<\/p>\n
\n The actress co-founded the Displacement Film Fund, the initiative behind Mo Amer\u2019s and Bao Nguyen\u2019s next films. When I try to enter a room at the top of the Palais to interview Cate Blanchett, a Cannes Film Festival<\/a> employee stops me. I explain that I\u2019m here for an interview, and she looks at me with a distinctly French mix of pity and disdain that I have come to know quite intimately. \u201cIt is not <\/em>possible,\u201d she says, shaking her head. \u201cIt\u2019s with Cate Blanchett,\u201d I say. She immediately lets me through.<\/p>\n If merely speaking Blanchett\u2019s name aloud carries enough weight to alter the inexorably random but iron-clad rules of Cannes, imagine how much weight it carries if you\u2019re a filmmaker. That\u2019s part of the idea behind the Displacement Film Fund<\/a>, which Blanchett co-founded alongside the International Film Festival Rotterdam to champion and fund the work of displaced filmmakers or \u201cfilmmakers with a proven track record in creating authentic storytelling about the experiences of displaced people.\u201d This week, Blanchett unveiled the year\u2019s grant recipients: Mohammed \u201cMo\u201d Amer, Annemarie Jacir, Akuol de Mabior, Bao Nguyen, and Rithy Panh.<\/p>\n A day after her delightful chat at the festival,<\/a> where she talked about everything from Carol <\/em>to T\u00e1r<\/em> to a long fable about assholes that was once told to her by Guillermo del Toro, I sat down with Blanchett \u2014 clad entirely in off-white, including a pair of platform loafers \u2014 to talk about the fund as well as follow up on some of the above. We were accompanied by Vietnamese American filmmaker Nguyen, whose film How to Ride a Bike <\/em>follows a Vietnamese dad who never learned to ride a bike but, after a failed attempt to teach his son to do so, begins learning in secret, and Amer, the Palestinian American comedian, writer, and director behind Mo<\/em><\/a> <\/em>on Netflix, whose new project Return to Sender <\/em>follows a Palestinian stand-up and refugee who experiences progressively senseless immigration restrictions while on a global tour.<\/p>\n I love those shoes.<\/strong> What conversations were you having that led to you starting this fund?<\/strong> That was the genesis of the idea, and we set about getting support. I\u2019m old friends with Clare Stewart, who runs Rotterdam, so I spoke to them and it was very much in line with their mission. It just seemed there was a synergy between all of these big public organizations but also private individuals, corporate partners, and filmmakers. We thought, We\u2019ll treat it more like a small version of the MacArthur Genius Grants.<\/em> It\u2019s not thrown open for wide submissions. We really wanted to make sure we were supporting midstream experienced filmmakers, presumably who wanted to get their stories into the main frame, and not to ghettoize them. And the guys at Film Forum have kindly offered to host the first cohort and have a qualifying round and a week of screenings in New York sometime in the fall.<\/p>\n Why these filmmakers, and how did you let them know they were selected?<\/strong> Mohammed Amer:<\/strong> I said \u201cno.\u201d I was like, \u201cJust stop calling.\u201d<\/p>\n C.B.: <\/strong>Lots of fruit baskets.<\/p>\n M.A.:<\/strong> No, I got the call and clearly I\u2019m a big fan of Cate\u2019s work. It became an easy \u201cyes\u201d to cram it into my life. It\u2019s one of the most important things I\u2019ll do this year. You\u2019re leaving behind a body of work that hopefully inspires others that are trying to break through as well. To be part of this collective is an absolute privilege. When she called, I was like, \u201cI\u2019m in.\u201d<\/p>\n Bao Nguyen:<\/strong> We have a mutual friend, Ke Huy Quan, who\u2019s an amazing friend and artist and comes from a Vietnamese refugee experience. I\u2019ve always been trying to find a project to work on with him, but he\u2019s the busiest guy in showbiz after winning an Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once<\/em>. We\u2019ve been yearning to tell this story of the Vietnamese American experience in a more nuanced way, not just as, like, boat people or through the lens purely of the war. When he told me he was talking to Cate about this initiative, I had all these stories floating around in my brain and this year they asked me if I was available. I planned the schedule of the film: Finish shooting by August, give the footage to my editor, get married, and they can come back with a rough cut while I\u2019m gone.<\/p>\n M.A.:<\/strong> He\u2019ll use the funds for his honeymoon.<\/p>\n B.N.:<\/strong> I promised my fianc\u00e9 I wouldn\u2019t be working \u2026 But it\u2019s sadly rare to get the opportunities to tell these deeply personal stories with a lot of agency and little restraint, to have the financing and support of an artist I admire so much like Cate. I\u2019m always trying to negotiate that too \u2014 trying to have impact and what that means. Maybe I\u2019ll move my wedding if I need to.