“If a film is not good in Cannes, you feel it,” the head of the venerable festival said during an appearance at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Thierry Frémaux Courtesy of Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival

Cannes film festival boss Thierry Frémaux has lifted the curtain on the venerable French festival and its influence, including how the success of ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘ left global star like Tom Cruise in a flop sweat.

“In Cannes, the big films protect the small films,” Fremaux told a Red Sea Film Festival session at the event’s Souk, or market in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday. The fest boss was talking about Hollywood blockbusters and challenging small and independent movies create a great mix of offerings for film buffs.

“You can’t (program) in Cannes five days with only radical films. Sometimes, you want a comedy, you want an easier film. And by the way, when we screened … Top Gun: Maverick is a very good film for what it is,” basically a big-budget Hollywood popcorn movie, Fremaux said.

“And it was a triumph,” he highlighted before adding: “But Tom Cruise inside the room was … stressed and afraid of the reception of the room because he was in Cannes. And if a film is not good in Cannes, you feel it, I can tell you.”

Cruise and the Top Gun sequel made global headlines in 2022 when fighter jets flew over the Cannes Croisette and the star was honored with a surprise Palme d’Or.

Fremaux insisted each year brings a new film program to Cannes, a new crop of international filmmakers, emphasizing the stress that comes with maintaining the festival’s success in its film selection. “You learn every day. Every day you have success and failure. Everyday is like in sports. You have to go back to the ring and show that you didn’t lose anything,” he explained.

And while Cannes is in France, Fremaux insisted it’s a “world festival” that happens to take place in the country but is focused more than anything on auteurs. “Cinema is an artistic identity,” he argued. “Whether there’s a red carpet or a market, the most important things are the films and filmmakers.”

Fremaux added that each film screening is preceded by the director being called up to the microphone to introduce his or her work. “Even if Brad Pitt is with an unknown young filmmaker, we won’t mention the presence of Brad Pitt. We mention the presence of this young filmmaker, which shows how important for us it is and we must show this importance,” he said.

Fremaux is in Jeddah to premiere his latest documentary, Lumière! The Adventure Continues, a deep dive into the origins of cinema. The doc, a sequel to Frémaux’s Lumière! The Adventure Begins (2016), screens as part of the festival’s International Spectacular sidebar.