Cannes Film Festival jury president warns ‘ignorant’ world leaders

The Cannes Film Festival has got off to a hard-hitting start with its jury president accusing world leaders of ruling with “rage and anger and lies.“

Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu said prevailing rhetoric around immigration – including the notion of a US-Mexico border wall – could lead to another world war, the BBC is reporting.

Alejandro made his opinion known ahead of the opening premiere of Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die.

“The problem is what is happening is ignorance,” Alejandro says whose movie credits include Birdman, Babel and Revenant director.

“I’m absolutely against what is happening all around and expect there will be something that will stop this dangerous thing that can return to us to 1939. We know how this story ends if we keep with that rhetoric,”

Referring to climate change he says: “The world is melting and these guys are basically ruling with rage and anger and lies and they are basically writing fiction and making people believe those are real thing and facts.”

The 55-year-old, who was joined on the jury press conference panel by judges including Babel actor Elle Fanning and Oscar-nominated director Yorgos Lanthimos, adds: “I’m not a politician but as an artist I can express through my job with a heart open what I think and be truthful to what I leave through the work that I did.”