Cannes 2025: Harris Dickinson stands up for homeless community against Suella Braverman
At the Cannes Film Festival, actor and director Harris Dickinson stood up against Conservative Party MP Suella Braverman for previously claiming in 2023 that being homeless was a “lifestyle choice”.
Dickinson’s directorial debut, Urchin, premiered at Cannes during the festival and stars Frank Dillane in the lead role as Mike, who is homeless and suffers from addiction issues which prevent him from being able to turn his life around despite his best efforts.
During an interview with Dazed earlier this year, Dickinson said of Urchin: “It’s about the people that fall between the cracks. It’s about mental health and about the ways in which the system fails people in certain ways.”
On May 19th, Dickinson shared several photos on Instagram from his trip to Cannes, including one of him in a white T-shirt with the words “Living on the streets is not a lifestyle choice Suella,” on the front. Meanwhile, on the back, it reads, “It’s a sign of failed government policy”.
In 2023, while Home Secretary, Braverman caused controversy when she wrote on X about rough sleepers: “The British people are compassionate. We will always support those who are genuinely homeless. But we cannot allow our streets to be taken over by rows of tents occupied by people, many of them from abroad, living on the streets as a lifestyle choice.”
She claimed that if change wasn’t implemented, then British “cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles” and claimed those sleeping in tents were “blighting our communities”.
Braverman also wrote: “Nobody in Britain should be living in a tent on our streets. There are options for people who don’t want to be sleeping rough, and the government is working with local authorities to strengthen wraparound support including treatment for those with drug and alcohol addiction.”
Following her comments about homelessness being a lifestyle choice, Braverman was sacked from her role as Home Secretary.
Urchin received a five-minute standing ovation following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It has yet to receive a cinematic release date.
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