THR: Cannes Puts a Bigger Spotlight on Sustainability
"The time has come for a radically different way of producing a major international event," organizers said ahead of last year's 74th edition.
After a 2020 cancellation and a muted 2021, this year’s Cannes Film Festival is expected to bring hordes of A-listers, top-level executives, and fervent festivalgoers back to the Croisette. And while this likely means a bigger boon for the entertainment business and local economy, the environmental toll of the storied French fest has begun to be taken into greater consideration.
Ahead of last year’s 74th iteration, the festival outlined a 12-point series of measures that are meant to lessen its environmental impact, noting that “the time has come for a radically different way of producing a major international event.” These included a 50 percent reduction in paper printing, electric or hybrid vehicles making up 60 percent of official festival cars, plus the elimination of single-use plastic water bottles.
After all, while film studios and entertainment companies have shown ever-increasing interest and gains in going green, the same consideration has not yet fully extended to ancillary events, such as film festivals. In Hollywood, discussions about how to make productions greener have been around for nearly two decades, with such organizations as Environmental Media Association (EMA) and PGA Green offering guides, toolkits and certifications for eco-friendly filming.
Debbie Levin has been the CEO of EMA, which links entertainment and the environmental communities with the hopes of bringing sustainability, since 2000. Levin notes that “there was no one” in the studio system designated to “greening” film sets back then. Now, each major studio has in-house departments dedicated to sustainable production.