Working from memory, the conversation went something like this:

Reporter: So what cars do you drive?

Gus Van Sant: A Volkswagen Passat.

Reporter: A 2012 Passat or an older model?

Gus Van Sant: It's a few years old.

Reporter: So what do you think about the controversy in the press?

Gus Van Sant: What controversy?

Reporter: I thought there was some controversy in the media.

Gus Van Sant: Not that I know of.

Reporter: Do I have you mistaken...? I thought there was something about anti-Semitic comments....?

Gus Van Sant: I don't think so.

At this point Gus Van Sant wearily moved on to the next reporter. In the middle of the interview, he looked up and addressed the Aol/HuffPo reporter.

Gus Van Sant: You're thinking of Lars von Trier. Yeah. I'm not him.

Reporter: Oh, sorry about that.

It's an easy mistake to make, we suppose. Both are off-color film directors, both have brown hair and both have semi-aristocratic sounding Scandinavian names .. But only one of them is allowed at Cannes!

However, the real tragedy here is that the world will never know what kind of car Lars von Trier drives.