Firstpost is physically present at Cannes Film Festival 2022. We will bring you exclusive coverage from the annual gala, including reviews and all the activities taking place on ground.
After successfully braving the global pandemic with a near-normal festival last year, Cannes film festival is back on the Croisette in 2022, its 75th year, as summer gently descends on the French riviera. Under circumstances that seem to suggest we’re firmly in the waning phase of the covid crisis, the guardrails are off - tests are no longer needed and masks are only advised.
The pandemic related restrictions may have been done away with, but there are other crises on whose background the festival is unfolding this year, prominently Russia’s war against Ukraine. As a show of solidarity, the festival’s last-minute inclusion is a film by Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius called Mariupolis 2. Kvedaravičius was killed in the war in Mariupol while working on the film and Mariupolis 2 is receiving a special screening at the festival. The film’s footage was salvaged by his fiancée Hanna Bilobrova along with the film’s editor Dounia Sichov.
According to the festival’s General Delegate Thierry Frémaux who spoke to the press on the sidelines, the festival is taking a stand against the war by announcing a total boycott on the Russian delegation. “No Russian journalists who defend and uphold the Russian line have been allowed to participate,” he said. The lonely Russian voice at the festival would be dissident Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s Tchaikovsky's Wife in the competition section. Serebrennikov had been under house arrest for being an outspoken critic of the Kremlin.
The nine-member jury will have the French actor Vincent Lindon, from last year’s Palme d'Or winner Titane, leading the panel alongside Rebecca Hall, Deepika Padukone, Noomi Rapace, Jasmine Trinca, Asghar Farhadi, Ladj Ly, Jeff Nichols, and Joachim Trier. The jury will have their hands full judging 21 films in competition, eventually to be awarded with the Palme d'Or on Saturday, 28 May.
Significant films on the festival’s competition list include James Gray’s coming-of-age story with Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong called Armageddon Time, David Cronenberg’s psychological thriller Crimes of the Future, Shoplifters director KORE-EDA Hirokazu’s Broker, PARK Chan-Wook’s thriller Decision to Leave, Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up, and Claire Denis’s Stars at Noon.
Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinksi bring their big-ticket Hollywood release Top Gun to be released in the out of competition section. Baz Luhrmann’s eponymous Elvis biopic will explore the rock and roll star’s relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker told through the eyes of the latter. The festival’s Hollywood focus extends to this year’s Honorary Palme d'or, which is awarded to actor Forest Whitaker whose production company produced the Sudanese film For the Sake of Peace, also incidentally the first film to be screened this year.
Over and above Deepika Padukone’s presence at the festival as a jury member, the Indian contingent this year includes Nawazuddin Siddiqui, R Madhavan, AR Rahman, Ricky Kej, Shekhar Kapur, Nayanthara, Pooja Hegde, Tamannaah Bhatia, and Prasoon Joshi. Akshay Kumar pulled out after being tested positive for Covid. Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting will also attend the festival.
India’s position as guest of honour at the Cannes Film Market this year also means that several producers from the country seeking global platform for their soon to be released films are making a beeline for international collaborations. It’s important to note that these films are not in the lineup of the official festival roster but part of Film Market event screenings on the side-lines of the festival.
These include R. Madhavan’s retelling of Rocketry – The Nambi Effect, Godavari & Dhuin – Marathi film directed by Nikhil Mahajan & Achal Mishra’s respectively, Alpha Beta Gamma – a Hindi film by Shankar Srikumar, Boomba Ride - Mishing language film by Biswajeet Bora, a Malayalam film directed by Jayaraj called Niraya Thattagalulla Maram (Tree Full of Parrots), and the Tamil film Iravin Nizhal (The Shadow of the Night) by R. Parthiban.
Even as it happens in the face of other global uncertainties and a brewing war at Europe’s footsteps, the festival has managed to uphold its commitment by bringing all events back in attendance, two years after a pandemic-induced shutdown. “This year everyone wanted to come to Cannes and be present at the festival and participate in person,” Frémaux said.
Long queues snaking up to accreditation counters were witnessed on the first day and an alleged hacking attempt brought down the ticket booking website. Despite these teething troubles, Europe’s most popular festival seem poised to platform important films and help them reach a global audience.
The Cannes film festival runs from 17 - 28 May 2022.
Prathap Nair is an independent culture features writer based in Germany.
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