Sawt Falasteen - Cannes Film Festival opens, grappling with AI and Hollywood

In its main competition, a total of 22 films are vying for the prestigious Palme d'Or prize for best film, which was won last year by the highly political Iranian movie "It Was Just an Accident" by Jafar Panahi.

But as usual in the build up to the world's biggest festival, off-screen talking points have dominated the conversation, most notably how to cope with changes wrought by artificial intelligence -- and Hollywood's decision to ghost the event.

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux came out strongly against AI and its effect on the industry where job losses are mounting for dubbing artists and translators, while writers and actors fear for their livelihoods.

"What is certain... is that here in Cannes, we stand with the artists, we stand with the screenwriters and we stand with everyone in these professions, with actors and voice actors alike," he told a news conference on Monday.

He suggested that in the future films could be given labels like those for organic food and wine, and "we will say 'this film has been made without artificial intelligence'".

Nonetheless, the festival announced Monday that it had signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with social media giant and AI technology investor Meta.

- Industry fears -

Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta is at the heart of a brewing controversy about the latest film from Oscar-winning "Traffic" director Steven Soderbergh, which will premiere in Cannes.

Soderbergh partnered with Meta to obtain AI-generated video of late Beatles songwriter John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono for his documentary "John Lennon: The Last Interview".

The use of AI was central to the 2023 strikes that shut down Hollywood, as actors and writers warned that unchecked technology threatened the industry.

Thousands of French actors and filmmakers warned in an open letter in February that AI tools were "plundering" talent across the industry, comparing them to a "devouring hydra".

Soderbergh is a rare Hollywood heavyweight in Cannes this year, with others such as Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan -- hoped for by organisers -- failing to appear on the programme.

- 'Come back' -

The world's biggest film festival typically spotlights independent, arthouse cinema while relying on Hollywood to provide a dose of mass-market entertainment.

But no major US studio agreed to launch a blockbuster this year, or at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, raising questions about why giants such as Universal, Disney or Warner are dodging European events.

"I really hope that the studios come back," Cannes director Fremaux said Monday, attributing their absence to scheduling issues and industry turmoil.

He stressed that American cinema was well represented, with "Paper Tiger" by James Gray starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, as well as "The Man I Love" by Ira Sachs featuring Rami Malek, in the main competition.

There will be no shortage of A-listers on the celeb-heavy red carpets.

A late addition to the programme includes a cast reunion to mark the 25th anniversary of "The Fast and the Furious", with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster set to appear at a special screening on Wednesday.

Plane-mad legend John Travolta will bring some stardust when he unveils his directorial debut, "Propeller One-Way Night Coach", about a young boy's journey in the "golden age of aviation".

The festival will open with a screening of French film "The Electric Kiss" before the main competition starts on Wednesday, judged by South Korean director Park Chan-wook and Hollywood heavyweight Demi Moore, among others.

"I cannot help but feel a sense of emotion, realising that for the first time a Korean has become the head of the jury," Park told AFP on Monday in Cannes.

"The moment has finally come."

N.Awad--SF-PST