Cannes Chief Thierry Frémaux: Putin Will Not Win The War In Ukraine

The Berlin Film Festival has demonstrated reticence about addressing geopolitical matters, but Cannes leader Thierry Frémaux is showing no such hesitation, at least as regards the war in Ukraine.

“This war that Ukraine will not lose and Putin will not win,” Frémaux said of the full-scale invasion the Russian president launched against his neighbor in 2022. “And in any case, he already loses when there are filmmakers of such quality who make films of such quality [about Ukraine] to say what is the truth about this conflict.”

Frémaux’s remarks came Friday as he kicked off the announcement of the annual L’Oeil d’or Prize, which goes to the top documentary at Cannes. He saluted the president of the jury, Mstyslav Chernov, the Ukrainian filmmaker who won the Oscar for his 2023 documentary 20 Days in Mariupol. Chernov was shortlisted this past year for his follow up documentary, 2000 Meters to Andriivka.

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