Woody Allen spoke to the media on Tuesday [via THR] and gave details on his latest feature being shot in San Sebastian, Spain. The current working title of the movie is “Rifkin’s Festival” and stars Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, Gina Gershon, Wallace Shawn, Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel and Sergi Lopez. Shooting is supposed to wrap on August 23rd.
Allen was asked about calls to "boycott" his work and the #MeToo movement:
"My philosophy has always been, from when I started many, many years ago in show business, to just keep focused on my work and keep working, no matter what happens in my life, with my wife, with children, with current events, with politics, with illness," he said. "No matter what is happening, I focus on my work and I keep focusing."
"I don’t think of political movements or social movements. I’m just not equipped mentally to have any deep insights on those things. I deal mostly with human relations and people and comedy. And as long as I stay focused, I don’t think I’ll ever retire. I’ll probably die in the midst of setting up a film shot one day on a set making a movie."
Gershon maintains that with the mass-hysteria of #MeToo happening, it is always wise to make sure to look at every case individually and make your own judgments:
"I personally think that you really have to look at every single situation and really, between you and you, decide how you feel about this situation. And I can say with a very clear conscience and so much excitement that I am so thrilled to be here. This feels kind of like a dream come true."
She added: "While I think there’s a lot of good that’s coming out of all these different movements, I just feel it’s really important that people really take a look at every situation and really make up their own minds about it."
At the moment, “Rifkin’s Festival” is not slated to be distributed in the States, ditto his previous Amazon-dumped “Rainy Day in New York,” but Allen seemed unphased by it all, claiming that his heart and energy are exclusively focused in Europe now:
“In the U.S., there are no plans at this moment to release it, so I don’t really know what will happen, it’s out of my control.” But, he added, “we haven’t been pursuing that too assiduously because it’s going to open and start to roll out all over Europe in the next few months. In the U.S., either a distributor will come forward and distribute the film or not, I have no control over that and I can only make the film.”
He said he was “optimistic” about the film’s reception in Europe. “I’ve been very lucky over the years that I’ve had a very good public in Europe and they have enjoyed my films.
If you've read this column for a while, you know the drill: I spitball Cannes every month from now until April, updating the latest intel and trying to figure out what will be in competition, vying for the Palme d'Or.