Godard: No plans to attend Cannes film festival

Legendary French-Swiss director Jean-Luc Godard said Saturday that he has neither plans to go to Cannes nor is he interested in receiving the film festival's top prize, even if his "Goodbye to Language" is among movies in competition for the Palme d'Or. In response to a question from Swiss television RTS if he would attend the festival, Godard said: "No, because I have already been". When asked what could be done to change his mind, the 83-year-old's reply was "nothing". Godard turned European filmmaking upside-down in the 1960s with his "New Wave" cinema that shunned studio sets in favour of outdoor shoots, using improvised scripts and natural sound. While he has never won an award at Cannes, his film is among 18 in competition for the Palme d'Or this year. Nevertheless, he is not keen to receive any prize. "By the spirit of contradiction, I would have preferred if there had been no prize," he said. He said he would have been happy to receive the Palme d'Or "30 or 40 years ago" but "that would have undoubtedly done some harm and I am happy today to have avoided that". He added that if he had won, he would give the trophy to his tax adviser, as he has with the honorary Oscar he won in 2010.