Film Festival Under Fire For Honoring Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp’s filmography speaks for itself and many would love to have a fraction of the career he enjoyed. His history in the entertainment industry led to a big honor for Depp from the San Sebastian Film Festival, but his recent controversy caused a firestorm.

The film festival in Spain is getting heat from Spain’s Association of Female Filmmakers. They say that Johnny Depp’s presence reflects poorly on the festival’s image.

Depp is accused of abusing his ex-wife Amber Heard. This is a polarizing subject matter with fans as some decided to stand next to Johnny Depp. Many fans also called for Amber Heard’s removal from Aquaman 2, a film that is currently in production with Heard attached.

The San Sebastian Film Festival is presenting Johnny Depp with their lifetime achievement award, and this is a huge matter of controversy. Cristina Andreu, president of Spain’s Association of Female Filmmakers, spoke out to the The Associated Press..

Andreu said that including Depp, “speaks very badly of the festival and its leadership and transmits a terrible message to the public: ‘It doesn’t matter if you are an abuser as long as you are a good actor’,” They are also “studying next steps” to continue expressing their displeasure.

Spain’s Association of Female Filmmakers has close ties to the San Sebastian festival. The festival’s director, José Luis Rebordinos, told The Hollywood Reporter that, “the role of a film festival is not to judge the conduct of members of the film industry. The role of a film festival is to select the most relevant and interesting films of the year and to extend recognition to those who have made an extraordinary contribution to the art of film.”

Johnny Depp enjoyed an amazing career with one landmark role after another. His characters will live on in cinematic history, but recent developments in his life obviously caused some to rethink how much appreciation he should receive. As of this writing, Depp’s lifetime achievement award presentation will go down as planned.

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