The president of the Cannes jury, actor Vincent Lindon. /
The opening gala of the event gave the floor to the Ukrainian president, who appealed to the commitment of the world of cinema against dictators
The 75th Cannes Film Festival gave the floor on Tuesday at its opening gala to the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, who asked by videoconference for the commitment of the world of cinema against “the dictators. We need a new (Charlie) Chaplin who shows that cinema is not silent », he declared before an audience of stars of the seventh art who applauded him and stood up. Dressed in a military shirt, he recalled that the contest was born just a year after World War II, and “as in that time, today a battle for freedom is being waged.”
«Will the cinema remain silent or will it raise its voice? Can the cinema stay out of this? ”, Asked the Ukrainian leader, who at the beginning of April already intervened remotely at the 64th edition of the Grammys. Zelenski’s speech gave a definitively political tone to a festival that had already announced that Ukraine would occupy a special place this year, with several filmmakers from that country and even films shot during the current conflict such as ‘Mariupolis 2’, a posthumous work by the Lithuanian Mantas Kvedaravicius, who was killed by Russian gunfire last month in Ukraine.
“There are realities that crush everything,” said the host of the gala, Belgian actress Virginie Efira. Although Cannes opens with a desire for fun, the atmosphere will have to be “dignified, respectful (…) even if it is only as a tribute to those who live much more complicated days than us,” asked the president of the jury, the French actor Vincent Lindon , before the press shortly before the traditional red carpet parade. Lindon, a left-wing actor, also made a forceful speech, invoking the danger of “fascism” and calling for a commitment to the seventh art.
No restrictions and looking at Hollywood
Cannes returns in 2022 without health restrictions and with thousands of guests, ready to combine glamor with claims. This Tuesday the Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker received an honorary Palme d’Or at the age of 60. The competition for the highest award of the contest opens with 21 films in competition, reflecting a balance between commercial cinema and auteur cinema.
This Wednesday the festival will give way to Hollywood with the participation of Tom Cruise, who presents a new installment of ‘Top Gun’, an emblematic film of the 1980s. Other moments awaited in this edition will star the film ‘Elvis’ by director Baz Luhrmann about the king of rock’n’roll and David Cronenberg with ‘Crimes of the future’, for lovers of gory cinema. The Russian Kirill Serebrennikov, critical of the Moscow Government, the French Claire Denis, the veteran Belgian Dardenne brothers and the Spanish Albert Serra, the only representative of Ibero-American cinema, among other authors, compete for the Palme d’Or.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.