The Cannes Film Festival is making a symbolic show of getting into the Times Up spirit. Attendees at the annual celebration of the film have received fliers containing a message in French stating “Good behavior is required” and adding “Don’t ruin the party. Stop harassment.” The pamphlets included in the festival bags also have a hotline number for people to use if they have been subjected to sexual harassment or misconduct.
The all-white paper has an illustration of a bow-tie and sports #NeRienLaisserPasser, which roughly translates into Don’t Let Anything Happen — in other words, See Something, Say Something. Cannes attracts thousands of film buyers, sellers, creatives and press from all over the world, many of whom do not speak French. However, the flier does not have any translations. Cannes topper Thierry Fremaux is holding a press conference Monday before the festival launches, likely to announce more initiatives related to conducting.
“Cannes cannot be a substitute for the justice system or police: There are laws against harassment and sexual assaults and we will remind people of them,” said festival director Thierry Frémaux in an interview with Variety last month. “But yes, we are thinking about communicating on a larger scale about issues of safety and good behavior, through education. There are many organizations which do wonderful work which we would like to promote.”
