In his speech at the opening ceremony of the 75th Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the world needs a new Charlie Chaplin.
In a live broadcast, the Ukrainian leader drew attention to the situation in his country, which was the target of the war launched by Russia on February 24, and emphasized that his government would continue the “struggle” because there was “no other option”.
“I’m sure the ‘dictator’ will lose,” he said, referring to the Charlie Chaplin movie and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We need a new Chaplin to prove that today’s cinema is not silent,” he added.
According to Zelensky, “the cinema should not remain silent” and that “hatred will eventually disappear and dictators will die”. He stressed, “We are in the war of freedom,” and received much applause.
In his speech, the Ukrainian president also talked about the production of “Apocalypse Now” and referred to the documentary Mariupolis 2, the out-of-competition film by director Mantas Kvedaravicius.
The filmmaker who shot “Mariupolis” in 2016 returned to Ukraine at the beginning of the war to meet the artists of his first production, but was captured and killed by the Russian army in Mariupol.
Before becoming president, Zelensky worked as an actor, starring in “Servant of the People,” a satire on Ukrainian television leading up to the 2019 election as Ukraine’s leader.
The Cannes Opening Ceremony was hosted by Belgian actress Virginie Efira and is already “Coupez!” He showed the movie. (“Cut” in its free translation), by French director Michel Hazanavicius. 21 productions will compete for the Palme d’Or at the festival, which will last until 28 May.
source: Noticias
