Justine Triet won the Palm d’Or for her film Anatomy of a Fall, but her speech was not appreciated by the big wigs of France
Justine Triet, winner of Cannes 2023’s top prize the Palm d’Or, sparked controversy when she took a dig at French President Emmanuel Macron during her acceptance speech.
After Jane Fonda announced Triet as the winner on stage, the French director began by thanking her partners who worked on her winning film Anatomy of a Fall but, as per Variety, her speech segued into a political rant as she said that the French nation "was rocked by an unprecedented protest movement that was extremely powerful and unanimous against the pensions reform".
The "protest was denied and suppressed in a shocking manner, and this pattern of increasingly uninhibited dominating power is now at work in several areas; obviously socially is where it is the most shocking, but we also see it in all spheres of society, and the film industry hasn’t been spared", she said, causing cheers to erupt in the Lumiere Theatre.
She proceeded to put the onus on the "neo-liberal government" for playing a part in the "commodification of culture" and "breaking down the French model cultural exception".
Following her politically-charged rant, Triet toned it down a notch and continued: "This award is dedicated to all the young women directors and all the young male directors: All those who cannot manage to shoot films today. We must give them space, the space I occupied 15 years ago in a less-hostile world, where it was still possible to make mistakes and to start again."
Her speech did not go unnoticed as France’s Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak took to Twitter to blast Triet expressing that she was "flabbergasted by her speech so unfair".
Abdul Malak continued: "This film wouldn’t have seen the light of day without our French model of film financing which allows for a unique diversity in the world. Let’s not forget it."