Inside Cannes Film Festival's Closing Night; Plus Renate Reinsve on 'Fjord' - The Screen Podcast

Why It Matters

Cannes’ selections now directly shape the Oscar race and expose power struggles in French media ownership, influencing financing and global distribution of European films.

Key Takeaways

• Cannes closing night blended glamour with subtle political undercurrents.
• Palme d’Or went to Norway’s “Fjord,” sparking Oscar eligibility debate.
• Canal Plus controversy over Bolloré’s control dominated industry discussions.
• Multiple directors shared Best Director prize, highlighting Cannes’ collaborative spirit.
• Emerging talent like Girl in Red and Renate Reinsve stole spotlight.

Summary

The Screen Podcast episode recaps Cannes 2024 closing night, highlights the Palme d’Or win for Norway’s “Fjord,” and features interviews with Norwegian newcomers Girl in Red and Renate Reinsve.

Rebecca Lefler notes the ceremony’s mix of glitz and subdued politics, mentions the Bolloré‑Canal Plus dispute, the shared Best Director award, and the surge of sales deals as the market re‑opens after a chaotic previous year.

Renate Reinsve reflects on “Fjord’s” clash between liberal Norway and conservative Christianity, while Lefler cites Xavier Dolan’s joke about needing two Palmes and the audience‑prize win for “I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning” in Directors’ Fortnight.

The win makes “Fjord” the first Palme d’Or eligible for the Best International Feature Oscar under new rules, signaling Cannes’ growing role as an Oscar springboard and underscoring the tension between auteur cinema and commercial viability for distributors like Neon.

Original Description

In this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, the team debriefs on Cannes Film Festival’s closing ceremony and awards, and chats to Norwegian actresses Renate Reinsve, star of Palme d’Or winner Fjord, and Marie Ulven, star of Directors’ Fortnight title Low Expectations.

First, host Wendy Mitchell is joined by Screen’s France correspondent Rebecca Leffler to take us inside Cannes’ closing night activities, including the best speeches, in-the-room reactions and the afterparty.

”Politics were there, but they didn’t overpower like in Berlin,” Leffler said. ”There were obviously more subtle statements with political undertones. But I think both the films and the prizes reflected this idea that, yes, the world is bad, there’s suffering, but we can still have a little bit of hope.”

Then Mitchell speaks to Reinsve and Ulven on the ground in Cannes about how their friendship began over a bottle of tequila, being at the festival with their respective films, and what it’s like to work with Anders Danielsen Lie.

“It was the easiest character to watch because she’s so different than me,” said Reinsve of the conservative Christian mother she plays in Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord. “She lives the opposite life from me. And the form that the director uses is so objective – he places the camera far away and, 30 percent of the time, my character is out of focus.”

The Screen Podcast is produced by Ellie Calnan, with Wendy Mitchell serving as editorial director. New episodes every Thursday.