Pierre Lescure. Photo Siren-Com
Former journalist and – above all – former head of CANAL+ in France, Pierre Lescure has been tipped to take over the presidency of the Cannes Film Festival when the seemingly eternal Gilles Jacob steps down in 2015.
Lescure is a well-known businessman in France and is often deeply involved in media affairs, working with Havas and Technicolor while also playing a major role in the consultations around the so-called “Hadopi” laws on intellectual property.
As in many things French, politics is considered to have played a role in his nomination over the other likely candidate Jérôme Clément, former head of the Franco-German channel Arte and the CNC amongst other things. The French magazine Paris Match maintains that Lescure had the support of French president François Hollande. Lescure was very open about his support for Hollande during the elections.
Hollywood vs Cannes?
Lescure is known to be a great fan of mainstream American cinema, which has led some observers to lament the victory of Hollywood. It will be interesting to see what that entails in reality. But it must be said that every single edition of the Cannes Film festival sees endless debate about the role of Hollywood’s major studios in Cannes. This is only normal, as the attendant film market is the most important in the world.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival will be held between May 14 to 25.
Pierre Lescure new president of the Cannes Film festival?
Help me keep up the news. Buy me a coffee![wpedon id=6523]
Turns out I was right to use the question mark in the title. The Cannes Festival organisers have denied the nomination, pointing out that the directors have yet to meet on the subject. Lescure’s competitor, however, has said than Lescure’s nomination is more than likely!
It has since been confirmed that Lescure will be the prez. Comment from his rival for the post: “I knew since before Christmas”.
Interesting times ahead for Cannes, no?