fatal. at least 58 people have been killed in the flooding in germany. belgium, too, has been hit with the city of liege underwater. poland and hungary at loggerheads with brussels. and the cannes film festival building climax this weekend. our. olivia salazar joins us with the

news of the movies being streamed behind the scene. thank you for joining us. we start with the cannes film festival, heading towards a thrilling denouement. in the meantime, hard work to be done, even more films to watch. olivia salazar wins. is there, joining us -- olivia salazar wins fear -- olivia salazar winspear is there, joining us. >> the red carpet behind me is primed for a filmmaker known for daring, sometimes provocative cinema. this time, he is focused on a group of young people in an underprivileged casablanca who are excited about hip-hop.

it features many actors who come from that area. earlier on, we had a filmmaker known for an austere, intellectual cinema, which almost always focuses on his home country. he has won five rises here over the years, and in keeping with that tradition, his latest film focuses on an anchor at a television channel, a news channel in france, and it goes quite deep into the murky world of politics, power, the media, and the possibilities within for corruption. >> indeed. the next film in the running today also comes from someone who has picked up a few prizes before, too. >> yes, winning three prizes. his latest film on the red

carpet is "memorial" starring tilda swinton -- "memorial" starring tilda swinton. it references the protests that have been going on since april against tax increases and government corruption. the reason he made the film was slightly political in nature. thai authorities do not really appreciate his sort of cinema. it is an important reminder that while we give these filmmakers a warm welcome here, many of them do not necessarily get there in screened in their own home countries. he had to watch the standing ovation -- one artist had to watch the standing ovation for his film via internet from his hometown of moscow.

>> building up to an exciting climate this weekend. let's now turn our eyes to the main news around the world. the european union is intensifying the legal fight with poland and hungary this thursday over respect of fundamental human rits and the rule of law, which critics say are increasingly strained in the eu's leading eastern states. the eu has ruled that poland is where judges contravene eu law and has ordered poland to stop doing this, to change policy, and the european commission has charged hungary and poland with what it calls blatant disrespect for the rights of lgbtq people. >> the rights of the lgbtq community in poland and hungary could land the eastern european countries in the eu's highest

court. legal action has been initiated against both states for breaching the law. >> the commission will use all the instruments at its disposal to defend its values. the commission is launching iningeme procedures against hungary and poland related to the protection of fundamental rights and nondiscrimination of lgbtq people. >> critics say the legislation wrongly conflates pedophilia and pornography with lgbtq issues. the commission has called the issue a disgrace while the hungarian prime minister has defended it as an sue of natial sovereignty. last month, the polish government denied having laws

which discriminated against people based on their sexual orientation. hungary and poland now have two months to respond. >> let's get some analysis and reaction. the amnesty international program director for hungary joins us. thanks for joining us. we are seeing here two countries very much at odds with the eu on some fundamental issues. >> good evening. yes, i think what happened today is an essential state -- essential step. as you say, it is very shameful that we are here and that the commission needs to take these steps, but otherwise, it is a very welcoming message to the hungarian and polish lgbtq community.

>> indeed. what is even more disturbing is that these are democratically elected governments in countries in europe who are part of the large eu community but still taking this stance, which really is very questionable. >> i think it is more than questionable. i think disgrace is probably indeed a good way to describe it. this is a very core human rights violation, a stigmatization, and basically, a political charge against hungarian citizens. >> the equating homosexuality and pedophilia suggests prejudice but also suggests ignorance. >> i don't think it is

ignorance. i don't think the government does not know what they are talking. they are deliberately using the narrative around this -- a political narrative around this issue and trying to portray that lgbtq people would pose a threat to the children, sending this message out that these people, that we should be worried about these people, which is obviously a blatant lie. >> indeed, and they are not taking similar action against the catholic church, are they? obviously, there has been age -- there has been a lot of child abuse within the catholic church, right? >> yes, you're right. >> i don't expect you to comment further on that because that is beyond your purview. what would you like to s happen next? >> i would like to see this law be repealed as soon as possible.

obviously, it will be a relatively long legal battle between the eu commission and hungarian government. i truly hope this will be a quick procedure because in the meantime, while the commission is sending its recent opinion and the letters between the governments, people's lives are getting hurt, and people's lives are turning into much worse, so i think it is, like, essential that these legal challenges will go as fast as they could possibly go. >> thank you very much indeed for joining us and sharing your analysis of the situation. >> thank you. >> at least 58 people have been killed in germany, and dozens are still missing as rivers are swollen by record rent all -- record rainfall.

