Cate Blanchett slams Australian film funding cuts while promoting ‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ at Cannes

CATE Blanchett has spoken out in Cannes against funding cuts to Screen Australia announced in the federal budget, calling them “short-sighted”.

Australian actress Cate Blanchett poses as she arrives for the screening of the animated film "How to train your Dragon 2" at the 67th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 16, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI

DUAL Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett has slammed funding cuts to Screen Australia announced in the federal budget as “short-sighted”.

Australia’s television and film funding body will be $38 million worse off over the next four years under widespread arts cuts announced by the government this week.

“I think there’s a lot of concerns in the budget generally, not only the film industry,” Blanchett said on Friday.

“It’s not only a potent industry that feeds Australia at home but culture generally, for any nation, is a piece of soft diplomacy.

“It’s a way that we understand the way the mind of a country works.

“It’s a huge economic driver at home and I think it (the budget) is very short-sighted.” Blanchett, who won Academy Awards for her roles in The Aviator and Blue Jasmine, started her career with the Sydney Theatre Company and is a passionate supporter of the Australian arts industry.

Blanchett, at the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of animated film How to Train Your Dragon 2, said the government had failed to recognise the economic and diplomatic significance of culture with its tough budget.

Centre of attention ... Cate Blanchett poses her dragon co-star Krokmou on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet. Picture: Bertrand Langlois

How to Train Your Dragon 2, the follow-up to DreamWorks’ 2010 3D animation hit, has been greeted with positive reviews in Cannes, hailed for its humour, emotional depth and stunning visuals. Blanchett voices new character Valka, a reclusive vigilante from the Arctic and the mother of the story’s teenage protagonist Hiccup (Jay Baruchel).

Blanchett is only a new addition to the animated DreamWorks franchise but she was the clear the centre of attention in the French Riviera. Hours before gracing the red carpet in a stunning metallic Givenchy number, Blanchett sat on a star-studded panel of cast members at a press conference for the international film media. She found herself in high demand, with 11 of the 14 questions from the floor directed at the Blue Jasmine star.

Reporters applauded as Blanchett entered the room before quizzing the 45-year-old about everything from motherhood, politics and sexism to the film itself.

Some exchanges were downright bizarre but, typically, Blanchett handled it all with grace and humour.

In stitches ... Cate Blanchett and America Ferrara Loic Venance in the French Riviera on Friday. Picture: Loic Venance

At times she had the room, including her co-stars, in stitches. A discussion about motherhood took a strange twist when a Latin American reporter asked Blanchett if she let her three young children play with her Oscar statues.

“Yes, every day. Mummy sits them down and I get my two Oscars out and I let them stroke them for 15 minutes before they go to school, if they’re good,” Blanchett quipped.

In another comical exchange, one Colombian journalist asked: “How do you train your dragon?”, to which Blanchett replied: “I don’t know if I want to answer that in public.”

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How to Train Your Dragon 2, the follow-up to DreamWorks’ 2010 3D animation hit, has been greeted with positive reviews in Cannes, hailed for its humour, emotional depth and stunning visuals. Blanchett voices new character Valka, a reclusive vigilante from the Arctic and the mother of the story’s teenage protagonist Hiccup (Jay Baruchel).

Writer/director Dean DeBlois wrote the part with Blanchett in mind and “ambushed her” at a chance meeting at the Academy Awards in 2011 to offer her the part.

A gift ... Cate Blanchett handles even the most bizarre exchanges with humour. Picture: Andreas Rentz

“It’s a gift to to be offered a part like this, my children and I adored the first film,” Blanchett said.

Voice work on the film, which also stars Jonah Hill, Gerard Butler and Game of Thrones favourite Kit Harington, has been ongoing for almost four years and Blanchett has relished the change from live action work.

“As an actor, you’re used to using your body and your face to communicate,” said Blanchett.

“But when you can only do it through your voice and you’re doing it in tandem with the most extraordinary state-of-the art animation - I’ve found it an intriguing ride.”

The film is released in Australian on June 19 and the franchise’s third instalment is already in the works.