Cannes film festival: what to look out for

PARIS – The glitz and glamour of the Cannes film festival returns to the French Riviera on Tuesday.

Here is AFP‘s selection of the issues, stars and films likely to dominate on and off the red carpet during the May 13-24 extravaganza:

More #MeToo

He’s never been a mainstay of the festival and has not made a film in three years but French cinema legend Gerard Depardieu is likely to be one of the biggest talking points on day one of the festival.

A judge in Paris is set to hand down a verdict on Tuesday in the first of two criminal trials involving the “Cyrano de Bergerac” and “Green Card” star over sexual assault allegations.

The problem of sexual violence in the film industry was the subject of a highly critical French parliamentary inquiry that published its findings last month.

Trump

As for almost every public event nowadays, from elections to art exhibitions, it’s hard to miss the outsized shadow of US President Donald Trump as he cranks up his “Make America Great Again” revolution.

The cinema industry is still reeling from Trump’s announcement last weekend of 100-percent tariffs on foreign-made films, although no one is able to explain how they might be implemented.

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said last week that the tariffs, if ever enacted, would lead to “the American industry being penalised, not ours”.

We have yet to see which of the big US stars at the festival will speak out against their president. 

Hollywood stardust

Tom Cruise will attend the premiere of the last instalment of “Mission: Impossible”, while Robert De Niro will receive an honorary Palme d’Or, meaning two of Hollywood’s US biggest stars will be in town.

Cruise has made a point of avoiding politics throughout his career, while De Niro struggles to find words harsh enough to describe Trump, who he has branded “evil”. 

Other US actors in attendance include Jennifer Lawrence, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone and Denzel Washington, while Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong are on the jury.

Stars-turned-directors

As well as appearing in Wes Anderson’s latest film, “The Phoenician Scheme”, Scarlett Johansson is set to present her directorial debut “Eleanor the Great” in the secondary “Un Certain Regard” competition.

She will be up against fellow US actress-turned-director Kristen Stewart, who will also showcase her first film behind the camera, “The Chronology of Water”, in the same category.

Harris Dickinson, 28, who recently appeared as Nicole Kidman’s lover in “Babygirl”, completes a trio of stars-turned-directors at Cannes with his film “Urchin”.

Gaza

A day after Cannes announced that a documentary about Gaza photojournalist Fatima Hassouna was set to be screened at the parallel ACID festival, her home was bombed by the Israeli army, killing her and 10 relatives.

The outrage over her death has increased interest in the film “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” by Iranian director Sepideh Farsi. 

Sepideh told AFP she had believed until the very end that Hassouna “would survive, that she would come (to Cannes), that the war would stop. But reality caught up with us.” 

Palestinian twins Tarzan and Arab Nasser will showcase their latest film “Once Upon a Time In Gaza”, a tale of murder and friendship set in the war-torn territory, in the Un Certain Regard section.

Main competition

A total of 22 films are competing for the coveted Palme d’Or for best film in a selection that includes some Cannes stalwarts as well as a new generation of directors.

Perennial favourites, brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, who already have two Palmes d’Or, return with their latest film “Young Mothers” about five young women in a maternity home in their native Belgium.

Motherhood looks set to be a recurring theme, while the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s is the backdrop for two in-competition films, “Alpha” by Julia Ducournau and “Romeria” by Carla Simon.

British actor Josh O’Connor will head up the red carpet for two contenders, “The History of Sound” by South Africa’s Oliver Hermanus and “The Mastermind” by Kelly Reichardt. 

Two Iranian films, “A Simple Accident” by Jafar Panahi and “Mother and Child” by Saeed Roustaee, will also be closely scrutinised — in Cannes and by Iran’s censors.

Documentaries

Interest is likely to be high for a documentary about U2 frontman Bono, a film about George Orwell by Raoul Peck and one of the newest additions to the programme, “The Six-Billion-Dollar Man” about Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The hotly awaited Assange documentary by Eugene Jarecki was pulled from the Sundance film festival in December in order to incorporate “significant recent and unexpected developments”. –AFP

 
Cannes Festival: the films in competition

A total of 22 films have been announced in the main competition at this year’s Cannes film festival, which kicks off on the French Riviera on May 13.

Here is a list of the titles vying for the Palme d’Or which will be awarded by this year’s jury president Juliette Binoche and her seven fellow judges including Oscar-winner Halle Berry and “Succession” star Jeremy Strong. 

‘A Simple Accident‘ by Jafar Panahi (Iran)

The repeatedly detained Iranian director, who has been banned from making films, asked organisers “not to say anything about his movie” which is his latest act of defiance. Premieres May 20 at 1400 GMT.

