The Opening Ceremony of the 66th Festival de Cannes took place yesterday in the Grand Théâtre Lumière.
Audrey Tautou
After a song from Steven Spielberg's film The Color Purple performed by
Emeli Sandé, 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 Théâtre Lumière. (Courtesy of Electrolux).
Audrey Tautou
“Behind the Candelabra”
Steven Soderbergh won the Palme d’Or with his first film, “sex, lies and videotape” in 1989, and he’s back in the running for his final film, a Liberace story he made for HBO when he couldn’t get a studio to back it.
“The Immigrant”
James Gray has competed at Cannes with “The Yards,” “We Own the Night” and “Two Lovers,” 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.
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
Joel and Ethan Coen won the Palme d’Or with “Barton Fink” 22 years ago, while “Fargo” and “The Man Who Wasn’t There” 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.
“Jimmy P.”
The fifth film from French director Arnaud Desplechin to screen in competition at Cannes, “Jimmy P.” stars Benicio del Toro as a Native American returning from World War II, and Mathieu Amalric as the therapist trying to help him adjust.
“Le Passe”
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is coming off the Oscar-winning “A Separation,” and making his Cannes debut with a French-language drama starring “A Separation” star Tahar Rahim and “The Artist” leading lady Berenice Bejo.
“Only Lovers Left Alive”
Can a vampire movie win the Palme d’Or? Probably not, but in the hands of Jim Jarmusch (“Stranger Than Paradise,” “Mystery Train” and “Broken Flowers,” all of which won awards at Cannes) and a cast that includes Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, it can be stylish and unsettling.
“Un Chateau en Italie”
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.
“Venus in Furs”
Roman Polanski is a lightning rod for controversy, but he’s also one of only three directors in competition (Soderbergh and the Coens being the others) who’s already won the Palme d’Or. Based on the play by David Ives, “Venus in Furs” deals with sexual obsession and sounds as if it could be dark and kinky.
“Le Dernier des Injustes”
Claude Lanzmann is known for a single film, “Shoah,” a monumental work documenting the Holocaust. So it’s 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.
“The Dance of Reality”
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
“Behind the Candelabra”
Steven Soderbergh won the Palme d’Or with his first film, “sex, lies and videotape” in 1989, and he’s back in the running for his final film, a Liberace story he made for HBO when he couldn’t get a studio to back it.
“The Immigrant”
James Gray has competed at Cannes with “The Yards,” “We Own the Night” and “Two Lovers,” 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.
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
Joel and Ethan Coen won the Palme d’Or with “Barton Fink” 22 years ago, while “Fargo” and “The Man Who Wasn’t There” 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.
“Jimmy P.”
The fifth film from French director Arnaud Desplechin to screen in competition at Cannes, “Jimmy P.” stars Benicio del Toro as a Native American returning from World War II, and Mathieu Amalric as the therapist trying to help him adjust.
“Le Passe”
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is coming off the Oscar-winning “A Separation,” and making his Cannes debut with a French-language drama starring “A Separation” star Tahar Rahim and “The Artist” leading lady Berenice Bejo.
“Nebraska”
A member of the Cannes jury last year, Alexander Payne returns to a competitive slot for the first time since “About Schmidt” 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 “About Schmidt” with his black-and-white road movie starring Will Forte and, in a performance already picking up heavy awards buzz, Bruce Dern.
“Only Lovers Left Alive”
Can a vampire movie win the Palme d’Or? Probably not, but in the hands of Jim Jarmusch (“Stranger Than Paradise,” “Mystery Train” and “Broken Flowers,” all of which won awards at Cannes) and a cast that includes Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, it can be stylish and unsettling.
“Un Chateau en Italie”
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.
“Tian Zhu Ding”
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?
“Venus in Furs”
Roman Polanski is a lightning rod for controversy, but he’s also one of only three directors in competition (Soderbergh and the Coens being the others) who’s already won the Palme d’Or. Based on the play by David Ives, “Venus in Furs” deals with sexual obsession and sounds as if it could be dark and kinky.
“Le Dernier des Injustes”
Claude Lanzmann is known for a single film, “Shoah,” a monumental work documenting the Holocaust. So it’s 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.
“Fruitvale Station”
This year’s “Beasts of the Southern Wild?” Ryan Coogler’s 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.
“Les Salauds”
It was somewhat shocking when the new film from iconic filmmaker Claire Denis landed in Un Certain Regard rather than the main competition – but Jean-Luc Godard was in the same spot in 2010, so UCR is obviously amenable to both legends and newcomers.
“Seduced and Abandoned”
Director James Toback can be intriguing, annoying and challenging in equal measure, and he may well be all three at once with Cannes’ special screening of this film, a documentary about filmmaking, art, money and glamour shot by Toback and Alec Baldwin at last year’s Cannes.
It was somewhat shocking when the new film from iconic filmmaker Claire Denis landed in Un Certain Regard rather than the main competition – but Jean-Luc Godard was in the same spot in 2010, so UCR is obviously amenable to both legends and newcomers.
“Seduced and Abandoned”
Director James Toback can be intriguing, annoying and challenging in equal measure, and he may well be all three at once with Cannes’ special screening of this film, a documentary about filmmaking, art, money and glamour shot by Toback and Alec Baldwin at last year’s Cannes.
“The Dance of Reality”
Though he’s 84, Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky is a major presence in the Directors Fortnight sidebar, which will include both “Jodorowsky’s Dune,” Frank Pavich’s documentary about the director’s failed attempt to make a movie from Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic “Dune,” 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)
