Cannes moments: On politics, toxic masculinity and AI

Driver stars in James Gray's new crime drama, alongside Scarlett Johansson — who missed the Cannes premiere, busy filming "The Exorcist." But the press statement that made headlines was rather related to Lena Dunham, who claims in her recent memoir that Driver was aggressive on the "Girls" set. The actor brushed off the question: "I have no comment on any of that. I'm saving it all for my book."

At a festival talk, the Australian actor and producer lamented that #MeToo "got killed very quickly" in Hollywood. When she was president of the Cannes jury in 2018, Blanchett was already outspoken about gender equality; her red-carpet protest exposed that only 82 films directed by women had until then been selected for the Cannes competition, while 1,866 men had already obtained the honor.

The Oscar-winning Spanish actor was at Cannes with the competition film "The Beloved," directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen. In it, Bardem plays a filmmaker working with his estranged daughter. At the festival's press event, he condemned toxic male behavior, accusing politicians such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu of being misguided by their "big-balls men" mentality.

Three months after politics stole the spotlight at the Berlin Film Festival, the Cannes jury was also asked to share their thoughts on political filmmaking: "I don't think politics and art should be divided," said Korean auteur Park Chan-wook, who is chairing this year's Cannes jury. "I think it's a strange concept to think they're in conflict with each other," the "Oldboy" director added.

Offering some of Cannes' boldest fashion moments on the red carpet, US actor Demi Moore however faced backlash for declaring that Hollywood's war against artificial intelligence was already lost. Instead of fighting against the technology, she said, the film industry "needs to find ways in which we can work with it."

The Oscar-winning director of "Lord of the Rings" was awarded an honorary Palme d'Or. The accolade was presented by Elijah Wood (left), aka Frodo Baggins in the epic trilogy. Asked to discuss the future of filmmaking, Jackson said that AI is "just a tool like any other"; some people will use the technology to make great movies, while other films "will be crap," he added.

Del Toro returned to Cannes to debut a restored version of his fantasy film, 20 years after the acclaimed premiere of the work. The director noted that the current times make his movie about resistance and creativity "more pertinent than ever." Slamming those who claim that it's "useless to resist," he added that art can't be done with a "f***ing app" and that we should "never give in to fear."

The Hollywood actor and activist presented the opening ceremony on May 12, together with Chinese star Gong Li. "I believe in the power of voices," said Fonda in her speech. "Cinema has always been an act of resistance, because we tell the stories, and stories are what make a civilization, stories that bring empathy to the marginalized, stories that allow us to feel across differences."