The spotlight will be on the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, from May 16 to 27, at a time when the Hollywood screenwriters’ strike led to a stir in the seventh art sector, as it caused the cessation of filming cinematic works in the United States.
The famous film festival, whose various categories and sections witness screenings of about a hundred films, confirms the depth of its harmony with Hollywood through the strong presence of American cinema in it, after its program last year was distinguished by two of its most prominent films, “Elvis” and “Top Gun: Maverick”.
A number of Hollywood stars are expected to attend the stairs of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, including Harrison Ford, who returns again, at the age of eighty, to assume the role of archaeologist Indiana Jones in the fifth part of this famous cinematic series written by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg.
The new festival president, Iris Knoblock, who spent most of her career at Warner Studios, one of the largest American production companies, will also be able to receive a number of other stars in Cannes.
Among them are Martin Scorsese, who will be in attendance to accompany the screening of his new movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, and actor Michael Douglas (“Wall Street” and “Basic Instinct”) who will be awarded an honorary Palme d’Or, Pedro Pascal, The star of “The Last of Us” series, who will be present at the screening of an English-language short film entitled “Stranger Way of Life”, starring with Ethan Hawke and signed by the famous Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. It deals with a homosexual relationship in a Western setting.
In parallel with the seasoned adults, the presence of the new generation is highlighted, for example, by including the American actress Brie Larson (33 years), known for the role of “Captain Marvel”, to the jury, along with Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Fablemens”), while The Weeknd star steals the spotlight on the red carpet for his appearance at “The Idol” event with Lily-Rose Depp.
In addition to the participation of the major studios in Mehran Kan, streaming platforms will have a prominent presence, including “Apple”, which decided to screen their films, including Scorsese’s, in cinemas before making them available through their platforms. As for Netflix, it continues its decision not to make its films available in cinemas, as it objects to this rule strictly applied in the Cannes Festival competition.
– record number of outputs –
Twenty-one films are competing for the Palme d’Or, succeeding “Triangle of Sadness”, whose Swedish director Robin Ostlund presides over the jury this year.
A number of directors are seeking to get the Palme d’Or for the second time, including Italian Nani Moretti, Turkish Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Japanese Hirokazu Kori-Eda and German Wim Wenders, while the 86-year-old Briton Ken Loach hopes to grab a third to achieve a historic achievement.
And the number of women reached seven among the film directors qualified for the official competition, and the festival sets a record at a time when men still dominate the film industry despite the strenuous efforts made for equality.
Although female directors are still in the minority, the fact that the seven participating female directors are younger than their male counterparts contributes to the renewal of the festival and constitutes a message to the entire sector.
Among them is the French-Senegalese director, Ramata Tolay Si, who is participating in the competition for her first feature film, “Panel a Adama”.
Among the most prominent faces of this renewal are the two directors, Julia Docorno, who won the Palme d’Or in 2021 for her movie “Titan”, and the Frenchwoman of Lebanese descent, Audrey Diwan, who won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival in the same year for the movie “Levenman”, as she will be the first in the jury of the official competition. While the second was chosen in the “Critics’ Week” section.
It is expected that the opening film “Jeanne du Barry” by French director Maywen will cause a wide outcry.
Maywen is facing a lawsuit filed against her by journalist Edwie Plenell, who accuses her of assaulting him in a restaurant.
Maywen personally plays the role of Jeanne du Barry, the concubine of King Louis XV, who is embodied by the American star Johnny Depp, who was excluded from the American cinematic business for a period due to accusations of marital violence leveled against him by his ex-wife, Amber Hurd, and then the mutual accusations between them of defamation.
And the platform of the Cannes Festival will therefore be affected by a strong return to Johnny Depp after this judicial confrontation, which received wide media attention.
The uproar will also likely accompany Catherine Corsini’s feature film “Le retour,” which plays the next day, since government financial aid was withheld from the film because it had not authorized, as is legally required, in advance the participation of an actress under 16 in a scene. sexy character.
