Canceled in 2020, shifted last year to July with strict sanitary measures, the Cannes Film Festival is back on Tuesday, May 17, to its traditional rhythm for a 75e edition which is intended to be splendor and striking.
In total, more than 35,000 film lovers and professionals are expected in the seaside town of the Côte d’Azur, in an atmosphere swinging between stars, the cream of auteur cinema and echoes of the war in Ukraine through several selected films.
The red carpet for this anniversary edition should be rolled out around 10:30 a.m. Just in time to welcome stars and festival-goers, as well as the members of the jury, chaired by actor Vincent Lindon who took up residence in Cannes on Monday, just like the Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi and Italian actress Jasmine Trinca.
At 7 p.m., the opening ceremony will be chaired by Virginie Efira – also expected on screen for her role as a survivor of an attack in See Paris again. Former television host, the actress warned on Monday that she would not ban herself “no laughing”during the event broadcast on France 2, and by Brut. “I will try to make it short”she promised.
Honorary Palme d’Or for Forest Whitaker
But the international star of the evening will be Forest Whitaker, who at 60 will receive an honorary Palme d’Or for a career marked by an Oscar for his portrayal of Amin Dada, the Ugandan dictator, in The Last King of Scotland (2007), or his killer role with Jim Jarmusch in Ghost Dog (1999). The African-American actor, also at the head of a charity that fights against poverty, from South Sudan to Mexico via Seine-Saint-Denis, is a regular on the Croisette, where he won a prize. of interpretation in 1988 for Bird de Clint Eastwood.
The atmosphere then promises to change radically, with the opening screening of Cut!, by Michel Hazanavicius, a crazy parody of zombie films, and a declaration of love for all films – even the most failed ones.
The film, which is being released simultaneously in theaters, will serve as an outlet for a world of cinema trying to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic: Cut! “is joyful, it highlights the people of the cinema, and I hope it makes you want to do it”told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the director of The Artist, ” very happy “ to return to Cannes as an opening.
A few hours earlier, festival-goers will have been able to go back in time, and rediscover The Mom and the Whore, one of the films that made the legend of Cannes, in 1973. Some cinephiles will finally see it, and for the first time: half a century after causing a scandal, this major work of the New Wave by Jean Eustache, n had not been reissued, and had become difficult to view for rights issues. The film has now been restored, and two of its performers, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Françoise Lebrun, should attend its Cannes screening with emotion, before its theatrical release on June 8.
Support for Ukraine
Cannes will enter the heart of the matter on Wednesday: on the competition side, 21 films – and 5 female directors – are in the running to succeed TitaniumGore and uncompromising Palme d’Or by Frenchwoman Julia Ducournau, the second crowned director in the history of the Festival.
A strong symbol, the official competition will begin with the screening of the latest film by Russian Kirill Serebrennikov, breaking with the regime. He will be able to come for the first time to defend his film in person, Tchaikosvki’s Wife. On the other hand, the Festival refuses to welcome “Russian officials, government bodies or journalists representing the official line”.
More “We will show absolute and non-negotiable support for the Ukrainian people”affirmed, on Monday, Thierry Frémaux, the general delegate of the Festival, with several selected works including the posthumous film, added last week, of the Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravicius, killed at the beginning of April in Mariupol.
Side red carpet, the cameras will heat for the rise of the steps of the team of the new Top Gun (out of competition), including Tom Cruise, present at the Festival for the first time in three decades. Many stars will follow, until the close on May 28. Kristen Stewart, who will take to the red carpet alongside Léa Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen for David Cronenberg’s latest film (The Crimes of the Future)the promising Austin Butler and the veteran Tom Hanks, alias Elvis and his manager in a biopic event (Elvis) or even Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton in the latest film by the director of Mad MaxGeorge Miller (Three thousand years waiting for you).
Among the directors, among the filmmakers in the running for the Palme, Park Chan-wook (Old boy) returns with a sulphurous investigation (Decision to leave), James Gray presents Armageddon Timewith Anthony Hopkins and Anne Hathaway, while others, already medalists, will try to win a new trophy, including the Dardenne brothers (Rosetta) with Tori and Lokita, the grating Ruben Östlund (The Square), with Without filter or the Japanese Kore-eda (A family matter), which this time turned Broker with the South Korean star of ParasiteSong Kang-ho.
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