Films will need AI labels, warns Cannes boss
Films will need AI labels, warns Cannes boss
India McTaggartMon, May 11, 2026 at 9:07 PM UTC
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Thierry Frémaux has been director of the Cannes Film Festival for 25 years - Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images
Films will soon need AI warning labels to help viewers differentiate AI-generated content from traditional filmmaking, the director of the Cannes Film Festival has said.
Thierry Frémaux said that conversations about the technology “will become increasingly present” in Hollywood and at international film festivals, adding that it posed “big risks” for the industry.
Speaking on the eve of the 79th Cannes Film Festival’s opening ceremony, he said that films which do not use AI could use a suitable label to help appeal to viewers in the same way as wines are sold as being organic.
“Maybe films, as sometimes with wine, we will say, ‘This film was made without artificial intelligence, this film was made with the means available, this script was written without [AI],’” he said.
His remarks come after the emerging technology was banned from the festival’s Palme d’Or competition this year, on the grounds that “AI imitates very well but it will never feel deep emotions”.
Mr Frémaux addressed the issue by stating that the festival remained “on the artists’ side”.
‘Threatened by AI’
The long-serving director said: “We stand with the artists, the scriptwriters, the actors ... We are on the side of all those whose professions are being threatened by artificial intelligence.”
He added that the use of the technology in cinema “requires laws and legislation”, insisting that “we need to control” its current spread in filmmaking.
His comments come at a critical time in filmmaking with the industry grappling with the rising competence and accessibility of AI-generated media.
There was an outcry after a technology company called Particle6 invited “Tilly Norwood”, an AI actress, to be employed in films, TV shows or adverts for a fraction of the cost of a human actor.
The use of AI is also a critical issue at the heart of ongoing disputes, leading to actor strikes.
In late April, less than a month before the Cannes Film Festival, the city’s Boulevard de la Croisette played host to the first edition of the World AI film festival, the upstart AI film movement with big-tech backers.
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The same storied venues on the French Riviera will be hosting Hollywood and the international film industry’s stars, many of whom have been vocal against the technology’s use.
Scarlett Johansson and Cate Blanchett, who are both attending the Cannes Film Festival this year, were recently among hundreds of actors, musicians and authors to back a new campaign accusing AI companies of “theft” of their work.
The Hollywood actresses were among 800 creative professionals and bands to join the “Stealing Isn’t Innovation” campaign, launched earlier this year. It accuses the tech firms of using their work to “build AI platforms without authorisation or regard for copyright law”.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Frémaux said that the festival’s jury had been prepared to watch a film made entirely with AI had it been submitted for selection.
The festival boss said that, in the end, the movie, which he did not name, had not been proposed for selection, but added: “We would have watched the film ... Is it important for what it says about the history of cinema or the future of cinema? Maybe we can watch something to say no, or we watch it to say ‘maybe’.”
‘Things will turn into a lie’
He suggested that the technology could soon become used in films the same way the industry transitioned from 35mm film to digital production.
However, he cautioned that with AI there would be “a big risk that things will turn into a lie” on screen, and that only cinephiles might be able to decipher the difference.
Responding to Mr Frémaux’s remarks, the chief executive of the first film distributor to advertise new releases with an AI-free disclaimer welcomed the suggestion of a label, telling The Telegraph that the “distinction is starting to matter commercially”.
Paul Yates, who runs London-based The Mise en Scène Company, said: “We agree with Thierry’s comments that films using AI will require some sort of label and we think that films that don’t use AI should be labelled too.
“A film made by human hands is a different kind of asset from one that isn’t, the way a painting is different from a print.”
He added: “This year, our company originated the ‘No AI Used’ label for our films at the European Film Market ... That distinction is starting to matter commercially, and the industry doesn’t yet have a consistent way to express it.
“We believe the conversation needs to be bigger than one company/organisation and one label to be meaningful commercially and with audiences.
“As a result, we are launching an evolved independent initiative and calling on collaboration from the full industry at this market to help distributors, producers and agents navigate their way through AI transparency.”
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
