One of the most significant events in the world of cinema - the Cannes Film Festival - annually brings together thousands of cinema professionals, novice filmmakers and filmgoers. Winners of the Cannes Film Festival receive various privileges and support for film associations. The Cote d'Azur becomes a place of attraction for all fashionistas and celebrities. Those who are not averse to light up in front of the cameras of famous photographers and watch promising films of the Cannes Film Festival. This article talks about this event.
Features of the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival dates back to 1946. It was then that the ideological inspirers of cinema events identified it as a way of attracting attention and developing the entire film industry. Since then, the plan and mission of the Cannes Film Festival has remained unshakable, as is the time and place of its holding.
The traditional May meetings fell on the 17th and lasted until May 28th. The seventieth anniversary event was prepared with great care: from the formation of the jury and competitive films to the design of the poster of the Cannes Film Festival. When the organizers had a question about who would represent such a significant event for the movie on the poster, there was only an understanding that the person should be recognizable, symbolic and freedom-loving. Unanimously, the choice was made in favor of the Italian actress Claudia Cardinale. Based on one of her images captured in the distant 1959 on one of the rooftops of Rome. The event hospitably met the Palace of Festivals. Lumiere, Debussy and Bunuel halls were provided for the screenings. In honor of the anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, a large screen was installed for guests and vacationers of the Cote d'Azur, where the prize-winning films of past years were broadcast. The sets of awards "Golden Palm Branch" and "Grand Prix" were waiting for their owners. The festival was preparing to present about 80 paintings of competitive and non-competitive sections.
Composition of the jury and special guests
Twelve iconic names in the history of cinema, chaired by the Spanish screenwriter and director Pedro Almadovar, were on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival. American actor and producer Will Smith, German director Maren Ade, Chinese singer and actress Fan Bingbing, Italian screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino, as well as Jessica Chastain, Park Chan Uk, Agnes Zhaui, Gabriel Yarred strictly and unbiasedly evaluated the paintings in the main competition. Actress Uma Thurman scanned the nominees in the Special Look category. The short film competition went to the Romanian director Christian Mungiu. Sandrine Cyberlen led the Golden Camera contest. The host of the event was the brilliant Monica Bellucci in a luxurious dress from Dolce & Gabbana.
The procedure for selecting paintings for the festival
In the Cannes Film Festival there are several different competitive sections, in which, according to the adopted regulations, these or those films fall. For example, the âMain Competitionâ is filled with paintings by mostly mature directors who removed their masterpieces no earlier than a year before the film event in Cannes. Their paintings should not be available for rent on a wide screen and should not participate in other cinematic international competitions. It also excludes access to Internet resources.
The second most important competition - âSpecial Lookâ - reveals young talents, directors with a great future. Winners of this award receive support at the French box office for their work. Movies from third world countries, Muslim and Asian works fall into this category.
The "Short Film Competition" supports beginners, graduates of renowned film schools. There is also a âTwo Weeks of Directorsâ, it is composed of blockbusters, nominees and winners of the Cannes Festival of yesteryear. However, anyone can apply for participation in competitive and out-of-competition shows by filling out an application on the official site of the Cannes Film Festival.
Nominee Films
In the main competition, 19 films were announced. The film âThe Gentle Palm Branchâ was claimed by the film âMeekâ by Ukrainian director Sergey Loznitsa, â120 beats per minuteâ by Robin Campillo, âFatal Temptationâ by Sofia Koppol, âDislikeâ by Andrey Zvyagintsev and others. The show was opened with a picture of âThe Ghosts of Ismaelâ by Arno Depleshen. Acquaintance with the nominees of the Cannes Festival took place according to tradition in the Lumiere Hall.
