The 77th Cannes Film Festival opens, an Iranian filmmaker calls for help

The 77th Cannes Film Festival opens Tuesday with the #MeToo wave on everyone's minds, a parade & of stars including a Hollywood legend, Meryl Streep, and the cry for help from an Iranian filmmaker forced to die. exile.

A few hours before the opening ceremony, which brings together the big names of the 7th art, the Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has just fled Iran clandestinely for a secret location in Europe, implored world cinema to provide a “strong support” for threatened directors.

Sentenced to several years in prison in his country, he says he “fears for the security and well-being” of the teams remaining in Iran of his latest film, “The Seeds of the Wild Fig Tree”, selected on the last day of the competition on May 24, on the eve of the awards.

Rasoulof will be t -he able to go to Cannes ? His lawyer assured AFP on Monday that yes, the festival hopes so, and is working on it with the Quai d'Orsay. But nothing is guaranteed at this stage, emphasize the director and his producer Jean-Christophe Simon, in a press release.

Difficult to imagine an opening ceremony which does not refer to his situation.

The subject of sexual violence should also be addressed, seven years after the fall of American producer Harvey Weinstein, and five months after the significant speech in France by Judith Godrèche.

– “Combat” –

The actress, who accused directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of rape in her adolescence, will present a short film “Me Too” on Wednesday “, produced in tribute to the victims.

The general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux, on May 13, 2024 in Cannes © AFP – Sameer Al-Doumy

“Her fight against Judith Godrèche, she makes it a cinematographic gesture, (…) not a personal fight”, underlined Tuesday the general delegate of the Festival, Thierry Frémaux, on France Inter.

A highlight, at a time when 100 personalities, including many actresses (Isabelle Adjani, Emmanuelle Béart, Juliette Binoche…) are calling for a comprehensive law against sexual violence in France, in a column published on the Le Monde website.

French actress Camille Cottin, January 23, 2023 in Paris © AFP – JULIEN DE ROSA

In Cannes, the mistress of ceremonies Camille Cottin promised AFP not to forget “the profound questions” of the profession.

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“There will be speeches from strong, powerful personalities, powerful women who will also speak out and who are important guests at this ceremony.”

If none of the invited personalities were the subject of public accusations, nine women accused, most anonymously, the producer Alain Sarde, who produced films by Bertrand Tavernier or Jean-Luc Godard, of having raped or sexually assaulted them, Elle magazine revealed on Monday.

The red carpet of the 77th Cannes Film Festival is rolled out on the steps of the Palais des Festivals, May 14, 2024 in Cannes © AFP – Antonin THUILLIER

The Cannes Festival as well as the investigative site Mediapart have, however, denied the persistent rumors of a “list” of cinema personalities implicated for this type of facts.

“There are not two separate things, the festival on the one hand and everything that happens around it”, estimated Camille Cottin, also referring to the social movement of little hands of the Festival, who demand less precariousness and protest against the tightening of the unemployment insurance system.

– “Queen Meryl” –

American actress Meryl Streep during a photocall at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, May 14, 2024 in Cannes © AFP – Valery HACHE

A few hours from the crackling flashes and autograph signings, the red carpet was rolled out Tuesday morning in the rain before welcoming stars like Meryl Streep, who will receive a Palme d'Or 'honor.

The actress with 21 Oscar nominations, known for her roles from “Sophie's Choice” (1982) to “On the Road to Madison” (1995) via “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006), remains rare on the Croisette.

There she will meet Greta Gerwig, who starred in “The Daughters of Doctor March” (2019).

77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival © AFP – Sylvie HUSSON, Paz PIZARRO

Greta Gerwig, who became the first director to earn more than a billion dollars in revenue with “Barbie”, will take her first steps as president of the Cannes jury, surrounded among others by Omar Sy, Eva Green and Lily Gladstone.

They will be joined by the quartet from the opening film “The Second Act”, which is released at the same time in theaters: Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon and Raphäel Quenard.

Quentin Dupieux brought them together for a comedy about cinema that hits where it hurts, from political correctness to the threat of artificial intelligence.

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