Happy Friday, Insiders. Europe has a different look today, with a Labour government elected in the UK and France’s far-right surging. Jesse Whittock here with what it all means in MediaLand.
Labour wins: The results of the UK general election officially landed this morning in Europe, and the Labour Party has won with a huge majority, which will give it immense power to enact change in Britain after 14 years of Conservative rule. The win has been expected for a long while and there were a series of Conservative gaffes during the six-week campaigning period that meant the ruling party failed to make in-roads on Labour’s long-standing poll lead. At 10 p.m. local time yesterday, when voting ended, the broadcasters were allowed to release their joint exit poll, which is usually pretty much bang on in predicting the winner and size of victory. The 410 seats Labour were predicted was proved to be almost 100% correct hours later, as the Conservative vote collapsed and the Liberal Democrats, Greens and Reform UK — the party led by arch Brexiteer Nigel Farage — made gains. Notable incidents from the evening saw big-name Tory MPs such as former Prime Minister Liz Truss and Grant Shapps lose their seats, Farage finally become an MP at the eighth attempt and a very, very knotty shipping analogy delivered by Labour Party Health Secretary Wes Streeting during the BBC’s election coverage (once you’ve finished this newsletter, Google it; you’ll thank me). Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak handed over the keys to Number 10 with a call for “decency and tolerance” in British politics, though with the anti-EU, anti-establishment Reform UK taking more than four million votes overall, there’s stormy weather ahead for the centrist Starmer.
What’s next?: The serious work of governing now begins for Labour, and everyone will have their opinions on what needs fixing. The TV and film industries in the UK have had a tough time of the past few years, with organizations and broadcasters cutting funding, streamers resetting and freelance work drying up. Entertainment union Equity was first to send a message to the new PM, releasing a statement last night that it will be “pressing the new administration to set out a long-term plan” on issues such as arts funding, casting director fees, freelancer support and working conditions, among other issues. (On a side note, that message wasn’t the only thing Equity had to say this week. On Monday, Max revealed what the actors union wants from its upcoming talks with UK producers body PACT over the contract that will dictate the terms of most TV and film productions in coming years.) There was lots more reaction from the likes of Bectu, the Film & TV Charity, Directors UK and the WGGB, along with heads of state and political leaders from around world. Notably, Donald Trump failed to congratulate Starmer in his message this morning, instead choosing to highlight the striking gains made by his old buddy Farage instead. No word yet from Biden. Want more? Andreas’ analysis and Max’s list of five likely demands from the UK film and TV industries can be found here and here. While all coverage and analysis from the UK is over here.
Fight in France: Of course, the UK wasn’t the only European country going through political change this week. The first round of voting in France’s elections, which were called after the far-right emerged the winner in recent European ballots, brought more bad news to the mainstream parties. The far-right Rassemblement National won with well over 30% of the vote, followed by the left-wing New Popular Front alliance. President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist block came a damaging third. All eyes are now on Sunday’s second round of voting. As Mel reported on Monday, RN is not yet on course for a majority, but will likely have the most seats in parliament. Macron has vowed to remain in his role until the end of his current mandate in May 2027, but how much power will he really wield with Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration party in his way? And what does this all mean for France’s respected cultural sector?
Winslet wonders why: “It is hard to make films as a woman and it is hard to make films about women,” said Kate Winslet at the Munich International Film Festival this week. Considering Winslet is one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, her proclamation was a stark comment on the (lack of) progress in film. You’d hope high-powered folk reading this around the world use it as fuel to double down and make things better. Winslet was in Germany promoting Lee, the film she and production partner Kate Solomon have made about photographer Lee Miller — a model turned Second World War correspondent. Her iconic and harrowing pictures revealed many of the horrors of the global conflict. “I hope with this film people will be more open-eared and more open-eyed to wanting to absorb stories of phenomenally important historical figures like the formidable Lee Miller.” More on Munich below, by the way.
