So that was Cannes 2022: a return to the new normal

A few friends will know that I left Cannes film festival early because my father, who had a long illness, reached the end of that journey and I went to sit with him and my mum for his final few days. While I’m obviously heartbroken, I’m also extremely thankful I was able to be with him, as I have friends who lost parents during the pandemic, but were not afforded that privilege.

At times like this, when we are also surrounded by pandemic, war, climate change and opportunistic politicians, it’s easy to ask myself why I write about something as trivial as the film and TV industries. But then I remember that human beings, everywhere in the world, seem to need this visual plane of the imagination on which we can project our hopes, dreams and fears. As Costa-Gavras said on a panel at this year’s Cannes: “Human beings cannot survive without stories; therefore cinema will continue. Not in the form we know it, but it will continue.”

With that in mind, I’ve summarised below some of the main poin…