The Storms of Jeremy Thomas

Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival

Directed by Mark Cousins (The Story of Film: An Odyssey)

For decades, legendary film producer Jeremy Thomas has driven from England to the Cannes Film Festival. This time, he’s joined by acclaimed filmmaker Mark Cousins.

On their intimate, visual five-day road movie through rural France, they remember some of the most acclaimed and controversial films ever made: The Last Emperor, which won nine Oscars for Thomas when he was still in his 30s, including Best Picture; David Cronenberg’s Crash and its Cannes scandal; the masterpiece of sexual obsession, Bad Timing. Thomas introduces us to his remarkable world of legendary movie stars – Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, David Bowie – and daring international cinema, influenced by punk and the counterculture. The journey is inter-cut with acclaimed actors Tilda Swinton and Debra Winger, who give exclusive insights into the man and his work.

Illustrated with a dazzling range of film clips and rich in insights about creativity and survival, The Storms of Jeremy Thomas is a road movie portrait of France, a film school, and – in the era of streaming and corporatization – a passionate call to arms for movies that get to the heart of life.