A Palme d'Or and a minute of silence: the symbolic edition of the Cannes Film Festival, the most prestigious film festival in the world, ended this Thursday evening, a few hours after a knife attack that bloodied the Côte d ' Azure.
Read also: Covid-19: the Cannes Film Festival in resilience mode
At the end of these three days of the festival, the Palme d'Or for best short film was awarded to the Egyptian film
I'am afraid to forget your face
by Sameh Alaa.
In total, eleven international short films, ranging from fiction to animation to documentaries, were in competition.
The jury, which was notably composed of the Franco-Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb, the actress Céline Sallette and the producer Charles Gillibert, praised
"the great accuracy and the richness"
of this short film.
The evening must end with the screening of the film
Les deux Alfred
, by Bruno Podalydès.
This symbolic edition, which opened with the screening of the film
Un triomphe
by Emmanuel Courcol, ends a few hours after the attack on the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption church in Nice, which left three dead.
At the request of Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of the Cannes festival, a minute of silence was observed in
“tribute to the victims”
of this attack.
A black carpet has also replaced the usual red carpet installed on the rise of the steps of the Palais des festivals.
This festival also took place at the time when the Head of State announced the reconfinement of the country, from Friday evening until December 1.
During this period, non-essential businesses but also cinemas will have to close.
The only exception: filming can continue.
A new blow for the seventh art, which was struggling to get its head out of the water.
As for the Cannes Film Festival, which intended, by maintaining its symbolic edition, to send a message to professionals in the sector, all is not lost.
By demonstrating that organizing a festival in the midst of a health crisis was possible, he is laying the groundwork for the 2021 edition. Temperature
measurement
, physical distancing ...
"All sanitary measures have been taken"
, according to its president, Pierre Lescure.
In total, four films, including two French, were screened.
Among the two foreign films:
Asa Ga Kuru
(True Mothers) by the Japanese Naomi Kawase, and a Georgian debut film by Dea Kulumbegashvili,
Beginning
(
In the Beginning
), crowned in San Sebastian (Spain).
Without having been able to take place in May, the Cannes festival had resigned itself to broadcasting a list of 56 feature films that were part of its official 2020 selection.
