Pulp Fiction , "recalls Michel Ciment.

For a film critic, "Steven Spielberg has no profile coincides with Cannes," and if it has not been rewarded, it is simply because he has "a lot of blockbusters that n ' have never needed to walk the Festival. "

For Steven Spielberg, this mission will be "a time when it will make an important choice," says Clement Safra. Because it has already supported filmmakers he enjoys producing them, just like JJ Abrams, "he will have the reward cinema as an art in its own right" when it is the jury president warns Safra.

A filmography of auteur cinema

And this art, he mastered the codes, techniques and machinery. "All his heroes are movie buffs or references to Hollywood," noted Clement Safra.

Unlike his appearances director of blockbuster science fiction, his filmography is rather indicative of a certain "art films," says Safra. For him, Spielberg meets the criteria of this film registry that are a "coherent work," "a director fully responsible for what appears on the screen" and "personal vision of the world."