ByAFP
May 14, 2026
Chilean-US actor Pedro Pascal (right next to US actor Joaquin Phoenix) flew economy to the Cannes Film Festival last year - Copyright POOL/AFP Yves Herman
Fiachra GIBBONS and Kate GILLAM
Climate activists are urging movie stars to fly economy or take the train to Cannes after saying private jets burned two millions of litres of kerosene getting them to the film festival last year.
“The rich and famous burning through scarce fuel to get to a film festival isn’t just tone deaf, it’s obscene,” said former Air France pilot Anthony Viaux, one of several to have signed up to the call.
With the war in the Middle East sparking a global fuel crisis, research by environmental group Transport and Environment (T&E) said 750 private jet flights ferried A-listers and Hollywood executives to the world’s biggest film festival last year.
“That’s equivalent to what 14,000 passengers would have consumed flying between Paris and Athens,” the group’s head of aviation, Jerome du Boucher, told AFP Thursday.
Former private jet pilot Katie Thompson said stars should follow the example of “Narcos” actor Pedro Pascal and fly economy class to Cannes.
“Last year Pedro Pascal flew to Cannes in an economy seat. There’s no reason the rest of them can’t do the same, or take the train where possible,” she said.
De Boucher said they were lobbying European governments to ban private jets.
“In a context of climate crisis and oil shock, it seems absolutely obvious that this kerosene should be reserved for more essential uses at a time when we’re facing fuel shortages,” he said.
– Escaping carbon taxes –
T&E say that two-thirds of private jets are exempt from carbon taxes under current EU rules, amid fear of reprisals from the Trump administration if the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is expanded to include them.
Normal airline passengers within the bloc have to pay the taxes while the super rich escape them, they said.
Even some millionaires are calling for change.
Investor Julia Davies, co-founder of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said “private jets are a luxury only the very wealthiest few can afford, yet most of these flights are still not subject to fuel or carbon taxes — taxes the majority of people pay every day as they travel to work.”
Countries across the world have been hit by fuel rationing as Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz heads towards it fourth month after the United States and Israel attacked Tehran.
More than 500 flights have already been cancelled in France alone, du Boucher added, with up to 20 million passengers likely to be affected by disruption in Germany over the summer holiday period.
“This oil crisis is an opportunity to put the question of private jet use on the table,” De Boucher said.
“The EU needs to close the loopholes to make sure that all private jets and international flights (outside the EU) are subject to carbon taxes in future,” said veteran pilot Viaux.
“EU policymakers shouldn’t let Trump’s administration dictate the rule,” he said.
“This oil crisis is an opportunity to put the question of private jet use on the table,” De Boucher said.
He said the group’s research showed that if everyone taking private jets for the Cannes Film Festival used commercial ones, the festival could go 40 percent of the way towards its CO2 emissions reduction target for 2030.
AFP have asked the Cannes Film Festival for comment.
Climate activists are urging movie stars to fly economy or take the train to Cannes after saying private jets burned two millions of litres of kerosene getting them to the film festival last year.
“The rich and famous burning through scarce fuel to get to a film festival isn’t just tone deaf, it’s obscene,” said former Air France pilot Anthony Viaux, one of several to have signed up to the call.
With the war in the Middle East sparking a global fuel crisis, research by environmental group Transport and Environment (T&E) said 750 private jet flights ferried A-listers and Hollywood executives to the world’s biggest film festival last year.
“That’s equivalent to what 14,000 passengers would have consumed flying between Paris and Athens,” the group’s head of aviation, Jerome du Boucher, told AFP Thursday.
Former private jet pilot Katie Thompson said stars should follow the example of “Narcos” actor Pedro Pascal and fly economy class to Cannes.
“Last year Pedro Pascal flew to Cannes in an economy seat. There’s no reason the rest of them can’t do the same, or take the train where possible,” she said.
De Boucher said they were lobbying European governments to ban private jets.
“In a context of climate crisis and oil shock, it seems absolutely obvious that this kerosene should be reserved for more essential uses at a time when we’re facing fuel shortages,” he said.
