Actors' strike: Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Peter Dinklage cancel their visit to the Deauville Festival

A scenario that Bruno Barde, artistic director of the Deauville American Film Festival, hoped to avoid until the last moment. But with the strike of actors (and screenwriters) continuing in Hollywood, this 49th edition, which runs from September 1 to 10, will have to do without its most prestigious guests. Actors Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Peter Dinklage and Joseph Gordon-Levitt who were to be rewarded for their entire career have canceled their visit to the Normandy seaside resort.

At Variety, Bruno Barde expressed his solidarity with the strikers. “Artificial intelligence is now threatening scriptwriters, decorators, dubbers and of course the actors whose image we use. Cinema is an art that uplifts humanity. Artificial intelligence does the exact opposite. It's a danger," he told the trade magazine.

Despite the absence of his guests Bruno Barde maintains the tributes and retrospectives that were planned. "I remember when the Cannes Film Festival canceled the tribute to Bette Davis because she couldn't go to the Croisette. When she found out, she was furious. It is out of the question to be so rude, ”he underlines.

The artistic director was hoping for another outcome. The regulations of the actors' union (SAG) authorize the awarding of honorary prizes as long as they are not linked to a film in promotion. But the actors who asked the guild for permission were denied. The Deauville festival has notably planned to screen Le jeu de la reine , She Came To Me and May December , the latest feature films from the filmographies of Jude Law, Peter Dinklage and Natalie Portman.

As in the time of the coronavirus, the red carpet of the 2023 vintage will be a little bald. Some French actors, invited to the Festival but members of the SAG, have also canceled their attendance out of solidarity. Unsurprisingly, the biggest contingent of talent will come from directors, whose guild didn't go on strike and signed a new collective bargaining agreement with studios. 24 filmmakers out of the 60 films that will be screened in Deauville will make the trip to the stage. The list of confirmed guests will be announced at the end of next week.

Only a handful of independent films made outside of the studio ecosystem have been able to secure waivers to bring their distribution to fall festivals. In competition at the Mostra and programmed in Deauville, the canine drama Dogman by Luc Besson is one of these. The French director will give a masterclass in Deauville and could be accompanied by his actor Caleb Landry Jones (interpretation prize at Cannes). Carole Bouquet will lend herself to the same conversion exercise. Judith Godrèche will present her first series, the semi-autobiographical comedy Icon of French Cinema to be discovered soon on Arte.