Harrison Ford will come to present the next Indiana Jones out of competition. Wes Anderson will compete with Asteroid City. A Night by Alex Lutz will pass in Un Certain Regard. It's getting lost. An endemic language develops the last two weeks of May on the Croisette. A short guide to see more clearly in the jungle of selections and the functioning of the Cannes Film Festival, whose 76th edition is held from 16 to 27 May.
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The official selection, that is to say?
These are the films chosen by the festival directed by Thierry Frémaux. Several dedicated teams watch more than 2000,2022 films from around the world – up from about half a decade ago. Each of these feature films has its chance. About twenty of them – the figure varies – will finally be selected in the queen category, the official competition, with the hope of obtaining the Palme d'Or (in <>, it was Unfiltered by Ruben Östlund).
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About twenty others take the path of Un certain regard. A section that celebrates auteur cinema, or promising first films. Several prizes are awarded (Les Pires was crowned last year). Out of competition, the festival often screens feature films events less intended for the rivalry of the official competition. For this 76th edition, it will be Indiana Jones and the dial of destiny. To these different categories must be added the midnight screenings, which offer genre films of beautiful quality, Cannes Premiers and its previews (sometimes more discreet works by important filmmakers), Cannes Classics and its restorations...
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What do we see in parallel selections?
Launched after the tumultuous edition of 1968, the Filmmakers' Fortnight (it was called until last year the Directors' Fortnight) is more daring. Less academic. Martin Scorsese or Spike Lee were noticed. It does not award prizes. In 2022, we saw Charlotte Le Bon's delicate Falcon Lake, Pietro Marcello's graceful Envol and Philippe Faucon's rigorous Les Harkis.
La Semaine de la critique, composed as its name suggests of representatives of the international specialized press, focuses on first and second feature films. Several awards, including a grand prize, are awarded. Gaspard Noé and Leos Carax took their first steps there. Last year, we saw Charlotte Wells' Aftersun or Mikko Myllylahti's The Curious Story of the Wood Cutter. Thierry Frémaux, the general delegate of the festival, repeats to anyone who wants to listen that all the selections are complementary. This does not prevent each one from seeking to obtain the most beautiful selection possible.
More discreet, the ACID presents independent feature films with, to quote them, "the desire to shake up the norms". Or even molest them. Last year, Martin Jauvat's funny Grand Paris did well.
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Apart from the palm, what are the other prizes?
The members of the jury, meeting on the last day in a secret address and deprived of their mobile phones, proceed to a vote. The grand prize is worth like a silver medal. Stars at noon by Claire Denis and Close by Lukas Dhont received it, ex-aequo, in 2022. Before them, there were 120 Beats per minute (2017) or Son of Saul (2015). The jury prize, even if this specificity is not always respected, must reward a particularly original work. It was awarded last year, again tied, to Eo and Les Huit montagnes. In the past, Il Divo (2008), Mommy (2014) or Les Misérables (2019) have been crowned. The prizes for screenplay, directing, male interpretation and female interpretation speak for themselves. Note that a film can only receive one award. Except the jury and screenplay prizes which can be added to an interpretation prize...
Is a palme d'or worth its weight in gold?
The festival has existed since 1946, but the first prize awarded dates back to 1955. The model, designed by jeweler Lucienne Lazon, is inspired by the arms of the city of Cannes. It will be abandoned between 1964 because too expensive, but will return in 1975. The prize was transformed twenty years later, when Chopard took over the manufacture of this award composed of 75% pure gold (18 carats). The rest is money, says the CNC website. It weighs 118 grams for 13.5 centimeters. Estimated cost: 20,000 euros. Two are sent each year, in case of joint palm or deterioration.
What about Netflix movies?
"We have always invited Netflix," Thierry Frémaux recently reminded us. From 2017 in competition, and after out of competition. In this new world, we have adapted our rules." That year, two films were indeed able to compete for the Palme d'Or, but the platform did not release them in theaters. Since then, the festival closes the doors of the queen category to feature films that will not pass through a dark room. Those out of competition remain wide open to them. But, for Netflix, it's competition or nothing... The platform has therefore taken refuge in the arms of the Venice Film Festival.
How many festival-goers set out to attack the Croisette?
About 80,000 people go there every year: film teams, film professionals from all sectors, young and old cinephiles, Cannes... 4,500 journalists from all over the world are also accredited. During the festival, the population of the city triples, reaching more than 200,000 people according to France 3 Regions. After the Olympic Games and the football World Cup, it is the most publicized event on the planet.
Does every festival-goer take cocaine?
A legend would have it that we arrive in Cannes cinephile to leave cocaine addict. It is, unfortunately, a bit of an exaggeration. Harvey Weinstein would certainly, according to his ex-driver, have presided over parties under dope - nothing has filtered on those of the Dardennes. But the Checknews service of Libération affirmed, after verification, that the police did not make more catches during the festival. This does not mean, it is true, that consumption does not rise... Were the prosperous years animated by the merry lions of Canal + better off? "There have never been salad bowls filled with coke," swore Philippe Vandel evoking the parties in general of the encrypted chain. The columnist confirmed, on the other hand, to have seen the Guignols team slip shit into Jacques Chirac's puppet, to reach Cannes safely.
But who is Thierry Frémaux?
When he is not walking the Croisette from one room to another with an energy that could take us back to the previous question, but which is probably more related to his condition as a sportsman, the influential general delegate of the festival rides a bike, listens to Bruce Springsteen and organizes the Festival Lumière de Lyon. The management of the Cinémathèque française was proposed to him in 1999. He preferred to accept the direction of the Cannes Film Festival, with the great manitou Gilles Jacob, from the 57th edition (2004). Nothing has since distracted him from Cannes, not even the proposal, in 2015, to take the helm of Pathé. A cinephile close to Bertrand Tavernier, Thierry Frémaux also worked to restore the pioneering work of the Lumière brothers to his former glory.