Let me tell you a story. In this story, it is not the beginning but the ending that counts – an ending written to bring closure to a battle that has been raging for over 100 years. It began with the arrival of a train, from which a hero emerged, along with his antagonist. There was a confrontation on the screen, which carried over into real life. Cinema first came into our lives, then became our lives. And now, our future also depends on cinema.

My story today is about that very battle, and about the future. The most terrible dictators of the twentieth century loved film – we all know that. But the most important thing that has remained are those terrible images from the documentaries and films made in defiance of those dictators. On 11 September 1939, in Cannes, the first Festival was to begin, but the Second World War broke out. For 6 years, cinema was on the front line of this war along with the entire military. For 6 years, cinema fought for freedom but also, unfortunately, on the side of the dictators. Now, by looking back at this cinema, we can see how freedom was able to march to victory and how it prevented dictators from taking over the hearts of men.

There were many milestones along the way, but the most terrible one was in 1940 when, against the antagonist, the whole world discovered a boy who was nothing special, who didn't look like a hero but turned out to be one. Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator did not destroy the real dictator at the time. But thanks to the cinema and thanks to this film, the cinema stopped being silent in every sense of the word. Cinema began to speak out and it was the voice of the future victory of freedom. Already back in 1940, when we heard on the screens: "The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…"

Since those words uttered by Chaplin's hero, mankind has made a great many magnificent films. You would have thought it was clear to everyone that you can bring people together through beauty, by bringing them together in front of the screen, and not through ugliness, by bringing them together in air raid shelters. One would have thought that everyone had understood that the horror of large-scale wars, which can set the whole continent ablaze, should not be repeated. But now once again, just as there was back then, there is a dictator. Once again, a war is being waged for freedom. And once again, just like back then, the world of cinema must not remain silent.

On 24 February 2022, Russia began a full-scale war against Ukraine, with the intention of expanding into Europe. What is it about? I will try to be clear and precise, quoting words from the movies, which sound terrible on the screen but have become reality: "Can you smell it? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

This is how it started: at 4am in Ukraine we heard the first rocket explosions. When the air strikes started and death advanced on the country across the border, with the "Z" and swastikas. Our enemies want to be better Nazis than Hitler. Not a day goes by without finding mass graves left by the Russian army, with people being tortured. 229 children have been killed. They achieve nothing but killing, killing and killing. They have littered Europe with corpses. You saw what the Russian military did in Bucha. You saw Mariupol. You saw the municipal theatre – which looks like the Palais des Festivals – hit by a Russian bomb,. The people taking refuge there were civilians. Two large, clearly visible inscriptions: "THERE ARE CHILDREN HERE", had been spelled out on the asphalt next to the theatre. We will never forget it.

It was not hell, it was worse. More than 2,000 Russian rockets hit our territory. Dozens of bridges were destroyed, villages were burned. More than half a million Ukrainians were forcibly deported to Russia. Tens of thousands are in Russian camps modelled on the Nazi concentration camps. It is not known how many will survive. No one knows, but everyone knows who is responsible.

Do you think you will be cleared of guilt? Already in Europe you are responsible for the most terrible war since the Second World War. Hundreds of people are dying in the war every day. Others are starving.

What are we waiting for today? We are waiting to see if the cinema world will keep quiet or if it will speak out about it. If there is a dictator, if there is a war for freedom and if everything depends once again on our unity, can the cinema remain outside that unity? Our towns are not being destroyed by virtual graphics. Many Ukrainians today have to explain to children why they are hiding in shelters. Our nation’s land is scarred by thousands of trenches. Of course we will continue to fight. We have no choice but to fight for our freedom.

I am convinced that the dictator will lose, but we must remember those words from 1940, heard on the screens of the free world. We need a new Chaplin who will prove that cinema is not silent today either.

Remember these words. Greed has imprisoned the minds of men, barricaded the world with hatred, driven us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed only to end up in captivity in. The machines that bring us such abundance leave us dissatisfied. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our intelligence inhuman. We think too much and feel too little. Being too mechanised, we lack humanity. Being too cultured, we lack tenderness and kindness.

I say to all those who hear me: do not despair, hate will eventually disappear! The dictators will die! We need to win and we need cinema to be on the side of freedom. The voice of cinema is timeless.

I thank you all.

Glory to Ukraine.