French acting icon Juliette Binoche is the new President of the European Film Academy. But she doesn’t see this recent appointment as a job, rather a continuation of the work previously done by her predecessors Ingmar Bergman, the founder of the European Academy, Wim Wenders and Agnieszka Holland. For Binoche, this continuation lies in the importance of the Seventh Art, in providing it with room to grow and in allowing films to exist thanks to their originality and distinctiveness, “I think it’s important to gather and fight for our differences,” Binoche tells Fade to Her ahead of the 37th European Film Awards (7 December 2024).
“I’m learning as I’m going because I had no idea what it was going to be… It’s a process, and I’m just starting it,” she expands on her new role.
If we accept the fact that Hollywood Cinema and blockbusters are in crisis today, can we allow ourselves to believe the time has come for European Cinema to be more influential? Binoche certainly seems to be of the opinion that the world has always been in crisis and that Cinema is a wonderful way to convey this sentiment, “This year, European films work very well. So, it’s a good point on the big scale of movies… I’m always hoping that European films are going to have a stronger voice because we have very different artists and films that are not in the English language and [I’m hoping] that they can exist in different countries and be accepted,” she says.
Indeed, Binoche wishes that European films enjoyed a wider presence and higher representation on the global stage because it’s, according to her, European Cinema at its best. It’s European Cinema going against the grain, against the stereotypes and against the mainstream and embracing an auteur stamp, “That’s what I love about European films. It’s a very different way of telling a story, of showing a story, of using a camera, of using lighting, of editing. It’s so diverse,” she remarks.
She is proud to see there is a resistance in making one’s own film without multiple seals of approval and that is precisely what has always been the mark of European Cinema and continues to be, “I think that’s the strength of European films. We’re not making films out of a recipe. It really belongs to the person who’s made it and I think that’s quality,” she reflects.
In that sense, with the sad state of the world today, Cinema is for Binoche, together with the written word, the best art form to reflect and express the complexities of modern society along with its serious problems and more philosophical questions, “There’s the element of writing in films. You’re writing with the image, but you’re writing with words as well, and the editing is a language in itself. I don’t know if it’s the best one. I think that it can be, depending on who’s directing it,” she says.
Binoche is only the second female President of the European Film Academy. But to her, the gender of the Academy’s leader bears no importance. She does not think this should be a question at all, “So, as a symbol, the fact that it was Ingmar Bergman and whether he’s a woman or a man, I don’t think it matters,” she opines. “I think Wim Wenders could be a woman or a man, we don’t care. And, Agnieszka, I don’t think it was purposefully done [to elect] a woman. Well, maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think it was the idea.”
While the gender of the Academy’s leader is not a front row issue for Binoche, gender inequality in the film industry, on the other hand, is a whole different story. In that regard, she really does see a change, “At the Césars, I remember presenting the Best Actress Award and the five roles were written by five women and directed by five women. So, it really was so obvious that this need to have a feminine voice is very strong still,” she declares. “They’re very cautious in inviting, for example, students who want to get into Film Schools to be 50/50, and there’s more and more distributors, or TVs that are giving women their trust. So, I’m pretty optimistic.”
Moreover, Binoche says the conditions of actresses have changed in recent years thanks to the awareness of the abuse certain female thespians have faced on sets as well as the awareness of a lack of female helmers, “It’s a world of power, and you’ve got to use your intuition in saying yes or no. So, there’s no recipe for that. It was probably from my education that I was able to say no when it wasn’t right for me. And, you don’t know whether it’s your guardian angel protecting you or it’s your education.”
Binoche, who recently celebrated thirty years of The English Patient at the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival with a screening and the festival’s Honorary Alexander, finds it interesting to watch a film that was made many years ago. It’s a source of inspiration for her and a way to learn about forgotten stories. The same goes for the tribute screenings organized during the European Academy Awards in honor of the European Lifetime Achievement and European Achievement in World Cinema Award recipients, “Suddenly, seeing the best of the best of a period of time, the films that really stayed because they were really directed by artists and played by artists, then it’s nourishing you, and they’re inspiring,” she says. “It’s always interesting, I think, to be inspired and learn from past stories. But, at the same time, we’ve got to find the new insiders.”
Photo credits: European Film Academy.
