Sean Penn is standing in solidarity with the writers guild, whose members are currently on strike to fight for better wages and work conditions in the streaming era.
“My full support is with the writers guild,” Penn said during Friday’s press conference for his latest movie “Black Flies,” which debuted in competition at Cannes Film Festival. “There are a lot of new concepts that are being tossed around, including the use of AI. And it just strikes me as human obscenity that there’s been a pushback on that.”
Penn also slammed the PGA as a “bankers guild,” saying “the first thing we should do in these conversations is change the Producers Guild and title them how they behave, which is the bankers guild. It’s difficult for so many writers and people in the industry who cannot work.”
A day prior, “Black Flies” premiered at the Palais, where it received a five-minute standing ovation. Directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and adapted from Shannon Burke’s 2008 novel, the story follows young paramedic Ollie Cross, who dreams of going to medical school. But he struggles to study as he is thrust into the intense and mentally taxing work of responding to emergency calls in Brooklyn. Penn plays a hardened veteran, who teaches Ollie the ropes as they drive through New York City.
“It was a way to understand the city and its inhabitants,” Sauvaire told the room of reporters. “It was a way to get into life of people and to mix the divide between documentary and fiction.”
Sauvaire spent nearly two years in the back of an ambulance in NYC to prepare, and almost all of the harrowing situations in the movie, from blood-soaked gunshot wounds to disturbing scenes of domestic violence and life-threatening pregnancies, were drawn directly from real life experiences.
“This immersive approach is crucial,” he told Variety prior to the film’s premiere. “If you don’t really know the reality of this job, it’s difficult to recreate it in a movie.”
At the press event, Sauvaire joked that his actors were so immersed in preparation, they’re able to act as real medics. “If you have a problem now, you don’t have to call 911, you can call Sean and Tye,” he said.
“Black Flies” is playing in competition at Cannes, where it competes for the Palme d’Or against Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” Todd Haynes’ “May December,” Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Monster” and more.