Woody Allen Says He "Never Thought of Retiring" In Light Of #MeToo Controversy & Gives The Working Title For His New Film

Woody Allen might have taken some time off (for the first time in his decades-long career) but that doesn’t mean he’s retiring. Far from it, actually. And speaking at a recent press conference, the filmmaker promoted his latest feature, which is set to begin production soon, and talked about what his future might hold in the film industry, in light of the recent #MeToo controversy that has left his seemingly blacklisted.

Allen isn’t addressing the controversy, but instead, talking about his next project, which currently has the working title “Rivkin’s Festival.” The film is said to take place at the San Sebastian Film Festival where a married American couple becomes victims of the magic of the fest, leading the man to fall in love with a young Spanish woman and his wife to fall for a French film director.

But just because he’s had issues getting funding for his latest feature and is currently embroiled in a massive lawsuit with Amazon, don’t expect Allen to give up his passion anytime soon.

“I have never thought of retiring,” he said (via Deadline) “Since I started, I’ve always tried to focus on my work, no matter what happens in my family or with politics. I don’t think about social movements, for example. My cinema is about human relationships, about people. And I try to have humor in them. If I were to die, I would probably die on a film set, which may well happen.”

Obviously, you can’t make a film without a cast, and even though Allen’s name might not hold the same cache it once did in light of his controversies, there are actors that are willing to work with the filmmaker and defend him. One of those is Gina Gershon, who stars in the upcoming Allen film.

“Living in the United States now is crazy,” said Gershon. “There’s a lot of rivalry, a lot of hatred, it’s wild times. One has to make sense of all those situations. I am very aware of the subject of women’s rights, but I am also delighted to be in a Woody Allen project. I think the Me Too movement has promoted very good things, but it’s also really important that people take a look at every situation individually and really make up their own minds about them.”

Joining Gershon in the cast are Christoph Waltz, Louis Garrel, Elena Anaya, Sergi Lopez, and Wally Shawn.

There’s no release date set for “Rivkin’s Festival” (or whatever it ends up being called), but production is set to begin this week.