Cannes Film Festival
On Eve of Festival, Cannes Defends its Record on Women
CANNES, France (AP) — A year after 82 women protested en masse on the red carpet, the Cannes Film Festival on Monday defended its record on female filmmakers and for the first time divulged data on its selection process.
Addressing reporters on the eve of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Fremaux spoke at length, both touting the festival’s strides in gender parity and bristling at what he described as Cannes’ being held to an impossible standard.
Issues of gender equality have resonated particularly in Cannes, where only one female filmmaker (Jane Campion, in 1993 for “The Piano”) has ever won the festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or, and where women directors have never numbered more than four in the main slate of approximately 20 films. Not wearing high heels has even, as recently as four years ago, been a reason for denying entry to a premiere.
Cannes is also where Harvey Weinstein for decades was a prominent regular. At the festival’s closing ceremony last May, Italian filmmaker Asia Argento declared on the stage: “In 1997, I was raped by Harvey Weinstein here at Cannes. I was 21-years-old. This festival was his hunting ground.” (Weinstein has denied the encounter was rape.)
Following pressure by 50/50×2020, the French sister group to Time’s Up, Fremaux last May signed a pledge — with Cate Blanchett, Ava DuVernay and others looking on — promising to make the festival’s selection process more transparent and to push their executive boards toward gender parity.
This year, Cannes’s selection committee was 50 percent female for the first time. On the recommendation of 50/50X2020, the festival created a space for nursing mothers, which it dubbed Le Ballon Rouge. And four films directed by women were selected for competition, matching the previous record set in 2011.
Cannes on Monday offered a dose of transparency on its selection process, including who sat on the selection committee. That, too, had been a suggestion of 50/50X2020. The festival said that it received 1,845 feature film submissions from 39 countries, 26% were directed by women. Its official selection of 69 films, both features and shorts, included 19 films directed by women, or 27.5%.
Still, some have said Cannes isn’t progressing coming quickly enough, noting that it trails parity rates of other major festivals, including recent editions of Berlin, Sundance and Toronto. For the second time in two years, Fremaux held a press conference defending Cannes from its critics, the day before Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die” will open the festival.
“When we signed this charter, the idea was never that the selection would be based on gender parity,” Fremaux said Monday. “All the films in the official selection — and there are 15 women directors in all, 20 if you add the shorts — all these films are there because in our view as the people who selected the films, they really deserve to have been selected.”
“There have never been so many women directors in the official selection because there have never been so many women directors in the industry as a whole,” said Fremaux.
Cannes, Fremaux said, is criticized in a way that other festivals and social organizations are not.
“The Cannes Film Festival has to be impeccable and absolutely perfect. Of course we try to be perfect,” said Fremaux. “No one has asked me to have 50% of films made by women. That would show a lack of respect.”
50/50X2020 said it will review the findings in a press conference in Cannes on Friday.
This year’s festival has also attracted some backlash to its selections. In competition is Abdellatif Kechiche, whose “Blue Is the Warmest Color” won the Palme d’Or in 2013. In October, Paris authorities launched an investigation into a sexual assault allegation against the director. Kechiche has denied it.
The decision to give Alain Delon, the 83-year-old French acting legend of “Le Samourai” and “The Leopard,” an honorary Palme d’Or prompted an online petition against it. Deon has acknowledged slapping women in the past and said he opposes the adoption of children by same-sex parents.
Fremaux said Delon comes from another generation and that he’s free to express his views, whatever they are.
“We’re not giving Alain Delon the Nobel Peace Prize,” said Fremaux.
Last year’s demonstration by 82 women formed one of the most striking images of the Cannes Film Festival when they stood together in a demonstration on the festival’s red carpet steps. One of the leaders of that protest was Agnes Varda, the French New Wave pioneer who died in March at age 90.
This year’s festival poster (above) is a picture of Varda, who was given an honorary Palme d’Or in 2015, shooting her debut feature, 1955′s “La Pointe Courte,” peering through the lens of a raised camera while standing on the back of a man.
CANNES, France (FNN) – The world’s most glamorous red carpet and festival finally wrapped up Sunday. Here’s the list of the big winners from this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Palme d’Or: Anatomie d’Une Chute (Anatomy of a Fall) by Justine Triet
Justine Triet (2nd from right) and cast at a photocall for the “Anatomy of a Fall” film at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Patience Eding/Florida National News.
