The Cannes Film Festival has chosen American filmmaker Greta Gerwig to preside over its 77th edition next May. Her latest film, Barbie, is a huge worldwide success, making her the most bankable director in Hollywood history. A figurehead of American auteur cinema, she embodies the hope of a revival in world cinema.
“I am overwhelmed, excited and humbled to become President of the Cannes Film Festival Jury. I can’t wait to discover what journeys await us,” says the talented Greta Gerwig in a festival press release.
An icon of the independent woman, the 40-year-old director, who has also written screenplays and acted in some 20 films, will succeed Sweden’s Ruben Östlund, whose jury awarded the Palme d’Or to Anatomie d’une chute, in 2023, from May 14 to 25.
She is the first American filmmaker to take on the role of President of the Cannes Film Festival Jury.
Her presence brings a touch of youth to the Croisette. Indeed, Cannes hasn’t had a younger president since Sophia Loren turned 31…in 1966.
Her role in this prestigious position, in which men are over-represented, is a remarkable one. She is the second American after actress Olivia de Havilland, the first female President of the Jury in 1965. And she is the second female director after Jane Campion in 2014.
“I love films deeply, she confides fervently in a festival press release. I love making them, I love going to see them, I love talking about them for hours. As a cinephile, Cannes has always been for me the pinnacle of what the universal language of film can represent.”
In less than fifteen years, Greta Gerwig has made her mark on American and international cinema. A native of Sacramento, California, and a New Yorker by adoption, Greta Gerwig, who dreamed of becoming a playwright, has followed a singular path, as coherent as it is risky, that has now consecrated her meteoric rise.
Representative of early feminism
Greta Gerwig was an obvious choice for Festival President Iris Knobloch and Managing Director Thierry Frémaux. “Greta Gerwig boldly embodies the renewal of world cinema. Beyond the 7th art, she also appears as the representative of an era that abolishes borders and mixes genres to make intelligence and humanism triumph.”
In fact, the film Barbie, released in July 2023, confronts the idol of little girls, both symbol of the woman-object and muse of emancipated women. In this ferocious satire on the human condition, Greta Gerwig nails ordinary male sexism and stereotypes with unabashed glee. It’s a journey back to the 60s, illustrating women’s struggle for moral, financial, cultural and sexual independence. An abysmal retrospective of how far we’ve come to 2024.
The film won over a very large audience, but also created controversy. Authorized in Saudi Arabia, but censored in Kuwait, Barbie highlights the divisions between Arab countries, between openness and conservatism.
Mattel’s famous doll was certainly shunned at the 81st Golden Globes ceremony, held in Los Angeles on January 7. Nominated nine times, the feminist satire Barbie had to settle for two awards. It received the brand-new Golden Globes for “Best Commercial Success”, which was logically awarded in view of its overwhelming dominance at the box office in 2023. She also won the award for “Best Original Song” (What was I made for you?).
Nevertheless, with this film, Greta Gerwig became the most bankable director in Hollywood history, the first to break the billion-dollar barrier ($1.44 billion to be precise, or 1.3 billion euros) at the global box office.
By appointing Greta Gerwig, the directors of the Cannes Film Festival are confirming their links with the powerful and inescapable American film industry.
Click here to read the full article on Luxus Magazine.
Featured photo : © Presse