‘Party’ lines drawn: Winslet wasn’t the only notable actress addressing women’s issues in entertainment this week. In fact, the Mare of Easttown star was in the mind of Robyn Malcolm, who co-created and starred in this week’s Global Breakout, New Zealand’s After the Party. Malcolm told Max how her team’s plan for the series was to do away with stereotypes of older women on TV “wearing lots of makeup, smiling a lot and engaging in ‘kitchen porn.’” After the Party is a Series Mania award-winning drama in which a wife accuses her husband of a sex crime, only for him to return to her town several years later. Malcolm, who is the first actor or actress to feature in Global Breakouts twice, revealed she and co-creator Dianne Taylor had “talked a lot about the presence of middle-aged women” on screen, noting that before Mare of Easttown launched, much of the representation of this demographic was far from the reality. Read the story here.
Czech mates: The Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary Film International Film Festival kicked off this past week with its 58th edition. The festival’s opening ceremony feted Viggo Mortensen, the writer/director/star and composer of the opening night film The Dead Don’t Hurt. Amusingly, Mortensen ducked out of a dinner hosted in his honor to watch his native Denmark play its second-round match at the European Championships (sadly the Danes lost 2-0 to hosts Germany). Across the event, Karlovy Vary has also handed out honorary awards to actors Clive Owen and Daniel Brühl, the latter of whom this week signed on to direct period drama Break. The festival also honored casting director Francine Maisler, who has worked with directors such as Denis Villeneuve, Terrence Malick and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Other high-profile names that passed through the Czech spa town this year include Nicole Holofcener, who screened three of her films, Please Give, Enough Said and 2023’s You Hurt My Feelings. Read our interview with her here. Mexico-born filmmaker Michel Franco will screen his 2023 drama Memory, starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard. Meanwhile, Ti West will be in Karlovy Vary to introduce MaXXXine, the final installment in his X trilogy, produced by A24. Damon Wise interviews West here. Karlovy Vary ends tomorrow.
Jacquot charged: France’s new MeToo wave, triggered by actress and director Judith Godrèche’s decision to speak up about her experiences as a teenager in the French film industry in the 1980s, saw fresh developments this week as director Benoît Jacquot was charged with rape. Godrèche, who lived with Jacquot as a teenager in the 1980s, has since denounced the relationship and in February made an official police complaint about the director “for rape with constraint.” This week’s charges were not related to Godrèche’s accusations, however, but rather complaints filed by actresses Isild Le Besco and Julia Roy, who say they were encouraged to come forward by the actress’s initial stand. Godrèche’s complaint could not be dealt with by the courts due to France’s statute of limitation regulations. The actress missed the period by a whisker. However, Godrèche took to social networks following news of Jacquot’s charges, suggesting they marked a victory of sorts. “I feel like I’ve been listened to with this decision, even if nothing has been rubbed out, or repaired,” she wrote. In the backdrop, judges have yet to announce their decision following the questioning of director Jacques Doillon, who Godrèche’s also filed a police complaint against for rape from events that allegedly took place on and off the set on his 1989 film A 15 Year Old Girl. French media reported on Thursday that another three women have lodged official complaints against Doillon, two for rape and one for attempted rape. The director, who denies the accusations, was taken into police custody for questioning on Monday, the same day as Jacquot, but was allowed to return home after 24 hours due to ill health. A decision on the complaints against him is expected in the coming days.
German efficiency: Following on from our analysis of the German TV market last month, we were back in Germany this week for the Munich International Film Festival. Some of the biggest industry news actually came from the TV world, with former UFA boss Nico Hofmann and Beta Film unveiling a debut slate of projects from their new collaboration. We also had this interview with Tim Roth and Trine Dyrholm about their emotionally-charged drama Poison, heard more from Viggo Mortensen who was in town after his Czechia trip, and listened to influential German producer Max Wiedemann talk about AI’s impact on rights holders. There was also an update from Prime Video on its co-production strategy in Europe (clue, it wants to do them), and word about how the introduction of a high-end TV and film tax break is being introduced. Full Munich coverage here.
Source: Deadline
