Hollywood star Demi Moore and Korean auteur Park Chan-wook kicked off the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday with a series of careful but unequivocal statements defending the role of politics in cinema. Asked whether she had concerns about political statements during the festival potentially distracting from the films themselves, Moore said she strongly hoped not. “I think part of art is about expression, so if we start censoring ourselves then we shut down the very core of our creativity, which is, I think, where we can discover truth and answers,” she said. Park, who is chairing this year’s Cannes jury, then offered an extended defense of political filmmaking in response to a similar question, which quickly became the dominant theme of Cannes’ first press conference. “I don’t think politics and art should be divided,” the South Korean auteur said. “I think it’s a strange concept to think they’re in conflict with each other.…