KIM JONES: It was my first time at Cannes, which was, needless to say, a monumental moment for me. Film has been a part of my life for a long, long time now, but I hadn’t yet been brave enough to make the full pivot and make it my sole direction. But over the last couple of years, I’ve been kind of transitioning and working on smaller-scale projects, but Cannes felt like a bookend to me, kind of like a closing of one chapter and the opening of another.
So, on a personal level—and anyone else who’s dreamed of making a transition to a new career will understand what I’m talking about—this felt really, really special, and honestly in the best way possible. It was the best way possible to start this new journey. I was there thanks to producers Bianca Balbuena and Bradley Liew.
They have opened a lot of doors for a multitude of filmmakers and the stories that they champion. Their own trajectories and their own careers have been very inspiring. And getting to see, you know, what they’ve mounted in terms of the Directors’ Factory , which is the first time it’s been held in the Philippines and only the second time since its conception that it’s been held in Southeast Asia, and seeing the fruits of their labor with the film in certain regard, which is Viet and Nam (2024), has been such a joy.
I really wanted to see what the current landscape was within the film industry, see what voices were being amplified, see what stories were being told, understand, you know, j.