Taiwan Actor Serving as Cannes Film Festival Juror|71屆坎城影展 台灣演員張震擔任評審

The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival opened on May 8. Academy Award-winner Cate Blanchett is serving as this year's jury president. The jury also includes Taiwanese actor Chang Chen. The festival has banned selfies this year, which has created tensions between the guests and the organizer.


We declare the 71st Cannes International Film Festival is now open!

Film director Martin Scorsese and actress Cate Blanchett declared the opening of the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival. Blanchett is serving as the jury president in this edition. The jury includes Taiwanese actor Chang Chen.

Please welcome Chang Chen!

During the jury press conference, Chang said his most important function as a juror is his identity as an ethnic Chinese actor. He expressed a willingness to share how films are watched in eastern culture.
There are four Asian films at this year's festival. However, I feel that as a juror, I should still view them as I do any other film, instead of focusing on the fact that they are Asian films. I believe that compared to western culture, eastern culture is more special and tends to repress emotions more. It expresses things differently. Perhaps I can serve as a catalyst on the panel. If you don't understand something, you can come ask me.

Eighteen films were selected to compete for the festival's top prize. Two of the films, "3 Faces" by Iranian director Jafar Panahi and "Summer" by Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, touch on taboo issues and the two directors were not permitted by their home countries to travel to France for the festival. Blanchett said she doesn't believe politics should influence films.

It's a terrible situation, that two of the filmmakers will more than likely not be here with us when their films are being screened.

Other members of the jury panel include American actress Kristen Stewart and French actress Lea Seydoux. The opening film was Spanish film "Everybody Knows," which was directed by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi. In other news, selfies are banned during this year's Cannes Film Festival. Tickets state that cameras are forbidden on the red carpet and screening rooms, which was criticized as "going to far" for the supposedly celebratory occasion. The selfie ban also created tensions between guests and the army of security guards on the red carpet.