Cannes jury head Inarritu slams Trump’s wall calls

Cannes (IANS) – Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, President of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival jury, has expressed his opposition to US President Donald Trump’s calls to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.

He expressed his views at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon at the Cannes gala, reported variety.com.

“I’m not a politician,” Inarritu said when asked about Trump’s policies.

“As an artiste, I can express through my job and with my heart open what I think to be truthful. I think the problem is what is happening is the ignorance. People do not know, it’s very easy to manipulate,” he added.

Inarritu said he tried to showcase the immigrant experience with his 2017 virtual reality film “Carne Y Arena”, which premiered at Cannes two years ago.

“We think we are evolving with the technology and social media. It seems like every tweet is a brick of isolation and creating a lot of threat and paranoia,” he said.

Inarritu attended the press event with eight other members of this year’s Cannes jury, including directors Yorgos Lanthimos, Kelly Reichardt, Robin Campillo, Pawel Pawlikowski and actress Elle Fanning, reported variety.com.

Inarritu, who is the first Mexican-born jury President in Cannes history, won an Oscar for “Birdman” and “The Revenant”.

He also opened up about the importance of the theatrical experience.

“I’m a true believer… to watch is not to see a film. To watch is something. To see is another thing. To see is to not to experience. Cinema was born to be experienced in a communal experience,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think streaming giants could ever entirely replace the theatrical experience.

“I have nothing against watching on a phone, on an iPad, on a computer. But I know watching a film there is not the same… Netflix is doing a great job. It’s great that they exist on TV. Why not give people the choice to experience cinema?”

–IANS
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