Girls Dominated the Opening Ceremony of the 77th Cannes Movie Competition: Highlights and Controversies

The presence of girls dominated the opening ceremony of the 77th session of Cannes Movie CompetitionOn Tuesday, the pageant administration determined to ban any symbols that present solidarity with Palestine

On the opening ceremony, American actress Meryl Streep was honored, and Barbie director Greta Gerwig was introduced as the pinnacle of the competitors’s official jury.

French actress Juliette Binoche introduced the honorary Palme d’Or to Streep and mentioned: “If girls’s contribution to historical past stays invisible, your contribution to cinema just isn’t, “emphasizing that Streep modified the world’s view of girls in cinema and gave a brand new perspective. image of them.

Binoche mentioned in her speech: “Your face and your voice are a part of our lives.

In response to the tribute and video clips proven on the opening, Streep mentioned: “For me, watching this clip is like looking the window of a high-speed practice, I my youth, after which my fifties, to this present day, so many faces, so many locations I keep in mind.” Effectively, after I was at Cannes 35 years in the past, for the primary time, I used to be a mom of three, I used to be nearly 40 and I assumed that my profession was over, for an actor, that was not an affordable prediction, however right here I’m once more in the course of this.

The Me Too motion was current on the opening, because the presenter of the service, Camille Cottan, identified the adjustments caused by the motion within the cinematic atmosphere, saying: “There are not any nightly skilled conferences within the rooms of a home – lodge with influential males as a part of the Cannes Competition customs.”

Amongst particular celebrations, the pageant will present a brief movie by actress Judith Goodrich entitled Me Too, which celebrates victims of sexual assault.

Between Palestine and Ukraine

Regardless of the anger of world public opinion in opposition to Israel’s struggle on the besieged Gaza Strip, the pageant administration determined to ban any symbols carried by artists, similar to pins and flags, exhibiting solidarity with Palestine.

Competition director Thierry Frémaux mentioned at a press convention on the opening evening: “This yr we determined that our essential curiosity could be cinema, away from any political controversy.

The choice of the pageant got here after the town of Cannes banned demonstrations and arranged protest marches on the Croisette seaside.

The town’s authorities took strict safety measures, amid the wet climate, in an try and keep away from what occurred finally week’s Eurovision Music Contest, the place 1000’s of demonstrators in The Swedish metropolis of Malmo, which hosted the match,…Israel’s struggle on Gaza.

The executive scenario of this yr’s Cannes Competition was totally different from the 2022 version, which noticed the looks of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky by way of video on the opening ceremony, promising his nation’s victory in its struggle in opposition to the Russia, among the many applause of the viewers.

8 Arab movies on the Cannes Movie Competition

On the opening of the 77th session a number of Arab filmmakers have been current, together with the Egyptian artists Yousra and Hussein Fahmy, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Crimson Sea Movie Basis Jumana Al-Rashed, the President of the Competition Mohamed Al-Turki, chief of Lebanon. Nadine Labaki, member of the official competitors jury, and Moroccan director Asmaa Al-Mudair, member of the “What We Look” class.

The 77th session will see the participation of 8 Arab movies within the totally different pageant competitions, from: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Somalia, Palestine and Algeria, together with the Saudi movie “Noura” by the director Tawfiq Al-Zaidi, and the Egyptian movie. “Sharq 12” by director Hala Al-Qusi, and the movie “I Raised My Eyes to Heaven” can even take part from Egypt directed by Nada Riad and Ayman Al-Amir, and from Morocco, “Who Not Love Toda”. by Nabil Ayouch, “The Distant Sea” by director Stated Ben Himmich, and the Somali movie “The Village Subsequent to Paradise” by director Mo Hrawi.

Palestine is taking part within the movie “To an Unknown Land” by Palestinian-Danish director Mehdi Fleifel, together with the Algerian quick movie “After the Solar” by director Ryan McEidry.

The official competitors begins on Wednesday with the movie Diamant Brut, the primary characteristic movie by French director Agate Redingier. Among the many opponents are additionally Francis Ford Coppola, Paolo Sorrentino, Jacques Audiard, and Iranian director Mohammad Rasoul Af, who ‘identify that Monday. he had succeeded in secretly leaving Iran for a spot he had by no means seen earlier than in Europe. Rasoul Af appealed to worldwide cinema to “strongly assist” the administrators at risk.

The pageant hosts a lot of well-known filmmakers from around the globe to current their work and participate in discussions and conferences. This yr, the pageant noticed many audiences and journalists. , which provides to the pageant’s significance as a worldwide cinematic occasion. .

The pageant’s actions will proceed till Might 25, and can showcase a wide range of new and thrilling movies, together with unbiased manufacturing movies and others from main manufacturing corporations.