The Opening Ceremony of the 66th Festival de Cannes took place yesterday in the Grand ThÊâtre Lumière.
Audrey Tautou
After a song from Steven Spielberg's film The Color Purple performed by
Emeli SandĂŠ, Audrey Tautou welcomed on stage the feature films Jury:
Vidya Balan, Naomi Kawase, Nicole Kidman, Lynne Ramsay, Daniel Auteuil,
Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu, Christoph Waltz and its President, Steven
Spielberg.
The Festival was declared open by Leonardo DiCaprio and Amitabh Bachchan
and the Ceremony continued with the screening Out of Competition of Baz
Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, with the key members of the movie crew in
attendance.
See above in our video screen footage of the arrival of the stars, members of the jury, producers and organizers to the Grand ThÊâtre Lumière. (Courtesy of Electrolux).
Audrey Tautou
âBehind the Candelabraâ
Steven Soderbergh won the Palme dâOr with his first film, âsex, lies and videotapeâ in 1989, and heâs back in the running for his final film, a Liberace story he made for HBO when he couldnât get a studio to back it.
âThe Immigrantâ
James Gray has competed at Cannes with âThe Yards,â âWe Own the Nightâ and âTwo Lovers,â and is back with his historical drama set in New York in the 1920s, with a powerhouse cast that includes Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner and Joaquin Phoenix.
âInside Llewyn Davisâ
Joel and Ethan Coen won the Palme dâOr with âBarton Finkâ 22 years ago, while âFargoâ and âThe Man Who Wasnât Thereâ also picked up best-director awards at Cannes. They could mine a (typically twisted?) vein of nostalgia with this look at the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene, with a lead character loosely based on Dave Van Ronk.
âJimmy P.â
The fifth film from French director Arnaud Desplechin to screen in competition at Cannes, âJimmy P.â stars Benicio del Toro as a Native American returning from World War II, and Mathieu Amalric as the therapist trying to help him adjust.
âLe Passeâ
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is coming off the Oscar-winning âA Separation,â and making his Cannes debut with a French-language drama starring âA Separationâ star Tahar Rahim and âThe Artistâ leading lady Berenice Bejo.
âOnly Lovers Left Aliveâ
Can a vampire movie win the Palme dâOr? Probably not, but in the hands of Jim Jarmusch (âStranger Than Paradise,â âMystery Trainâ and âBroken Flowers,â all of which won awards at Cannes) and a cast that includes Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, it can be stylish and unsettling.
âUn Chateau en Italieâ
The only female director in the main competition (though four of the nine jurors are women), actress-turned-director Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi has cast herself and her partner Filippo Timi in a dramatic comedy about family troubles.
âVenus in Fursâ
Roman Polanski is a lightning rod for controversy, but heâs also one of only three directors in competition (Soderbergh and the Coens being the others) whoâs already won the Palme dâOr. Based on the play by David Ives, âVenus in Fursâ deals with sexual obsession and sounds as if it could be dark and kinky.
âLe Dernier des Injustesâ
Claude Lanzmann is known for a single film, âShoah,â a monumental work documenting the Holocaust. So itâs big news when the 87-year-old director turns his sights on the topic again, as he does with this chronicle of the Theresienstadt ghetto, created by the Nazis to fool observers and hide their real plans for the Jews.
âThe Dance of Realityâ
THE COMPETITION JURY 2013:
Steven SPIELBERG Vidya BALAN Naomi KAWASE Nicole KIDMAN Lynne RAMSAY Daniel AUTEUIL Ang LEE Cristian MUNGIU Christoph WALTZ
15 Must-See Movies at Cannes Film Festival as
recommended by Steve Pond@thewrap
âBehind the Candelabraâ
Steven Soderbergh won the Palme dâOr with his first film, âsex, lies and videotapeâ in 1989, and heâs back in the running for his final film, a Liberace story he made for HBO when he couldnât get a studio to back it.
âThe Immigrantâ
James Gray has competed at Cannes with âThe Yards,â âWe Own the Nightâ and âTwo Lovers,â and is back with his historical drama set in New York in the 1920s, with a powerhouse cast that includes Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Renner and Joaquin Phoenix.
âInside Llewyn Davisâ
Joel and Ethan Coen won the Palme dâOr with âBarton Finkâ 22 years ago, while âFargoâ and âThe Man Who Wasnât Thereâ also picked up best-director awards at Cannes. They could mine a (typically twisted?) vein of nostalgia with this look at the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene, with a lead character loosely based on Dave Van Ronk.
