Cannes boss, Thierry Fremaux, was a guest speaker at the Goteborg Film Festival. He had some interesting things to say about cinema, festivals, and, most intriguingly, Netflix.
Fremaux, again, cited David Fincher as a filmmaker who left cinema to make platform movies. Here’s the exact quote:
He’s still a great filmmaker, but he doesn’t exist at the same level in our hearts and minds as in the past. He wants to work alone, quietly, making his films for platforms. It’s a different world. We miss him. We want him back in our world.
As you know, Cannes does not screen Netflix films, at least they haven’t since 2017 (“The Meyerowitz Stories” and “Okja”) which was the first and last time the streamer went on the Croisette. I was there, at screenings for both of those films, and when the Netflix logo appeared before the film began, a loud chorus of boos could be heard from the audience.
These comments from Fremaux parallel what he had previously stated about Fincher — he’s of the belief that Fincher and cinema no longer co-exist:
Fincher has left cinema. Fincher now works for streamers where he’s directing incredible stuff. I tried to explain this to him, modestly, obviously, that he doesn’t exist anymore. At least for us. For reasons left up to his own liking, he wants his creative freedom, he doesn’t want to fight with studio heads, his films tend to be very expensive, but I’d love for him to come back to cinema. He’s one of the greats.
I actually did not know that Cannes does not screen Netflix products.
