Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the president of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival jury, expressed his opposition to Donald Trump’s calls for building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I’m not a politician,” Inarritu said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in the South of France when asked about Trump’s policies. “As an artist, I can express through my job and with my heart open what I think to be truthful. I think the problem is what is happening is the ignorance. People do not know, it’s very easy to manipulate.”
Inarritu said he tried to showcase the immigrant experience with his 2017 virtual reality film “Carne Y Arena,” which premiered at Cannes two years ago.
“We know how this story ends if we keep with this experience,” Inarritu said, referencing the start date of World War II. “We think we are evolving with the technology and the social media. It seems like every tweet is a brick of isolation and creating a lot of threat and paranoia.”
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Inarritu appeared on Tuesday afternoon with eight other members of this year’s Cannes jury, including directors Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite”), Kelly Reichardt (“Wendy and Lucy”), Robin Campillo (120 BPM), Pawel Pawlikowski (“Cold War”) and actress Elle Fanning.
Inarritu is the first Mexican born jury president in Cannes history. The Oscar-winning director of Birdman” and “The Revenant,” gave an impassioned speech about the importance of the theatrical experience.
“I’m a true believer to watch is not to see a film,” Inarritu said. “To watch is something. To see is another thing. To see is to not to experience. Cinema was born to be experienced in a communal experience.”
He added he didn’t think the streaming giant could ever entirely replace the theatrical experience.
“I have nothing against watching on a phone, on an iPad, on a computer,” Inarritu said. “But I know watching a film there is not the same … Netflix is doing a great job. It’s great that they exist on TV. Why not give people the choice to experience cinema?”
The rest of this year’s Cannes jury is made up of French artist and director Enki Bilal, Senegalese actress and director Maimouna N’Diaye and Italian director Alice Rohrwacher.
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