Grand Prix: The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer
Jonathan Glazer receives the Grand Prix (Grand Prize) for “The zone of interest” during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Sunday, May 28, 2023. Photo: Patience Eding/Florida National News.
Best Director: Hûng Tran Anh for La Passion de Godin Bouffant
Director Tran Anh Hung receives the Best Director award for the film ‘La passion de Dodin Bouffant’ (The Pot au Feu), as he stands next to Pete Docter, Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. Photo: Reuters.
Prix du Jury (Jury Prize): Les Feuilles Mortes, directed by Aki Kaurismaki
Aki Kaurismaki (left) receives the Prix du Jury (Jury Prize) for “Les Feuilles Mortes” during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Patience Eding/Florida National News.
Best Screenplay: Yuji Sakamoto for Monster, directed by Hirokazu Kore Eda
Yuji Sakamoto receives the Best Screenplay Award for “Monster” during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Patience Eding/Florida National News.
Best Performance by an Actress: Merve Dizdar in Les Herbes Eches, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Merve Dizdar receives the Best Performance by an Actress award for “Les Herbes Eches” during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Patience Eding/Florida National News.
Best Performance by an Actor: Yakusho Koji in Perfect Days, directed by Wim WENDERS
Yakusho Koji receives the Best Performance by an Actor award for “Perfect Days” during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Patience Eding/Florida National News.
Palme d’Honneur: Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford
Cannes Film Festival President Iris Knobloch presents Harrison Ford with the Palme d’Honneur (Honorary Palme d’Or) during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Cannes Film Festival.
Michael Douglas also receives the Palme d’Honneur (Honorary Palme d’Or) during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Valerie Hache/AFP.
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Mellissa Thomas and international correspondent Patience Eding contributed to this report. | info@floridanationalnews.com
Cannes Film Festival
Sharon Stone Channels Her Inner Greek Goddess at Cannes Film Festival Closing Night
CANNES, Fr. (FNN) – The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival came to an end Saturday, July 17 and veteran actress Sharon Stone met the occasion with a shimmering Dolce & Gabbana dress and smile to match.
Sharon Stone wows in her Dolce & Gabbana dress on the final night of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept for Florida National News.
The actress, 63, boasted a sweeping look featured a glittering, silver bodice as well as a one-shouldered sash and a thigh-high slit.
Sharon Stone on the final night of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Patience Eding/Another Concept for Florida National News.
Stone rounded out the dazzling look with sparkly drop earrings, strappy heels, and gelled-back curly hair.
Stone attended the closing film ‘OSS 117: From Africa with Love,’ but her fabulous dress wasn’t for that–but for the closing film awards show, where Cannes’ demand for the finest glamour reaches its peak as filmmakers receive recognition for their groundbreaking work.
Sharon Stone, left, looks on as Vincent Lindon, from second left, director Julia Ducournau, and Agathe Rousselle accept the Palme d’Or for the film ‘Titane’ during the awards ceremony for the 74th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, July 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Stone wore high fashion all festival long, wearing a Dolce & Gabbana halter dress for the amfAR Gala Friday and a 3D floral dress earlier in the festival. She also brought her 21-year-old son Roan to join the festivities with her.
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Mellissa Thomas is Editor for Florida National News. | mellissa.thomas@floridanationalnews.com
CANNES, Fr. (AP) – Julia Ducournau’s “Titane,” a wild body-horror thriller featuring sex with a car and a surprisingly tender heart, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, making Ducournau just the second female filmmaker to win the festival’s top honor in its 74 year history.
The win on Saturday was mistakenly announced by jury president Spike Lee at the top of the closing ceremony, broadcast in France on Canal+, unleashing a few moments of confusion. Ducournau, a French filmmaker, didn’t come to the stage to accept the award until the formal announcement at the end of the ceremony. But the early hint didn’t diminish from her emotional response.
Jury president Spike Lee, center, holds his head in hands after accidentally revealing the film ‘Titane’ as the winner of the Palme d’Or as jury members Tahar Rahim, left, Jessica Hausner, back center, and Melanie Laurent look on during the awards ceremony at the 74th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, July 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
“I’m sorry, I keep shaking my head,” said Ducournau, catching her breath. “Is this real? I don’t know why I’m speaking English right now because I’m French. This evening has been so perfect because it was not perfect.”
After several false starts, Lee implored Sharon Stone to make the Palme d’Or announcement, explaining: “She’s not going to mess it up.” The problems started earlier when Lee was asked to say which prize would be awarded first. Instead, he announced the evening’s final prize, as fellow juror Mati Diop plunged her head into her hands and others rushed to stop him.
Lee, himself, spent several moments with his head in his hands before apologizing profusely for taking a lot of the suspense out of the evening.
“I have no excuses,” Lee told reporters afterward. “I messed up. I’m a big sports fan. It’s like the guy at the end of the game who misses the free throw.”
“I messed up,” he added. “As simple as that.”
Ducournau’s win was a long-awaited triumph. The only previous female filmmaker to win Cannes’ top honor — among the most prestigious awards in cinema — was Jane Campion for “The Piano” in 1993. In recent years, frustration at Cannes’ gender parity has grown, including in 2018, when 82 women — including Agnes Varda, Cate Blanchett and Salma Hayek — protested gender inequality on the Cannes red carpet. Their number signified the movies by female directors selected to compete for the Palme d’Or — 82 compared to 1,645 films directed by men. This year, four out of 24 films up for the Palme were directed by women.
In 2019, another genre film — Boon Joon Ho’s “Parasite” — took the Palme before going on to win best picture at the Academy Awards, too. That choice was said to be unanimous by the jury led by Alejandro González Iñárritu, but the award for “Titane” — an extremely violent film — this year’s jury said came out of a democratic process of conversation and debate. Juror Maggie Gyllenhaal said they didn’t agree unanimously on anything.
“The world is passion,” said Lee. “Everyone was passionate about a particular film they wanted and we worked it out.”
In “Titane,” which like “Parasite” will be distributed in the U.S. by Neon, Agathe Rousselle plays a serial killer who flees home. As a child, a car accident leaves her with a titanium plate in her head and a strange bond with automobiles. In possibly the most-talked-about scene at the festival, she’s impregnated by a Cadillac. Lee called it a singular experience.
“This is the first film ever where a Cadillac impregnates a woman,” said Lee, who said he wanted to ask Ducournau what year the car was. “That’s genius and craziness together. Those two things often match up.”
On stage, Ducournau thanked the jury “for letting the monsters in.” Afterward, she acknowledged to reporters her place in history, but also said she “can’t be boiled down to just being a woman.”
“Quite frankly, I hope that the prize I received has nothing to do with being a woman,” said Ducournau. “As I’m the second woman to receive this prize, I thought a lot about Jane Campion and how she felt when she won.”
More women will come after her, Ducournau said. “There will be a third, there will be a fourth, there will be a fifth.”
Cannes’ closing ceremony capped 12 days of red-carpet premieres, regular COVID-19 testing for many attendees and the first major film festival to be held since the pandemic began in almost its usual form. With smaller crowds and mandated mask-wearing in theaters, Cannes pushed forward with an ambitious slate of global cinema. Last year’s festival was completely canceled by the pandemic.
The slate, assembled as a way to help stir movies after a year where movies shrank to smaller screens and red carpets grew cobwebs, was widely considered to be strong, and featured many leading international filmmakers. The awards were spread out widely.
The grand prize was split between Asghar Farhadi’s Iranian drama “A Hero” and Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen’s “Compartment No. 6.”
Best director was awarded to Leos Carax for “Annette,” the fantastical musical starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard that opened the festival. The award was accepted by the musical duo Sparks, Ron and Russell Mael, who wrote the script and music for the film.
Jurors also split the jury prize. That was awarded to both Nadav Lapid’s “Ahed’s Knee,” an impassioned drama about creative freedom in modern Isreal; and to Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasthakul’s “Memoria,” a meditative film starring Tilda Swinton.
Caleb Landry Jones took home the best actor prize for his performance as an Australian mass killer in the fact-based “Nitram” by Justin Kurzel. Renate Reinsve won best actress for Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World.” Best screenplay went to Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” a Haruki Murakami adaptation he penned with Takamasa Oe.
The Croatian coming-of-age drama “Murina,” by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, took the Camera d’Or award, a non-jury prize, for best first feature. Kusijanović was absent from the ceremony after giving birth a day earlier.
Lee was the first Black jury president at Cannes. His fellow jury members were: Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Song Kang-ho, Tahar Rahim, Mati Diop, Jessica Hausner, Kleber Mendonça Filho and Mylène Farmer.
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