TikTok had it all planned out. Except “an artistic jury is a jury, not an algorithm”. The Franco-Cambodian director Rithy Panh decided, Thursday, May 19, to resign from the first jury of the TikTok Short Film Festival, before changing his mind shortly after, reports the site of the Hollywood Reporter magazine. Favorite social network for teenagers and ultra-short video paradise, the TikTok platform is the new official partner of the Cannes Film Festival.

“TikTok needs to understand that a jury is sovereign,” Rithy Panh told Agence France-Presse by phone, explaining: “You can choose films, it’s called selection, choose the jury, but then let the jury do its job. »

The director, whose 1994 feature People of the Rice Field was the first Cambodian film presented at the Cannes Film Festival, said the platform’s suggestions were “too insistent”. This withdrawal of the jury makes him “sad”, “especially since some films are really of good quality”, he said, reiterating his “support” for the authors.

After this stroke of blood, TikTok seems to have come to its senses. Friday morning, Rithy Panh announced, on Twitter, to reconsider his decision: “The TikTok Short Film Festival now recognizes the independence and sovereignty of the jury. And so it will be a pleasure for me to meet the winners at the awards ceremony. »

For the TikTok Short Film Festival, the jury had to decide between very short videos (three minutes maximum) sent by experienced and emerging filmmakers from all over the world. In addition to Rithy Panh, the jury is made up of three other filmmakers (Camille Ducellier, Basma Khalifa and Angèle Diabang) and a TikTok star (Khaby Lame, followed by 100 million subscribers).

The prizes must be awarded on Friday in the presence of Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival.