“We don’t make art if we don’t take risks,” says Francis Ford Coppola, who presents “Megalopolis”

Francis Ford Coppola returns to the Cannes Film Festival. The 85-year-old American director presents Megalopolis, his first film since 2011, Thursday May 16. The feature film is in competition for the Palme d’Or. Guest of France 2’s “20 Heures”, the author of Godfather and D’Apocalypse Now defended his vision of the 7th art: “I think that cinema is not just there to entertain, (…) I think that it also has the vocation of illuminating life”he explains.

His new film is not, however, disconnected from the progress of the world. With Megalopoliswhich transposes “a Roman epic in modern America”Francis Ford Coppola wanted to “to do something that would not only be enjoyable, but would be a mirror to show the times we live in and are going through.” “America is going through the same vicissitudes as Rome thousands ago years”worries the filmmaker, who would like “people understand that the Republic is precious”.

If Megalopolis is one of the most anticipated films of the year on the Croisette, it is also because its creation was not easy. The cinema veteran financed it on his own, without help from Hollywood: “The film industry, their job is not to make good films. When they make a film, there are rules (…) to be sure to make money and cover their costs . I don’t care about covering my costs.” “You don’t make art if you don’t take risks”decides the director, who is aiming for his third Palme d’Or.