STICKS | A Hollywood star, Forest Whitaker, then a wacky zombie comedy signed by the director of The Artist: kicking off Tuesday night’s 75th Cannes Film Festival, an edition between 7th Art, Stars and Shadow of War in the Ukraine.
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In the morning, the red carpet was rolled out on the famous staircase for this 75th edition. Just in time to welcome stars and festival-goers, as well as the jury members, chaired by French actor Vincent Lindon, who resided in Cannes on Monday night.
Many influencers will be robbed of their smartphones on the red carpet this year, especially from the social network TikTok, the new partner of the festival, the label…
The opening ceremony at 7:00 p.m. will be moderated by Virginie Efira – who is also expected to appear on screen for her role as an attack survivor in “Revoir Paris”.
The former TV presenter, the actress, warned on Monday that she would not fail to “make people laugh” during the event, which was broadcast on France 2 and Brut. “I’ll try to be brief,” she promised.
However, the international star of the evening will be Forest Whitaker, who at the age of 60 was known for his portrayal of the Ugandan dictator Amin Dada in The Last King of Scotland (2007) or his role as a hitman with Jim Jarmusch in Ghost Dog (1999). .
The American actor, who also heads a charity that fights poverty from South Sudan to Mexico via Seine-Saint-Denis, is a regular on the Croisette, where he won a 1988 rendition of Clint Eastwood’s Bird.
Crazy parody
The atmosphere then promises a radical change, with the opening screening of “Cut!” by Michel Hazanavicius, a crazy parody of zombie films and a declaration of love to all films – even the failed ones.
The film, which hits theaters at the same time, will serve as an outlet for a cinematic world trying to recover from the pandemic: “Cut!” “It’s cheerful, it highlights the people of cinema, and I hope it does makes you want to,” the French director told AFP, “very happy” to return to Cannes as the opening.
A few hours earlier, festival-goers were able to travel back in time and rediscover for the first time “La Maman et la Putain”, one of the films that made Cannes legend in 1973: half a century after it caused a scandal this major New Wave work signed by Jean Eustache, has not been reissued and has become difficult to view due to rights issues.
The film has now been restored and two of its actors, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Françoise Lebrun, were expected to attend with emotion its screening in Cannes ahead of its theatrical release on June 8th.
21 films in competition
Cannes, which ends on May 28, will be the center of attention the next day: as a powerful symbol, the official competition begins on Wednesday with the screening of the latest film by Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, who breaks with the regime. For the first time he can come to personally defend his film. The festival, on the other hand, refuses to welcome “official Russian representatives, government agencies or journalists who represent the official line”.
But “we will offer the Ukrainian people absolute and non-negotiable support,” said Thierry Frémaux, the festival’s general delegate, after several films were selected on Monday.
Next to the red carpet, the cameras heat up for the ascent of the steps of the new “Top Gun” team (out of competition), including Tom Cruise.
On the directors’ side, among the filmmakers in the running for the Palme d’Or (21 films in competition), Park Chan-wook (“Old boy”) returns with a sulphurous inquiry (“Decision to leave”) that James Gray presents “Armageddon Time” with Anthony Hopkins and Anne Hathaway, while others, already medalists, will try to win a new trophy, such as the Dardenne brothers (“Rosetta”) with “Tori and Lokita” or the frenzied Ruben Ostlund ( “The Square ” ), with “Without Filter”.