The ongoing war in Gaza and the incendiary debate around Israel and Palestine came up when Variety asked the jury about Cannes’ decision to ban protests on the Croisette. Earlier in the conference, Favino referred to the festival as a “free space,” and was pressed on how ignoring the Gaza situation is perhaps impossible — after all, the official Cannes program has a film about Gaza and jury member Sy recently urged politicians to take action to stop Israel’s ground invasion of Rafah.

“When I say free space, it’s not just physical space. It’s also the possibility of time,” Favino said. “One of the most difficult things we could do is seek beauty. Reminding the world that there’s beauty in the world with filmmakers. Movies can talk to people … if we look for beauty, then we might look for peace.”