<\/p>\n C.B.:<\/strong> Just change the pitch to a wedding film.<\/p>\n Cate, yesterday at your talk you spoke about a tool you\u2019ve co-founded that helps artists consent, or not, to usage of their work for AI. I\u2019m curious what your own personal level of consent for AI is. <\/strong> You also said something that made me laugh about how you still have moments where you wake up at 3 a.m. and stare at your wardrobe and think about killing yourself rather than going to work. When was the last time you felt that way, and how do you get yourself out of it?<\/strong> M.A.:<\/strong> Did somebody say gummies?<\/p>\n C.B.: <\/strong>Look, the world is an anxiety-making place at the moment. There\u2019s a lot of people waking up at 3 a.m. But when you have an idea about something, and a whole lot of other people adhere to that idea, it\u2019s really enlivening. I was with someone the other day who said, \u201cWe can\u2019t just have hope. We have to have hope with its sleeves rolled up.\u201d So it\u2019s like you\u2019re looking at the wardrobe, and you\u2019re thinking, It\u2019s gonna be now<\/em>, but you have to have hope. Not in a Pollyanna-ish way. There\u2019s much to do. Get on and do it. The act of doing, collectively, you gain strength. The next night you sleep a little better.<\/p>\n It was nice to hear that even you still feel like you have no idea what you\u2019re doing. <\/strong> M.A.: <\/strong>I say this all the time but making season two of Mo<\/em>, I feel like I died and was reborn several times. It\u2019s part of making great art \u2014 it\u2019s part of living \u2014 juggling all of these things.<\/p>\n C.B.: <\/strong>It\u2019s when the stakes are high, the anxiety is high. We all want to work with high stakes, because then you\u2019re risking something. If you\u2019re not risking anything, everything tastes like rehydrated potatoes.<\/p>\n I loved your story yesterday <\/strong>about the asshole<\/strong><\/a> \u2026<\/strong> How involved are you personally in these films?<\/strong> C.B.:<\/strong> Part of the caveat was that there had to be a role for an aging white actress <\/em>[laughs<\/em>] <\/em>in your displacement narrative. No, we\u2019ve talked a lot about creative freedom. They all come with their producing partners and we\u2019re here to help when they need.<\/p>\n B.N.: <\/strong>It\u2019s so rare to be given that freedom. I enjoy the challenge of that agency and having that prompt \u2014 \u201cYou\u2019re from a displaced community. That\u2019s it. You don\u2019t have to emphasize it as a theme.\u201d Given that sort of canvas, what do I think is a story that hasn\u2019t been told before?<\/p>\n Another topic in the air right now is the strange lack of Hollywood and studio films at Cannes this year. What do you make of that?<\/strong> B.N.: <\/strong>Cinema is still breathing and alive when you come to a place like this. When people ask me about the industry, I\u2019m like, \u201cCome to Cannes, watch a movie! Clap for six minutes!\u201d That\u2019s all the energy I need to fuel me for the end of the year.<\/p>\n Thierry Fr\u00e9maux said Hollywood had been \u201cquiet.\u201d Does it feel that way to you? Fewer roles or good scripts?<\/strong> You have two highly anticipated projects, at least. <\/strong>The Brady Corbet film<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>the Martha Stewart biopic<\/strong><\/a>. Have you spoken to Martha yet?<\/strong> And The Brutalist <\/em>was made for 9 million bucks. Brady Corbet is very adamant on making films where he won\u2019t give up any control. The bigger the budget you have, the more caveats and unhelpful voices it comes with.<\/p>\n M.A.: <\/strong>Sure. My series sometimes felt that way. There were a lot of pressures, and you\u2019re working with different partners, A24 or Netflix. And those are just normal parts of that collaboration. Everyone has an opinion and thoughts. This is what makes this so unique \u2014 that I could do something completely unhinged. Do whatever I want and really put it out there and hopefully it makes an impact. And when you\u2019re dealing with this kind of budget, you have to get inventive and call in favors. I remember I was having a discussion with a director once about money and what I wanted to make, and he goes, \u201cYou know, we love this thing so much, they\u2019d know we do it for free. So maybe sometimes they take advantage of that.\u201d It\u2019s true. Telling stories is in my bones. It\u2019s not about the money. It\u2019s making something special, that then in turn makes you popular and then in turn gives you fame and money.<\/p>\n C.B.: <\/strong>So you can buy a pair of glasses like the ones you\u2019re wearing now.<\/p>\n M.A.: <\/strong>[Laughs.<\/em>] <\/em>Yes, of course. I want to look good.<\/p>\n What\u2019s something people would be surprised to learn about Cate?<\/strong> C.B.: <\/strong>Why were they speaking in that voice?<\/p>\n M.A.: <\/strong>When I read your texts, that\u2019s how I read them.<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Hoda Davaine\/Getty Images<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Cate Blanchett: <\/strong>Oh, thank you. I\u2019m impressed that they\u2019re still relatively white. It\u2019s a real achievement. I think they\u2019re Sanderson. Very comfortable. I had heels on before and I got out of them. I was like, I can\u2019t do it anymore<\/em>.<\/p>\n