as these images show you, widespread chaos. the city of liege in bgium has been widely affected. we will continue to keep on that story and more for you. you are watching france 24. ♪ >> dreams, ghosts, lush vegetation, and the odd talking

animal. our guest creates cinematic worlds defying convention and redefining what film can do. he won in the cannes film festival and is back with "memoria" starring tilda swinton. his work is on show in an exhibition named periphery of the night. thank you so much for joining us today. as a filmmaker, this is not the first time you have had work exhibited in a gallery. liverpool and london also dedicated exhibitions to your work, but we don't usually associate the movie format with contemporary art.

tell us why your work is comfortable in a gallery setting . >> i try not to differentiate. for me, they are the same expression, but i guess there are certain kind of worlds that kind of work in a setting where the audience can participate, so in terms of exploring this kind of space in different rooms. >> as well as this exhibition, periphery of the night in lyons, you are also presenting "memoria" at the cannes film festival. can you tell us more about that

story? >> the story is quite personal. it started from this symptom that i had, which is like a loud bang that happened in my head. just me. nobody can hear it. so it is time to build the story about this individual who traveled in this foreign landscape while hearing this bang that made her unable to sleep, so it became kind of insomnia. for me, there is something about night that is really captivating. when you don't see things clearly and your mind sometimes takes over. it is almost like a dream and a dream state. >> it is like a rumble from the core of the earth, and then it shrinks.

>> "memoria" was filmed in combia -- in colombia, a departure from your familiar terrain. how did you find that experience? >> i wanted to get away from the comfort zone. that's one reason. another reason is working in thailand at the moment because of the political situation because i feel like if i make a film there, i need to collide head-on with the political issue, so i said, ok, let's take a break and try something that challenge myself for a long time, which is to go out and immerse myself like a child, learning the language. hodo you present this world?

>> regarding the political situation in thailand, it has been a turbulent few years. beyond yourself as a filmmaker, how do you see yourself in terms of freedom of expression? >> we still have a long way to go because of the military taking over the country and legitimating itself in the parliament and also in the process, silencing opposition, silencing critics, but we have witnessed from the past year with the pandemic that people, especially young people, could not stand it anymore, and there is a rise of of discontent, of voices of the youth, and it is that i have hope about thers future of the country. >> tilda swinton plays a major

role in the film. i wanted to ask about the casting process of that. was she someone you have long wanted to work with? >> yes, i wrote it with her in mind. we have known each other for a long time, and it is a result of this kind of wanting to work together and to immerse ourselves and open our senses. >> another opptunityo see your work at the cannes film festival is the screening of the film "the year of the everlasting storm," an ensemble piece that reflects the pandemic, this extraordinary year we have all been through. i wonder what was the major point you wanted to make with your contribution?

>> for me, i shot this short film in my bedroom. something i wanted to remember was this curiosity of life that rose around me. the film celebrates the other lives around us. >> you won the prize in 2002, then the jury prize, and of course the grand prize in 2010. i'm sure the festival is quite important for you and -- for you personally and professionally.

how do you sum up your feelings about it? >> it is very respectful to the medium and also the protocol and everything, you know, compared to how we had been filming in thailand and columbia, and this is like a celebration where people dress up. at first i did not understand, but then, this is fun. we are in this together to honor cinema. >> looking back at your career, your work has sometimes been labeled a unique experiment of queer cinema. "tropical melody" for example explores the nature of desire in a very subtle way. is that something you identify with? what sort of love stories do you want to tell? >> for me, the word queer means anything can happen. anything is possible. not only "tropical melody," and

not only a relationship between whatever since we are, but also about how you approach life. we just open it, make things happen, and also applying to cinema. how you tell stories. it can be anything. you are free to break it. there's no rules. >> thai authorities deemed your film "syndrome" essentially inappropriate for public consumption. they wanted you to cut certain scenes. what was so inappropriate about the film? >> my parents were doctors, so i wanted to remember or interpret that and also deal with religion, the buddhist monk, so for me, i just try to re-create the situation that i saw. i witnessed the monk playing

musical instruments or playing with the toys, and doctors sometimes taking a break, drinking. those things i think are realism, but for me, the censorship allowed me to understand the working mechanism of thai authorities, so it actually drove me to really try to create this awareness that they should not hide anything in cinema, and art should enlighten us, open our eyes to what is going on. >> how do you weigh that decision when it comes to compromising the integrity of your film or compromising its reach? >> i agreed to cut the film, but i insert black into those, sometimes as long as three or five minutes of darkness. his is a statement to say this

