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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 21, 2023)
June 21, 2023 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 5 By Carla Hay, NABJ Black News & Views T he annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, has a reputation as one of the most glamor- ous and prestigious film festivals in the world. But the ugly truth is that Black artists are perpet- ually underrepresented. That pattern continued for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, which took place May 16 to May 27. Consider: • Out of the 21 films that competed for the Palme d’Or, the festi- val’s grand prize, only one was from a Black director: Ramata-Tou- laye Sy, for her fea- ture-film directorial debut “Banel e Adama,” a romantic drama set in Senegal. Sy, who is French-Senegalese, is only the second Black female director in Cannes Film Festival history chosen to com- pete in this category. • It wasn’t until 2019 that the Cannes Film Festival chose a Black female director to be in the feature-film com- petition for the Palme d’Or: Mati Diop, also • • • • • French-S enegalese, for “Atlantics (Atlan- tiques),” which won the Grand Prix Award, the equivalent of second place in the competi- tion. There was only one Black winner for the 2023 Cannes Film Fes- tival Awards: Balo- ji, who won the New Voice Prize for his fea- ture-film directorial debut, “Omen,” a movie about witchcraft in Af- rica. Baloji was born in Congo and lives in Bel- gium. There was only one Black person on the nine-member 2023 Cannes Film Festival grand jury: Rungano Nyoni, a Zambian-Brit- ish filmmaker, who is best known for her 2017 drama “I Am Not a Witch,” which pre- miered at the Cannes Film Festival that year. A Black director has still not won the Palme d’Or. A Black director has still not won the Best Director prize at the festival. Oscar-winning film- maker Spike Lee is the only Black person so far to be chosen as president of the Cannes Film Festival grand jury. He served as jury president in 2021. Lee was original- ly selected for this po- sition in 2020, but the Cannes Film Festival was canceled that year due to COVID-19. The Cannes Film Festi- val did not respond to re- quests from Black News & Views for comments on the low representa- tion of Black filmmakers at the festival and other race-related issues in- volving how Black peo- ple are treated by the Cannes Film Festival. Lee, who is outspoken about civil rights issues pertaining to Black peo- ple, also did not respond to a Black News & Views’ request for comment on how the Cannes Film Festival handles rep- resentation of Black filmmakers. As of this writing, two movies di- rected by Lee have had their world premieres at the event: 1989’s “Do the Right Thing” and 2018’s “BlacKkKlansman.” The latter film won the festi- val’s Grand Prix Award. “Banel e Adama” direc- tor Sy told the French PHOTO BY SCOTT GARFITT/INVISION/AP Arts & Entertainment A Sunny, Idyllic Version Of 1960s Alabama Black Filmmakers Say Melanin- Challenged Cannes Film Festival Can Do Better Mamadou Diallo, from left, director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, and Khady Mane pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘Banel & Adama’ at the 76th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 20, 2023. newspaper Le Monde: “I am very proud to represent Africa at Cannes. And I am happy that there are so many of us this year. But we shouldn’t have to count African filmmakers, that should be the norm.” It should be noted that although the Cannes Film Festival had six feature films from Afri- can directors this year, four of those movies are from African filmmakers who identify as Arab, not Black. These filmmak- ers are “’The Mother of All Lies” director Asmae El Moudir, who is from Morocco; “Les Filles d’Ol- fa” director Kaouther Ben Hania, who is from Tunisia; “Les Meutes” director Kamal Lazraq, who is from Morocco; and “Goodbye Julia” di- rector Mohamed Kordo- fani, who is from Sudan. “Goodbye Julia” is the first movie from Sudan to be selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Compared to other high-profile internation- al film festivals, where Black directors make up at least 15% of awards contestants, the Cannes Film Festival has been slow to include fair rep- resentation of Black film- makers. Read the rest of this story at TheSkanner.com