C.B.: <\/strong>Well, a group of us were at the Global Refugee Forum: Ke Huy Quan, Echo Quan, Ayman Tamer, Koji Yanai, and Isaac Kwaku Fokuo. Each table was asked to make a pledge. Koji had just produced Wim Wenders\u2019s Perfect Days, <\/em>and there was an Afghan former refugee who\u2019s an educator and activist who was telling us about her stories, and it was incredible. I said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t these stories make it more into the mainstream? More documentary, more features?\u201d So we thought, Why don\u2019t we make our pledge to the room?<\/em> We will find a way, as our table, to champion and fund and highlight the work of displaced filmmakers.<\/em> Because in displacement, you don\u2019t stop being a filmmaker.<\/p>\n
C.B.: <\/strong>We had a two-stage process. There\u2019s a nominations committee and a selection committee. This year we had Agnieszka Holland, Barbara Broccoli, Ke Huy Quan, and Jonas Rasmussen, who made Flee<\/em>. We had a long list and then it rapidly became a much shorter list, and we prayed that the five selected filmmakers were available.<\/p>\n
C.B.: <\/strong>Yes, RSL Media<\/a>. Look, I\u2019m not AI-phobic. I have respect for it as a tool, but it needs to be treated with caution. Now we\u2019re at a point where the use of AI \u2014 and you guys might be interested in using it in your filmmaking \u2014 that there\u2019s an inevitability. But the issue that isn\u2019t resolved, apart from guardrails, is the issue of consent and transparency. RSL Media provides a machine-readable way to activate and express consent. \u201cI\u2019m about to take your image, are you okay with that?\u201d I\u2019m okay with saying, \u201cYes, you can have it, but you need to speak to this rep or this lawyer, and we can negotiate it.\u201d I\u2019m okay with an exchange. But stealing isn\u2019t negotiation.<\/p>\n
C.B.:<\/strong> <\/em>[Long pause.<\/em>] Xanax. Gummies. I usually poke my husband awake the night before and go, \u201cWhat\u2019s my process?!\u201d <\/em>He says, \u201cYou\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
C.B.:<\/strong> Oh God, yeah. I\u2019m breathing into a paper bag.<\/p>\n
C.B.: <\/strong>I was clearly on mushrooms. I do draw strength from the other people that I work with because I thrive on different points of view. I\u2019m not conflict-averse. Someone asked me a minute ago, \u201cWhat happens if your partners have different opinions?\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cThat\u2019s great! Let\u2019s talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
M.A.: <\/strong>She\u2019s writing the whole thing. She doesn\u2019t know it yet.<\/p>\n
C.B.: <\/strong>Having been inside the festival \u2014 I presided over the jury \u2014 and having been here with films many times, you get a sense that themes emerge. But not consciously. They see thousands of films, and they know it\u2019s a very exposing platform. They want the films to be able to thrive here, and they want them to be able to speak to one another. Every iteration has its own character. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s by design. It\u2019s just shaken out that way. There\u2019s a lot of Japanese and Spanish films this year. I saw James Gray\u2019s film the other night \u2014 I\u2019ve only had a chance to see that and Hirokazu Kore-eda\u2019s films \u2014 and I thought Paper Tiger<\/em> was beautiful. America should be proud.<\/p>\n
C.B.: <\/strong>It feels people are risk-averse. But there\u2019s a lot of filming in the U.K. and Central Europe. I think some people are nervous to activate production in certain parts of America because there\u2019s a federal war on some of the states that are not adhering to the administration. But there are also a lot of films happening at certain lower-budget points. We\u2019re a very resilient, inventive industry. I think a lot of these complicated conversations, like around AI and displacement, happen in our industry first. It\u2019s just that we thrash it out in public and people think, Oh, you\u2019ve got a lot of problems there!<\/em> And of course we do. The creative life is full of problems.<\/p>\n
C.B.: <\/strong>No! We haven\u2019t met yet. But I\u2019m a drooling fan. I find her life and her impact and her outlook absolutely compelling. We\u2019ve got a great script and we\u2019re working with that now. But it\u2019s early stages.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
M.A.: <\/strong>How witty she is. Over texts and stuff, she\u2019s hilarious. I didn\u2019t expect it. When you get the call, [affects a British accent<\/em>] \u201cCate would like your number.\u201d<\/p>\n