French filmmaker Jacques Audiard was already disliked in Mexico for directing. “Emilia Perez,” but he’s now sparked new controversy with these latest remarks.
In a recent interview with Konbini, Audiard didn’t choose words too wisely when describing his thoughts about Spanish-speaking people (via info bae):
Spanish is a language of modest countries, of developing countries, of the poor and migrants.
These words have sparked feverish backlash, and been widely rejected on social media and newspapers in Mexico and Latin America, most of which have expressed indignation and anger, with his comments interpreted as a sign of classism and contempt for Spanish-speaking countries.
Audiard has stated, time and time again, that he wasn’t trying to explore Mexican culture in “Emilia Perez,” which was actually shot in France, but rather the Mexico in the movie was just a backdrop for his story.
It was just a few weeks ago that Audiard had to cancel a Q&A session at the Cineteca Nacional de Mexico due to controversies over Mexican representation and trans-identity. He even issued an apology to the Mexican people.”Emilia Perez” bombed at the Mexican box office this month, with protestors surrounding screenings outside of some cinemas. In any case, the Mexicans continue to have ‘Emilia’ at the center of the national conversation and, yet, it’s still the Oscar front runner to win Best Picture.