Yes, Cannes Do: Famed Film Fest Rolls Out Rouge Carpet, Minus the Masks

First it was Eurovision, and now it’s a starry-eyed vision of Hollywood on the French Riviera: The opening of the 75th Cannes Film Festival today showed that while war grips Europe’s east, there’s still room for cinema with a hefty dose of pop culture in the west. Yet the war in Ukraine is expected to be a regular presence in Cannes. The festival has barred Russians with ties to the government. And last week festival organizers confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that the festival would decline press accreditation requests from Russian journalists associated with publications that do not adhere to Cannes’s position on Russia’s war on Ukraine.A festival statement said, “We would like to salute the courage of all those in Russia who have taken risks to protest against the assault and invasion of Ukraine. Among them are artists and film professionals who have never ceased to fight against the contemporary regime, who cannot be associated with these unbearable actions, and those who are bombing Ukraine.”There is no blanket ban on Russians, however. The Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov will attend the festival to present his latest feature, the historical drama “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” in competition. Mr. Serebrennikov was once placed under house arrest in Russia and is considered a dissident.Set to screen are several films from prominent Ukrainian filmmakers, including Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary “The Natural History of Destruction.” Footage shot by Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius before he was killed in Mariupol in April will also be shown by his fiancée, Hanna Bilobrova.This year’s Cannes officially begins Tuesday night with an opening ceremony preceding the premier of “Final Cut,” which was renamed from its original title, “Z,” after Ukrainian protesters noted that to some, the letter Z symbolizes support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.After a canceled 2020 edition and a scaled back gathering last year, the Cannes Film Festival rolled out the red carpet Tuesday for what organizers hope will be a fully resuscitated French Riviera spectacular.Formally attired stars like Eva Longoria were streaming down the Cannes red carpet Tuesday ahead of the opening. Over the next 12 days, 21 films will vie for the festival’s prestigious top award, the Palme d’Or, while a handful of high-profile Hollywood titles — including “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Elvis,” and “Three Thousand Years of Longing” — will also launch in Cannes.After last year requiring regular Covid-19 testing and masks in theaters and no kisses on the tapis rouge — or red carpet — Cannes has largely done away with pandemic protocols. Masks are recommended inside but in practice are rarely worn.“This year, everyone wanted to come to Cannes,” the artistic director of the festival, Thierry Frémaux, said ahead of the opening. “Everyone wanted to meet again.”On Tuesday, Cannes unveiled the jury that will award the Palme d’Or. French actor Vincent Lindon is leading a jury that includes Deepika Padukone, Rebecca Hall, Asghar Farhadi, Trinca, Ladj Ly, Noomi Rapace, Jeff Nichols, and Joachim Trier.Questions of gender equality have long surrounded the Cannes Film Festival, where no more than five female filmmakers have ever been a part of the Palme competition lineup and only two women directors have won it. On Monday, Mr. Fremaux defended the festival, arguing that it selects films purely on the basis of quality. Ms. Hall, who last year made her directorial debut with the film “Passing,” was asked about her opinion on Cannes’s record.“I believe that it is a work in progress. I mean for the whole film industry, not just the Cannes Film Festival,” Ms. Hall said. “The way of dealing with these things needs to be addressed on a grassroots level as well. It’s not just the festivals or public-facing situations. It’s about all the minutiae of what goes into the industry at large.”At the tradition-upholding Cannes, the world’s largest and most glitzy temple to film, cinema, controversy and glamor swirl together in a 12-day spectacle of red carpet premieres and rampant movie deal-making up and down the Croisette. Theatrical release is a requirement of any film vying for the Palme, which has prevented streaming services from playing a big role at Cannes.This year, one new festival partner — TikTok — has raised some eyebrows. The festival is hosting TikTok creators from around the world and holding a separate contest for best (very short) videos created during the festival. Mr. Fremaux called it a “young partnership” and granted TikTok wasn’t the future of cinema.“The cinema remains the final art,” he said.

Yes, Cannes Do: Famed Film Fest Rolls Out Rouge Carpet, Minus the Masks

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