âJimmy P.â
The fifth film from French director Arnaud Desplechin to screen in competition at Cannes, âJimmy P.â stars Benicio del Toro as a Native American returning from World War II, and Mathieu Amalric as the therapist trying to help him adjust.
âLe Passeâ
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is coming off the Oscar-winning âA Separation,â and making his Cannes debut with a French-language drama starring âA Separationâ star Tahar Rahim and âThe Artistâ leading lady Berenice Bejo.
âNebraskaâ
A member of the Cannes jury last year, Alexander Payne returns to a competitive slot for the first time since âAbout Schmidtâ with his black-and-white road movie starring Will Forte and, in a performance already picking up heavy awards buzz, Bruce Dern.
A member of the Cannes jury last year, Alexander Payne returns to a competitive slot for the first time since âAbout Schmidtâ with his black-and-white road movie starring Will Forte and, in a performance already picking up heavy awards buzz, Bruce Dern.
âOnly Lovers Left Aliveâ
Can a vampire movie win the Palme dâOr? Probably not, but in the hands of Jim Jarmusch (âStranger Than Paradise,â âMystery Trainâ and âBroken Flowers,â all of which won awards at Cannes) and a cast that includes Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, it can be stylish and unsettling.
âUn Chateau en Italieâ
The only female director in the main competition (though four of the nine jurors are women), actress-turned-director Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi has cast herself and her partner Filippo Timi in a dramatic comedy about family troubles.
âTian Zhu Dingâ
Director Jia Zhangke uses four different stories to paint a picture of violence in modern China. With the country emerging as a key player in worldwide cinema, is it time for the first Chinese winner at Cannes in 20 years?
Director Jia Zhangke uses four different stories to paint a picture of violence in modern China. With the country emerging as a key player in worldwide cinema, is it time for the first Chinese winner at Cannes in 20 years?
âVenus in Fursâ
Roman Polanski is a lightning rod for controversy, but heâs also one of only three directors in competition (Soderbergh and the Coens being the others) whoâs already won the Palme dâOr. Based on the play by David Ives, âVenus in Fursâ deals with sexual obsession and sounds as if it could be dark and kinky.
âLe Dernier des Injustesâ
Claude Lanzmann is known for a single film, âShoah,â a monumental work documenting the Holocaust. So itâs big news when the 87-year-old director turns his sights on the topic again, as he does with this chronicle of the Theresienstadt ghetto, created by the Nazis to fool observers and hide their real plans for the Jews.
âFruitvale Stationâ
This yearâs âBeasts of the Southern Wild?â Ryan Cooglerâs drama, set in inner-city Oakland, won both the audience and jury awards at Sundance, landed a distribution deal and got a slot in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.
âLes Salaudsâ
It was somewhat shocking when the new film from iconic filmmaker Claire Denis landed in Un Certain Regard rather than the main competition â but Jean-Luc Godard was in the same spot in 2010, so UCR is obviously amenable to both legends and newcomers.
âSeduced and Abandonedâ
Director James Toback can be intriguing, annoying and challenging in equal measure, and he may well be all three at once with Cannesâ special screening of this film, a documentary about filmmaking, art, money and glamour shot by Toback and Alec Baldwin at last yearâs Cannes.
It was somewhat shocking when the new film from iconic filmmaker Claire Denis landed in Un Certain Regard rather than the main competition â but Jean-Luc Godard was in the same spot in 2010, so UCR is obviously amenable to both legends and newcomers.
âSeduced and Abandonedâ
Director James Toback can be intriguing, annoying and challenging in equal measure, and he may well be all three at once with Cannesâ special screening of this film, a documentary about filmmaking, art, money and glamour shot by Toback and Alec Baldwin at last yearâs Cannes.
âThe Dance of Realityâ
Though heâs 84, Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky is a major presence in the Directors Fortnight sidebar, which will include both âJodorowskyâs Dune,â Frank Pavichâs documentary about the directorâs failed attempt to make a movie from Frank Herbertâs sci-fi epic âDune,â and this surreal, semi-autobiographical fantasia.
You can follow the eleven days of the event here on FILMCASTLive! and on the official website of the Cannes Film Festival 2013 ( also see our 2012 coverage)