‘The Phoenician Scheme‘ by Wes Anderson (United States)

A typical madcap comedy-drama by the American director about a maverick businessman, with an A-list cast including Benicio Del Toro, Scarlett Johansson, and Mia Threapleton, Kate Winslet’s daughter. Premieres May 18 at 1700 GMT.

‘Young Mothers‘ by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Belgium)

The Belgian brothers, who have already won the Palme d’Or for best film twice, tell the story of five young mothers staying in a maternity home in their native Belgium. Premieres May 23 at 1400 GMT.

‘Alpha‘ by Julia Ducournau (France)

Four years after winning the Palme d’Or with “Titane”, the French director presents a new film starring Iranian-French Golshifteh Farahani and Tahar Rahim about a young girl confronted with the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Premieres May 19 at 2030 GMT.

‘Sentimental Value‘ by Joachim Trier (Norway)

A comedy drama featuring a filmmaker trying to reconnect with his daughters from a director whose last feature “The Worst Person in the World” also premiered in competition at Cannes in 2021. Premieres May 21 at 2030 GMT.

‘Romeria‘ by Carla Simon (Spain)

The Spanish director returns to her traumatic childhood with a family journey of a young Catalan girl in Galicia who has lost her parents to AIDS. Premieres May 21 at 1700 GMT.

‘Sound of Falling‘ by Mascha Schilinski (Germany)

A drama that brings together four women from four different generations living on the same farm. Premieres May 14 at 2030 GMT.

‘Eagles of the Republic‘ by Tarik Saleh (Sweden/Egypt)

On the brink of losing everything, Egypt’s most adored actor accepts a role he can’t refuse under pressure from the country’s authorities. Premieres May 19 at 1345 GMT.

‘The Mastermind‘ by Kelly Reichardt (United States)

The story of an art heist set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the nascent women’s liberation movement. Premieres May 23 at 1645 GMT.

‘Dossier 137‘ by Dominik Moll (France)

An investigator at France’s IGPN agency, which probes police abuses, is charged with looking into an incident in which a police officer injures a young man during a protest. Premieres May 15 at 1630 GMT.

‘The Secret Agent‘ by Kleber Mendonca Filho (Brazil)

A political thriller set in the late 1970s, during the final years of Brazil’s military dictatorship. Premieres May 18 at 1300 GMT.

‘Fuori‘ by Mario Martone (Italy) 

A biopic about the Italian actor and writer Goliarda Sapienza by the Naples-born veteran director who has been a European arthouse favourite for more than 30 years. Premieres May 20 at 2000 GMT.

‘Two Prosecutors‘ by Sergei Loznitsa (Ukraine)

The maker of the 2018 “Donbass” documentary about the war in eastern Ukraine returns with a feature film about an idealistic young prosecutor working in the 1930s USSR during Stalin’s purges. Premieres May 14 at 2030 GMT.

‘Nouvelle Vague‘ by Richard Linklater (US) –

A drama set in 1960 Paris about the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s cinema classic “Breathless”. Premieres May 17 at 1300 GMT.

‘Sirat‘ by Oliver Laxe (Spain)

A “road movie of misfits, of people outside society”, according to Cannes Festival director Thierry Fremaux. Premieres May 15 at 1930 GMT.

‘The Last One‘ by Hafsia Herzi (France)

The French actor and director adapts Fatima Daas’s eponymous novel, telling the story of the youngest member of an Algerian immigrant family who gradually frees herself from her relatives and traditions. Premieres May 16 at 1300 GMT.

‘The History of Sound‘ by Oliver Hermanus (South Africa)

A gay romance about two young men who set out to record the lives, voices and music of their American compatriots, set at the time of World War I. Premieres May 21 at 1300 GMT.

‘Renoir‘ by Chie Hayakawa (Japan)

A coming-of-age drama about resilience, the healing power of imagination and a traumatised family struggling to reconnect. Premieres May 17 at 1300 GMT.

‘Eddington‘ by Ari Aster (US)

Aster, the new master of American horror whose previous credits include “Hereditary” and “Midsommar”, has cast Joaquin Phoenix in this story about a small-town mayor in New Mexico during the Covid 19 pandemic. Premieres May 16 at 1645 GMT.

“Die My Love” by Lynne Ramsay (Britain)

The director of “We Need To Talk About Kevin” will premiere this thriller about a young mother suffering from depression, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson. Premieres May 17 at 1600 GMT.

“Mother and Child” by Saeed Roustaee (Iran)

Roustaee’s last feature in Cannes three years ago, “Leila’s Brothers”, landed him with a prison sentence but his new film has been hailed in state-controlled Iranian media. Premieres May 22 at 1330 GMT.

“Resurrection” by Bi Gan (China)

The director of 2018’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”, which was presented in Cannes, returns with a sci-fi detective movie set in a post-apocalyptic world. –AFP

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