“ An eternal first time .” It is in these terms that Iris Knobloch , the President of the Cannes Festival, opened the long-awaited press conference in April 2024, which aimed to present the films in the Official Competition, the films Out of Competition, but also selections Un Certain Regard, Cannes Premiere screenings, Special Screenings. An eternal first time for the woman who is inaugurating her second Festival as President, after a successful 2023 edition, with a huge audience, including 200,000 entries, 14,000 professionals accredited to the film market.
Over the past twelve months, the 2023 Cannes Film Festival was the most mentioned event on social media alongside the Oscars. In addition, his award-winning films, including his Grand Prix ( The Zone of Interest ) and his Palme d'Or ( Anatomy of a Fall ) were awarded at the prestigious American ceremony, in addition to being very great successes in theaters – enough to “ deny the Cassandras who predicted the death of cinema in the face of the emergence of streaming platforms ” concluded Iris Knobloch.
As the 80th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival approaches, Thierry Frémaux took over to announce the long-awaited program, while expressing a thought for Argentine cinema, which, like the country's difficulties, is going through a turbulent period. , and specifying that this selection is marked by the strike of screenwriters and actresses, which paralyzed the Hollywood industry for several months. The result, however, is an eclectic selection, marked by a notable presence of young Indian cinema, the increasingly pronounced emergence of new and radical genre cinema, and Festival regulars. Discover below all the information regarding the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 14 to 25, 2024.
French actress Camille Cottin will present the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which will take place in May 2024. Understand: she will host the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony of the famous film festival. A judicious choice on the part of the festival management, as the actress shines with an international aura since her appearances in productions such as the brilliant series by Phoebe Waller-Bridge , Killing Eve or the film House of Gucci by Ridley Scott . Her name therefore joins those of Xavier Dolan first, President of the Un Certain Regard jury, and then that of the filmmaker Greta Gerwig , President of the Official Competition Jury, and the first American director to take on this role. A nomination like a consecration, for the one who was long relegated to the status of muse of her companion, the director Noah Baumbach . Indeed, its blockbuster Barbie , released in 2023, co-produced by Mattel and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, became one of the highest-grossing films of all time, and the biggest success for a female filmmaker. Throughout the summer, millions of spectators, dressed in pink from head to toe, visited theaters around the world. If the film did not succeed in seducing all feminists, and in particular the most radical, it nevertheless had the merit of being the vessel of a certain introduction to patriarchal society, for many very young girls throughout the world.
In addition to being the first American director to hold the position of president of the jury, Greta Gerwig also becomes the youngest person to occupy this position after Sofia Loren who was only 31 years old in 1966. She is also the second director nominated after Jane Campion in 2014, as well as the second American after the actress Olivia de Haviland , first woman President of the Jury in 1965. Iris Knobloch , President of the Cannes Film Festival, and Thierry Frémaux , general delegate, declared in a press release: “ This choice is obvious as Greta Gerwig boldly embodies the renewal of world cinema of which the Cannes Festival is both the precursor and the sounding board each year. Beyond the 7th Art, she also appears as the representative of an era which abolishes borders and mixes genres to make intelligence and humanism triumph .” Discover the rest of the Official Competition Jury in its entirety:
Greta Gerwig, American director, actress and screenwriter, President of the Jury
Omar Sy, French actor
Lily Gladstone, Native American actress
Eva Green, French actress
Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japanese director
Pierfrancesco Favino, Italian actor
Nadine Labaki, Lebanese actress and director
Juan Antonio Bayona, Spanish director and screenwriter
Through its official poster, the 2024 Cannes Film Festival is honoring Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa , and especially his penultimate film, Rhapsody in August , presented Out of Competition at the festival in 1991. A choice which allows us to affirm that “ cinema is a universal sanctuary of expression and sharing. A place where our humanity is written as much as our freedom ,” as stated in a press release. In addition, the opening film of the Cannes Film Festival, a screening always eagerly awaited by the few lucky moviegoers who came to the Croisette in the spring, will be the new comedy by French director, screenwriter and musician Quentin Dupieux , The Second Act . He thus succeeds Jeanne du Barry de Maïwenn . The film will therefore have its world premiere this Tuesday, May 14. It will be released the same day in French cinemas.
American filmmaker George Lucas ( Star Wars , Indiana Jones ) will receive a Palm of Honor during the closing ceremony of the Festival, on May 25, 2024, jointly with Studio Ghibli . The opportunity to put the spotlight on, on the one hand, a Hollywood empire built in the space of 40 years, and on the other, a Japanese institution, to which we owe abundant and colorful universes. He will succeed American actress Meryl Streep , who will also receive an Honorary Palme d'Or on the opening night of the Festival, May 14. This is therefore the actress's big return to the Croisette, after several decades. Indeed, her last trip to the Festival dates back to the climb of the steps of the film A cry in the night by Fred Schepisi (1988), for which she won the prize for best performance.
Finally, Kevin Costner will also make his big return to the Croisette, almost twenty years after his last appearance at the festival. On Sunday May 19, out of Competition, he will present Horizon's first opus , An American Saga . A world premiere for a multi-episode project on the conquest of the American West of which he is the director and, alongside Sienna Miller and Jena Malone , one of the actors.
As President of the Jury of the Official Competition, Greta Gerwig succeeds Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund , awarded two Palmes d'Or: one for The Square in 2017 then one for Without Filter , in 2022. Last year, her Jury crowned Justine Triet 's feature film , Anatomy of a Fall , which has since achieved one of the best box offices for a Palme d'Or since Entre les Murs , by Laurent Cantet (2008) and which has exceeded one million entries abroad.
The jury of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, also made up of filmmaker Julia Ducournau , actors Denis Ménochet and Paul Dano and actress Brie Larson , awarded Jonathan Glazer the Grand Prix for his chilling drama The Zone of Interest , the film French La Passion by Dodin Bouffant for its direction, or Les Feuilles Mortes by Aki Kaurismaki with the Jury Prize. Vogue announced the full list .
The original article can be found on French Vogue.
