Judith Light and Mireille Dumas are headed to Monte-Carlo. The duo will be in town to head up, respectively, the drama and documentaries juries at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival. Ahead of time, they sat down with Deadline and discussed their hopes for their sections, and, more generally, the worlds of drama and factual programming.

Light is a multi-Emmy and Tony Award-winner. In TV, she is known for roles including Karen Wolek in the soap opera One Life to Live, for which she won a brace of Daytime Emmy Awards, and Angela Bower in the hit sitcom Who’s the Boss? She has also starred in Ugly Betty, Transparent and The Politician. She guest-starred in Rian Johnson’s Poker Face and recently was in Apple TV+’s Before alongside Billy Crystal. Next up, she stars in The Terror: Devil in Silver for AMC.

Speaking to Deadline from the U.S., she talked about expectations for the trip to Monte-Carlo, how the TV biz has changed, and why Adolescence was a global hit.

This has been a festival that’s been around for many, many years; Prince Rainier III started it years ago and it is about people’s artistry and creativity.

When you’ve done a lot of work, like I have for years, you begin to understand everyone else’s viewpoint, everyone else’s work within the system, and you have an expanded view of the work.

In other words, how do you speak to your AD? How do you speak to the lighting designer? How do you speak to the set designer? How are you speaking with your director? How do you create the characters, all of those things.

Ewan McGregor in A Gentleman In Moscow…  that’s my thing. And shows like Nine Perfect Strangers, and, of course, my friend Noah Wiley in The Pitt. I watch a lot of different things. Of course, I’m sure you’ve seen Adolescence. For me, coming originally from the theater, to see that kind of work done, and the extraordinary and expansive camera work, that took my breath away.

It’s about the human condition and how we live. We begin to understand the world from the parents’ point of view, from the child’s point of view, from the teacher’s point of view, and also how that affects a system. It’s not just brilliantly made in the UK, with UK actors, but it is a universal story. Because we now have cable and streaming and all the expansiveness of the television world, we get to see it.

We’re now living in a [creative] world without borders, and television has followed suit. That’s what I think is so exciting about what’s going to happen in in Monaco.

We’re going to find out how people are viewing the United States right now. We’re going to see how people are viewing everybody’s different cultures.

I’m from a generation where there was ABC, NBC and CBS, and then Fox came in. That’s not so anymore, and because it’s not so, there’s a heartbeat, a pulse, a driving commitment to a different kind of creativity and many of our cable channels and streamers are adding to that. They are moving us in a direction that gives us that kind of expansiveness.

And of course, within that system, there are headwinds, but there are also tailwinds.

Very early on in my career, I felt very strongly that if I ever had a platform that I wanted to do something with it. That’s not for everybody, but it has been for it has been for me. Particularly at the beginning of the AIDS pandemic, what I kept seeing was a community that was powerful and inspirational and that was connecting and caring for each other. It was important to me to speak out about how much homophobia had been lying under the surface.

There are other issues – women finding their voice, climate and the environment – things that have been very essential and important, and that I carry in my heart.

I said a million times I was never going to do a soap opera, and then I ended up doing a soap opera. It changed the way I thought about the work and my career, and subsequently my life, so One Life To Live carries a very special place for me. And of course, Who’s The Boss? I also swore I’d never do a sitcom. I really learned a great deal from Tony Danza about comedy and how important comedy is to an audience.

My husband [Robert Desiderio] is a is a novelist, and he had his first novel published in 2020… so much for the book tour in 2020 [given the Pandemic] right! But we have a few ideas and we’re getting some real traction.

“

Mireille Dumas is the creator and host of iconic French programs including Bas les Masques and Vie Privée, Vie Publique. A leading figure in documentary filmmaking and investigative reporting, her jury will run the rule over factual projects from around the world.

She told Deadline about her hopes for the projects she will see and why work such as exiled Iranian director Sepideh Farsi’s Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, with Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna who was tragically killed, remains vital

First and foremost, I hope to be challenged and further awakened to the world. I want to be surprised and captivated by both the subject matter and its treatment, as the strength of documentaries lies in their freedom to portray reality. I also aim to be alerted and informed about certain issues, as it’s the role of in-depth reporting to show us the world as it is.

Whether in crisis or not, these programs are essential. Moreover, crises, revolts, revolutions, conflicts, wars, and humanitarian or natural disasters are always occurring somewhere in the world. Documentaries serve not only to remind us of these events but also to provide us with different perspectives and insight. Unlike immediate news, which lacks hindsight, these programs take the time for analysis and contextualization, allowing us to discover other realities.

Investigative journalism has always been challenging. It has consistently required circumventing, depending on the era and country, the law of silence, intimidation, or even worse, censorship, to uncover scandals or present narratives differing from official accounts—all the while protecting sources.

Today, with the proliferation of media and social networks, fake news, and deepfakes fueling a race for scoops, journalists must be even more rigorous in verifying the veracity of this avalanche of data. Additionally, in a world of transparency and false appearances, protecting sources has become increasingly complex. Paradoxically, social networks also serve as valuable sources of information and global connections.

MD: Several documentaries have captivated me. The portrait of Vincent Lindon, Cœur sanglant, in which the actor truly bares himself by revealing traits we usually hide, surprised and moved me. The interweaving of scenes where he narrates his story by filming himself with his phone and the more formal interviews is captivating.

In a completely different genre and with a more traditional archival film approach, Sous la menace des Khmers rouges, la chute de l’ambassade de France fascinated me. I was unaware of the harrowing negotiations between the French government and the Khmer Rouge concerning the thousands of French and Cambodian individuals who had taken refuge in the embassy for several weeks in April 1975. Whether it’s the small or the grand narrative, it’s always about the human adventure.

DEADLINE: How has documentary making evolved, is social media and global connectivity an opportunity and a threat?

MD: I believe there’s room for everyone, and new formats are enriching and inspiring. For instance, the documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, recently acclaimed at Cannes, was filmed using just two phones. Iranian director Sepideh Farsi, exiled in France, exchanged over a year with young Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna about her daily life in Gaza, her hopes, and despairs. The result is a work of rare intensity, offering a direct view of war and a plea for peace.

Tragically, Fatima was killed during an Israeli strike in Gaza on 16 April 2025, alongside ten members of her family. The day before her death, she had learned of the film’s selection at Cannes and was preparing to attend.

DEADLINE: Awards are glitzy and glamorous, which can be incongruous when the programs awarded are gritty documentaries. But is it important that we recognize the work of journalists and filmmakers in this way?

MD: Awards are important as they help bring attention to these works, attracting interest both domestically and internationally. They also enable awarded directors and producers to develop their next projects more easily.

Ultimately, we live in a highly competitive world across all fields; one might regret that many films deserve recognition, but that’s the nature of the game. Therefore, either all awards are abolished, or every award should be celebrated, especially when the subject matter is delicate or somber. I believe that throughout human history, the more tense and unstable the context, the more necessary celebrations have been as outlets. This would, incidentally, make an excellent theme for a documentary.