This is called ideal casting. With Greta Gerwig, director of the blockbuster “Barbie”, elected president of the jury for the 2024 edition, the Cannes Film Festival hit the mark. Through the American director, the largest film festival in the world affirms its ambition to combine international influence, cinematic standards and popularity, editorial independence and the fight for women’s freedom.
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Greta Gerwig continues to climb the peaks one after the other: after having succeeded with barbie the feat of the best start of all time for a film directed by a woman, after entering cinema history as the first female director to exceed a billion dollars at the box office with 1.4 billion recipes thus surpassing even legendary feats like Gone with the Wind of 1939, she will therefore rise to the top of world cinema in 2024 as the second director after Jane Campion, taking on the demanding role of president of the jury.
The press release sent this morning by Thierry Frémaux, general delegate, and Iris Knobloch, president of the Cannes Film Festival, does not hide the joy and pride of having convinced Greta Gerwig to take on this role: “ This choice is obvious as Greta Gerwig boldly embodies the renewal of world cinema of which the Cannes Festival is both the precursor and the sounding board each year. »
“ I am overwhelmed, enthusiastic and humbled »
An all the happier choice, because Greta Gerwig herself seems to be overwhelmed with happiness at finding herself for two weeks at the top of world cinema: “ As a film buff, Cannes has always been for me the pinnacle of what the universal language of films can represent. Putting myself in a state of vulnerability, sitting inside a dark room full of strangers to watch a new film, is my favorite thing. I am overwhelmed, enthusiastic and humbled to become president of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival. I can’t wait to find out what journeys await us ! »
The Cannes Festival is thus committed to supporting the director who shook up the film industry with an original approach combining both the demands of the 7th art and marketing, a cult and stereotypical doll with an innovative and feminist approach, while making a film that reaches as many people as possible.
Before becoming the new figurehead of world cinema, Greta Garwig, born in 1983 in Sacramento, was for a long time a sort of muse of independent American cinema, plowing her furrow with courage and perseverance. After remarkable collaborations as a co-writer for films like Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007), Nights and Weekends (2008), Frances Ha (2012) and Mistress America (2015), in 2017 she directed her first solo film. On the first try, she landed five Oscar nominations for Lady Birdthe story of a high school student who seeks to free herself from her mother, her social status and her city, discovering love, theater and university.
The existential questions of a woman today
At the heart of her second work are also the existential questions of a woman imprisoned by the codes of a patriarchal world. Doctor March’s Four Daughters seeks to change the way we look at women in the history of humanity. An approach that Gerwig pursues in a radical way with barbie, co-written with his partner Noah Baumbach. As a director, she transforms the doll, long considered the absolute woman-object, into a tool of emancipation and daring. Expelled from her country, Barbie Land, Barbie sets out in search of true happiness. The rest is known: the pink wave caused by Greta Gerwig will conquer the whole world. On the other hand, the film’s numerous innuendoes aroused controversies and even censorship in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam, the Philippines and China. Lines, supposed to signify drawings made by children to symbolize the border between Barbie Land and the real world, have been interpreted as calling into question the borders between real countries like Vietnam, the Philippines or China. In Arab countries also, Greta Gerwig’s feminist vision triggered blockages, notably in Algeria, Kuwait and Lebanon.
In other words, we can expect that Greta Gerwig, who is still the favorite in the race for the Oscars and the Golden Globes, will not be content with the prestigious, but often very silent, role of president of the jury, but that it also launches debates well beyond the Croisette.
► The 2024 Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 14 to 25, 2024.