Cannes Film Festival: 'Necessary For Cinema Not To Be Silent', Says Zelenskyy, Receives Standing Ovation

Zelenskyy said that cinema shouldn't remain silent and that there's a need for a new Chaplin who had satirised Adolf Hitler in the film “The Great Dictator”.

New Delhi: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy kicked off the 75th edition of the Cannes film festival, with a satellite video message in which he launched a veiled attack on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as the war between both countries entered day 83. He urged young filmmakers to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin as Charlie Chaplin satirised Adolf Hitler in the film “The Great Dictator” in the early years of World War II, reported PTI.

Zelenskyy was streamed live for the formally attired audience who had gathered for the premiere of Michel Hazanavicius' zombie comedy “Final Cut”, after several musical performances and tributes.

We need a new Chaplin who will demonstrate that the cinema of our time is not silent, implored Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy, in an olive green shirt, drew a thunderous standing ovation and spoke at length about the connection between cinema and reality. He referenced films like "Apocalypse Now" by Francis Ford Coppola and Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" and said, "It's necessary for cinema not to be silent."

Zelenskyy quoted Chaplin's final speech in "The Great Dictator," which was released in 1940, and said, "The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people."

"We need a new Chaplin who will demonstrate that the cinema of our time is not silent." He further requested that cinema be “on the side of freedom”, added Zelenskyy while making an appeal to world cinema.

Set to screen are several films from prominent Ukrainian filmmakers, including Sergei Loznitsa's documentary "The Natural History of Destruction." Footage shot by Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravicius before he was killed in Mariupol in April will also be shown by his fiancee, Hanna Bilobrova.

Even Final Cut," the latest film from The Artist filmmaker Hazanavicius, was renamed from its original title, "Z" after Ukrainian protesters noted that the letter Z to some symbolises support for Russia's war in Ukraine.

The 75th Cannes Film Festival started on Tuesday, May 17 and will go on till May 28.