is what happens when you are being blindfolded. i think it is really effective, a statement for the public at that time. >> i believe that censorship board was made up of people from the ministry of culture. also something from the police, and they said at the time they were acting in the interest of the population. there's a quote that says thai people want to see comedy, and this is a kind of comment on high and low culture, i suppose. how do you see that statement? do you agree? x no, and it is really hurtful, and it is sat that you realize people in charge who are supposed to work for you have this attitude of seeing people in categories -- it saddens me because our governments do operate like that.

>> after year that many of us have and locked down, we have sort of lost the habit of going to cinema, seeing a film collectively. i wonder what your opinion is on that collective experience. what does cinema give us that other things cannot? >> it is a dream. a space almost like a simulation of dream, and you go in and you are losing your sense of body. it is like a collective dream, and that is very special. it cannot be replaced by your laptop, hopefully cinema will continue on in this form. >> thank you so much for joining us today. >> my pleasure. ♪

>> it is time now for "french connections," our weekly look at the intricacies of life here in france. today, we have a bit of a history lesson for you. this is a very defining page in french history. this is the paris commune which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. >> it was a revolutionary, socialist government that controlled paris from march 18 to may 28 1871. it started as a bloody insurrection, ended as a brutal civil war with parts of paris actually burnt to the ground, but it was also a social laboratory that experimented with concepts that are very central to modern-day france.

its name was in honor of the name given to the minister polity of parents -- of paris -- the name given to the municipality of paris in 1809. >> to better understand the origins of the paris commune, you have to go back a little further in french history to the end of the franco-prussian war and the defeat of napoleon iii, the nephew of napoleon bonaparte. >> they not only conceited victory to the prussians, but allowed them to march down the shum salazar -- the champs-elysees but pay reparations. they were still reeling from a siege by the prussians that left them angry, tired, and hungry. >> [speaking french]

>> ok, so here we are in march 1871. the situation really comes to a fever pitch on march 18 when the government tries to take about 300 cannons. >> the parisians dart -- thought these cannons belong to them because they paid for them through a prescription. a lot of soldiers with the national guard seized control of the city and refused to accept the authority of the national guard which ended up fleeing to their side. elections were held. the commune was declared. they had a red flag. that was their symbol. these elected officials got to work. they were journalists, artisans, workers, lawyers, doctors, artists, a very motley crew getting to work. it did not last very long because at the end of may, the versailles government ended up taking back paris after a very

bloody week. thousands were executed. they set fire to many buildings in paris. it is estimated that 1/3 of paris burnt to the ground in the worst instruction the capital has known in its history. >> as you say, it was very short, just 72 days, and yet, it really captured the imagination of people around the world, and its legacy lives on today. >> that's right. it was an incredible social experiment. the new government swiftly announced all sorts of measures including equality between men and women, workers rights, the separation of church and state. these were ideas that were radical at the time. >> [speaking french]

>> another interesting thing is that women played a key role. they not only chaired committees, they also built barricades and participated in the armed violence. this was the case, for instance, of a woman named louise michelle , an icon of luck commune -- la commune and feminism. >> the legacy of the commune really divides france today. >> for the left, it is a founding myth that should be celebrated today. for instance, the anthem for the communists was actually written, and people credit it with inspiring more recent movements like the yellow vests movement, but people on the right say

let's not forget this was a violent, bloody insurrection that should not be glorified, and maybe that can be -- maybe that can partially explain why it is relatively unknown in france. it is not really learned in school. it kind of sits outside national rhetoric. quirks there is wall in which the last defenders of the commune were executed, but the most visible sign is one of paris' most famous tourist destinations. the building of this church was before the commune, but the first stone was laid shortly after the end, and it was really where everything got started. for some people, this church is actually a slap in the face to the memory of the commune,

which, remember, was secular. this is why a lot of parisians hate it, although some argue it is just ugly. i do not agree with that personally, but this it's easy to forget today that just 150 years ago, there was this incredible chapter of french history. >> i personally love it. i think it looks like ar■ç■ç■ç■■

07/15/21 07/15/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the fighting is ongoing. many people have been displaced from their homes. we want the situationo end. our demand is to make this clear, whether they shod hand over the citto tell event or take full control by themselves and clear the area of insurgent so we can live a peaceful life. as u.s