Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the Cannes opening ceremony: “Cinema must not be silent”

The 75th Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off this evening with a thrilling opening ceremony, which culminated when Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared on video to address the Paley audience live from kyiv.

In his speech, Zelensky referred to the words of Charlie Chaplin The great dictator And the role of this film in the condemnation of Hitler during the Second World War; The 1940 photo “didn’t destroy a true dictator, but thanks to this film, cinema hasn’t gone silent,” he said.

The President of Ukraine continued: “On February 24, Russia started a great war against Ukraine with the intention of deepening Europe… Hundreds of people die every day. They will not stand up after the last applause … Will the cinema be silent or will they talk about it? If there is a dictator, if there is a war for freedom, again and again, it all depends on our unity. Can cinema escape this unity? … We need a new Chaplin who demonstrates that cinema is not silent in our time ”.

And he added: “To all those who say to me: ‘Do not despair; Hatred will eventually disappear and dictators will die. “We have to win this victory and we need cinema so that this ending is always on the side of freedom.”

Zelensky’s message was well received at the palace, where in front of his video, the lover of ceremonies, Virgin Ephraim, stressed at the 75th edition of Cannes: “Ukrainian directors, Russian dissident directors have their place, because there ‘it is a reality that destroys everything and imposes us, because there are voices that we must listen to ”.

State-funded Russian delegations are banned from the festival, but one film in competition tchaikovsky’s wife (Out tomorrow) Directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, an outspoken Russian dissident.

Prior to the opening ceremony, Forrest Whitaker was awarded the Palme d’Or for his work, having initially won the Best Actor award here at Clint Eastwood in 1988. bird. She recalled once when she said tonight: “The memories are back” 34 years ago and that “Cannes confirmed that I made the right decision”.

The evening also saw the presentation of a jury chaired by Vincent Lyndon, a devotee of French cinema and best 2015 male actor here. male sizeLike the star of the owner of last year’s Palme d’Or, Titanium. The public defended him.

Never before has there been so much attention on Cannes’ 75th anniversary, a special day dedicated to the stage on May 24th. Tonight, the opening ceremony of the prestigious film festival began with George Benson’s “Broadway”. But of course this is the opening tune of Bob Foss’ masterpiece. all that jazz Who won the Palme d’Or here in 1980. Maybe he was just saying, “Time to show, folks.”