– Escaping carbon taxes –
T&E say that two-thirds of private jets are exempt from carbon taxes under current EU rules, amid fear of reprisals from the Trump administration if the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is expanded to include them.
Normal airline passengers within the bloc have to pay the taxes while the super rich escape them, they said.
Even some millionaires are calling for change.
Investor Julia Davies, co-founder of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said “private jets are a luxury only the very wealthiest few can afford, yet most of these flights are still not subject to fuel or carbon taxes — taxes the majority of people pay every day as they travel to work.”
Countries across the world have been hit by fuel rationing as Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz heads towards it fourth month after the United States and Israel attacked Tehran.
More than 500 flights have already been cancelled in France alone, du Boucher added, with up to 20 million passengers likely to be affected by disruption in Germany over the summer holiday period.
“This oil crisis is an opportunity to put the question of private jet use on the table,” De Boucher said.
“The EU needs to close the loopholes to make sure that all private jets and international flights (outside the EU) are subject to carbon taxes in future,” said veteran pilot Viaux.
“EU policymakers shouldn’t let Trump’s administration dictate the rule,” he said.
“This oil crisis is an opportunity to put the question of private jet use on the table,” De Boucher said.
He said the group’s research showed that if everyone taking private jets for the Cannes Film Festival used commercial ones, the festival could go 40 percent of the way towards its CO2 emissions reduction target for 2030.
AFP have asked the Cannes Film Festival for comment.
Cannes Film Festival opens, grappling with AI and Hollywood
ByAFP
May 12, 2026
This year's Cannes Film Festival is grappling with the dizzying speed of AI-powered disruption and the absence of major Hollywood studios - Copyright BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY/AFP/File PETER BUCKTROUT
ByAFP
May 12, 2026
This year's Cannes Film Festival is grappling with the dizzying speed of AI-powered disruption and the absence of major Hollywood studios - Copyright BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY/AFP/File PETER BUCKTROUT
Adam PLOWRIGHT
Cannes Film Festival rolls out the red carpets on Tuesday for its annual showcase in France, grappling with the dizzying speed of AI-powered disruption and the absence of major Hollywood studios.
In its main competition, a total of 22 films are vying for the prestigious Palme d’Or prize for best film, which was won last year by the highly political Iranian movie “It Was Just an Accident” by Jafar Panahi.
But as usual in the build up to the world’s biggest festival, off-screen talking points have dominated the conversation, most notably how to cope with changes wrought by artificial intelligence — and Hollywood’s decision to ghost the event.
Cannes director Thierry Fremaux came out strongly against AI and its effect on the industry where job losses are mounting for dubbing artists and translators, while writers and actors fear for their livelihoods.
“What is certain… is that here in Cannes, we stand with the artists, we stand with the screenwriters and we stand with everyone in these professions, with actors and voice actors alike,” he told a news conference on Monday.
He suggested that in the future films could be given labels like those for organic food and wine, and “we will say ‘this film has been made without artificial intelligence'”.
Nonetheless, the festival announced Monday that it had signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with social media giant and AI technology investor Meta.
– Industry fears –
Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta is at the heart of a brewing controversy about the latest film from Oscar-winning “Traffic” director Steven Soderbergh, which will premiere in Cannes.
Soderbergh partnered with Meta to obtain AI-generated video of late Beatles songwriter John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono for his documentary “John Lennon: The Last Interview”.
The use of AI was central to the 2023 strikes that shut down Hollywood, as actors and writers warned that unchecked technology threatened the industry.
Thousands of French actors and filmmakers warned in an open letter in February that AI tools were “plundering” talent across the industry, comparing them to a “devouring hydra”.
Soderbergh is a rare Hollywood heavyweight in Cannes this year, with others such as Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan — hoped for by organisers — failing to appear on the programme.
– ‘Come back’ –
The world’s biggest film festival typically spotlights independent, arthouse cinema while relying on Hollywood to provide a dose of mass-market entertainment.
But no major US studio agreed to launch a blockbuster this year, or at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, raising questions about why giants such as Universal, Disney or Warner are dodging European events.
“I really hope that the studios come back,” Cannes director Fremaux said Monday, attributing their absence to scheduling issues and industry turmoil.
