VIDEO. “To be alive and to know it”: Vincent Lindon’s intense and dedicated speech at Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival just rolled out the red carpet. For the launch of this 75th edition, Vincent Lindon, chairman of the jury, gave an intense, committed and hopeful speech. in these uncertain times.

This Tuesday, May 17, 2022, was the long-awaited launch of one of the essential events of the 7th art: the Cannes Film Festival. A total of 21 films are competing to succeed Titanium by Julia Ducournau, Palme d’or 2021. Vincent Lindon, great French actor awarded at Cannes in 2015 with the Interpretation Prize for his role in the film The law of the marketwas elected president of this 75th edition.

Vincent Lindon shocked the audience with his poignant speech at the opening ceremony last night. He said to himself “deeply moved, overwhelmed and proud” to represent the jury. In a moving forum, the French actor paid tribute to all those who “Suffering and Fighting in the World”† A deep thought for countries ravaged by war, such as Ukraine, Yemen or Darfur.

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Here is an excerpt from his speech:

“I am overwhelmed to lead this exceptional jury, chosen from among so many more deserving others. Shouldn’t we summon from this podium the torments of a bleeding planet, which suffers and burns in the indifference of the powers? But also the heroic and tortured Ukraine and its silent massacres that descend on Yemen or Darfur.”

“Should we use our fame, however modest, to speak loud and clear for the voiceless? I don’t have the answer… But I know that, like all those who have had the extraordinary fortune of experiencing their art, we are the small components of a great whole called culture.”

“Can we do anything other than the cinema, use this weapon of tremendous emotion, to awaken consciences and awaken indifference? I can not imagine […] Even if it’s like cutting a thimble on the hull of a ship filling up in waves. Our strength is that we believe in it and that your works are immortal. Even if the news sometimes crushes us and discouragement overtakes us, I wonder if we’re not dancing on the Titanic. Perhaps then, if we listened, perhaps in the midst of the noise, we would hear empires and nations like a soft and faint rustle of wings. The soft whisper of life and hope.”

“The time has come for artists, responsible filmmakers, to carry us, feed our imaginations and help us rehearse within ourselves when we can, in tribute to all those who suffer and fight in the world. To live and know.”

After this poignant speech, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke from Kiev. Broadcast live on the giant screen in the room, the President of Ukraine shared these few symbolic words: “The responsibility lies with one person. Our cities are not destroyed by computer graphics […] We need a new Chaplin.”

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