Meta Hits Cannes As Sponsor With Host Of Gen Z Stars Including Reece Feldman, Enora Hope & Zainab Jiwa

Times are changing at the Cannes Film Festival.

The festival, which banned selfies on its red carpet in 2018, has signed a multi-year strategic partnership with social media and tech giant Meta.

The company – which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – unveiled its presence and sponsorship of Cannes in a release on Monday on the eve of the opening ceremony, following a low-key announcement by the festival in April.

The tech giant will be out in force across the festival and market with initiatives promoting its platforms as well as its AI and wearable technologies, and based out of its new Meta House venue in the Majestic Hotel.

The latter will host a program of events with Gen Z stars such as French filmmaker Enora Hope and fashion creator Lyas, Belgian photographer Bleg, Italian creator Matteo Varini, Spanish cinephile Ivan Hachez, London-based culture creator Zainab Jiwa, UK fashion voices Lola Clark and Victor Kunda, along with French basketball player Diamant Blazi.

In another first, TikTok star Reece Feldman will be conducting red carpet interviews through the frame of Ray-Ban Meta glasses as a reporter for Meta.

Other Cannes connections, include Steven Soderbergh’s documentary John Lennon: The Last Interview which debuts as a Special Screening. The director used Meta’s AI tools to create visuals that accompany Lennon and Ono’s more abstract ideas and reflections in the documentary taking its cue from Lennon and Yoko Ono’s final radio interview.

In the Marché du Film conference program, Meta’s Director of Creator and Media Partnerships Louise Holmes will participate in a conversation looking at the bridges being built between the creator economy and the film industry.

Meta described its presence at Cannes as “a natural fit”.

“Meta is proud to be an Official Partner of the Festival de Cannes in a new multi-year strategic partnership. It’s a natural fit: for decades, Cannes has defined how we see the world through the frame—and today, our platforms are where that view is shared with the world,” it said.

With one of the big first supporters of selfie culture on board as a sponsor, does this mean the practice will be allowed once again on the Cannes red carpet?