The competition program for the "Special Look" prizes was opened by the film "Barbara" directed by Mathieu Amalric. The jury, headed by Uma Thurman, evaluated the films âTightnessâ by director Kantemir Balagov, âGirlfriend of the Desertâ (directors Cecilia Atan and Valeria Pivato), âWindy Riverâ by Taylor Sheridan, âWorkshopâ, âLuckyâ and many others. Only 18 films. The evaluating partyâs task was to determine the fate of the main prize of the âSpecial Lookâ, as well as the prizes in the nominations âBest Directorâ, âBest Screenplayâ, âPrize for Young Giftingâ, âBest Roleâ, and âSpecial Jury Prizeâ.
Festival debutants
One of the debutants as a director was the Hollywood actress and star of the Twilight saga Kristen Stewart. She brought a short film "Let's go for a swim." The plot is a mixture of reality and surrealism in one human day. Another actress, already having the most prestigious awards, Vanessa Redgrave, first directed and directed the current documentary film âSea Sorrowâ about refugees.
Kantemir Balagov, director from Kabardino-Balkaria, was nominated for the âSpecial Lookâ nominees for the Cannes Film Festival with the work âPressâ. The story told by the author about a poor Jewish family in which a relative is abducted, followed by a ransom. What kind of framework this situation can put and how to influence the behavior of each hero, the director tells about this in the picture.
Winners of the main competition
âGolden Palm Branchâ for the best film received the picture âSquareâ by Ruben Estlund. Modern, ironic, conceptual history, according to many critics, deservedly received the main award of the film festival. The film tells about the curator of the museum, which is faced with personal and working problems in life, against the background of all this there is also a theft in broad daylight of his smartphone and wallet. The once restrained and pedantic hero decides on âletters of happinessâ with threats that he sends around the house where the potential thief lives. What this action leads to, says the film work.
Among the winners of the Cannes Film Festival was also Sofia Soppola with an award for best directing in the film "Fatal Temptation"; Grand Prix received â120 beats per minuteâ; the jury prize was given to Andrei Zvyagintsev for "Dislike"; Prizes for the best script were awarded to the films âYou Have Never Been Hereâ and âThe Killing of the Sacred Deerâ, and these are not the only rewards of these two films. Nicole Kidman, who played in the movie âThe Killing of the Sacred Deerâ, was awarded the jury prize âas an exceptionâ, and Joaquin Phoenix, who played in the already awarded work âYou Have Never Been Hereâ, became the best actor. Diana Kruger became the best actress.
Prizewinners of the "Special Look"
The main prize of the second most important contest at the Cannes Film Festival âSpecial Lookâ went to Iranian director Mohammad Rasulof for his work âIncorruptibleâ. The jury prize was taken by the âDaughters of Abrilâ. Taylor Sheridan became the best director for the film "Windy River". Jazmin Trinka became lucky, as in the film of the same name, and was awarded the prize for best role.
Independent Awards
In addition to the main awards in the Main Competition and Special Look, the Cannes Film Festival nominees could compete for independent prizes. The FIPRESCI Prize, established by the International Federation of Cinema Presses, was given to the films "Tesnota" and "120 beats per minute." The latter also received the Queer Palm.
Russian participants
Andrey Zvyagintsev, as a regular at the Cannes festivals, delighted the audience with lively, relevant and catchy movies. His work âDislikeâ was announced in the nominations for the âMain Competitionâ of the last Cannes Film Festival and was awarded a jury prize. In the center of events is a married couple at the stage of divorce. Against the backdrop of a difficult relationship, the indifference of heroes to each other, their little son disappears. Searches, volunteers, police and the behavior of the main characters in this situation lead to a revision of the values ââof human life, family and love. The main roles in the work were played by Alexey Rozin, Maryana Spivak, Marina Vasilyeva, Matvey Novikov. The idea of ââthe picture appeared thanks to the producer Alexander Rodnyansky, who proposed taking Bergman's âScenes from the Matrimonial Lifeâ as a basis. This gave rise to the creation of a film masterpiece.
Many critics have read the first award for the film. And although the picture did not take the main prize of the Cannes Film Festival, according to the director, getting into the list of nominees is already a great honor.