As the red carpet was rolled out in front of the Palais des Festivals on Wednesday (May 13), the stage was finally set for the start of the 68th Cannes Film Festival.
The world’s most important film festival looks set to deliver a mix of starpower, art house cinema, Hollywood blockbusters and everything in between.There will be plenty of familiar faces at the festival this year, with the feature film jury being presided by Joel and Ethan Coen.
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who starred in the 2014 film “Nightcrawler”, brings a touch of Hollywood to his place on the jury, alongside British actress Sienna Miller, French actress Sophie Marceau, Spanish screen icon Rossy de Palma and Malian actress Rokia Traore.Other jury members include filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who credits Cannes for helping his career when he won the Critic’s Prize in 1993 for his feature film debut “Chronos”.
While Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan, whose film “Mommy” scooped the Jury Prize at last year’s festival, also takes his place on the panel.
The 2012 jury president, Nanni Moretti, is in competition with “Mia Madre” as well as Palme d’Or laureate Gus van Sant (“The Sea of Trees”) and Todd Haynes (“Carol”). Hollywood is pitching in by holding the world premiere for “Mad Max: Fury Road” on Thursday (May 14), and there will be plenty of other Hollywood and world stars on the red carpet. The festival will open for the first time with a woman director’s film, “La Tete Haute” by Emmanuelle Bercot and starring French icon Catherine Deneuve.
Ventuno