He stressed that American cinema was well represented, with “Paper Tiger” by James Gray starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, as well as “The Man I Love” by Ira Sachs featuring Rami Malek, in the main competition.
There will be no shortage of A-listers on the celeb-heavy red carpets.
A late addition to the programme includes a cast reunion to mark the 25th anniversary of “The Fast and the Furious”, with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster set to appear at a special screening on Wednesday.
Plane-mad legend John Travolta will bring some stardust when he unveils his directorial debut, “Propeller One-Way Night Coach”, about a young boy’s journey in the “golden age of aviation”.
The festival will open with a screening of French film “The Electric Kiss” before the main competition starts on Wednesday, judged by South Korean director Park Chan-wook and Hollywood heavyweight Demi Moore, among others.
“I cannot help but feel a sense of emotion, realising that for the first time a Korean has become the head of the jury,” Park told AFP on Monday in Cannes.
“The moment has finally come.”
Cannes Film Festival rolls out the red carpets on Tuesday for its annual showcase in France, grappling with the dizzying speed of AI-powered disruption and the absence of major Hollywood studios.
In its main competition, a total of 22 films are vying for the prestigious Palme d’Or prize for best film, which was won last year by the highly political Iranian movie “It Was Just an Accident” by Jafar Panahi.
But as usual in the build up to the world’s biggest festival, off-screen talking points have dominated the conversation, most notably how to cope with changes wrought by artificial intelligence — and Hollywood’s decision to ghost the event.
Cannes director Thierry Fremaux came out strongly against AI and its effect on the industry where job losses are mounting for dubbing artists and translators, while writers and actors fear for their livelihoods.
“What is certain… is that here in Cannes, we stand with the artists, we stand with the screenwriters and we stand with everyone in these professions, with actors and voice actors alike,” he told a news conference on Monday.
He suggested that in the future films could be given labels like those for organic food and wine, and “we will say ‘this film has been made without artificial intelligence'”.
Nonetheless, the festival announced Monday that it had signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with social media giant and AI technology investor Meta.
– Industry fears –
Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta is at the heart of a brewing controversy about the latest film from Oscar-winning “Traffic” director Steven Soderbergh, which will premiere in Cannes.
Soderbergh partnered with Meta to obtain AI-generated video of late Beatles songwriter John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono for his documentary “John Lennon: The Last Interview”.
The use of AI was central to the 2023 strikes that shut down Hollywood, as actors and writers warned that unchecked technology threatened the industry.
Thousands of French actors and filmmakers warned in an open letter in February that AI tools were “plundering” talent across the industry, comparing them to a “devouring hydra”.
Soderbergh is a rare Hollywood heavyweight in Cannes this year, with others such as Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan — hoped for by organisers — failing to appear on the programme.
– ‘Come back’ –
The world’s biggest film festival typically spotlights independent, arthouse cinema while relying on Hollywood to provide a dose of mass-market entertainment.
But no major US studio agreed to launch a blockbuster this year, or at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, raising questions about why giants such as Universal, Disney or Warner are dodging European events.
“I really hope that the studios come back,” Cannes director Fremaux said Monday, attributing their absence to scheduling issues and industry turmoil.
He stressed that American cinema was well represented, with “Paper Tiger” by James Gray starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, as well as “The Man I Love” by Ira Sachs featuring Rami Malek, in the main competition.
There will be no shortage of A-listers on the celeb-heavy red carpets.
A late addition to the programme includes a cast reunion to mark the 25th anniversary of “The Fast and the Furious”, with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster set to appear at a special screening on Wednesday.
Plane-mad legend John Travolta will bring some stardust when he unveils his directorial debut, “Propeller One-Way Night Coach”, about a young boy’s journey in the “golden age of aviation”.
The festival will open with a screening of French film “The Electric Kiss” before the main competition starts on Wednesday, judged by South Korean director Park Chan-wook and Hollywood heavyweight Demi Moore, among others.
“I cannot help but feel a sense of emotion, realising that for the first time a Korean has become the head of the jury,” Park told AFP on Monday in Cannes.
“The moment has finally come.”
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