The 72nd Annual Cannes Film Festival took place from May 14-25 this year. The festival showcases a slew of popular films, shorts and biopics. It’s one of the most prominent film festivals each year, with a line-up that mixes international films and huge blockbusters debuting later during the year. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu served as this year’s jury President (he is best known for directing “Birdman” and “The Revenant.”) Films compete for the prestigious film festival award — Palme d’Or. Some previous winners in years past include classics such as “Taxi Driver,” “Apocalypse Now” and “Pulp Fiction.”
In addition to the main competition, the festivals also promote student filmmaking with their “Cinefoundation.” Seventeen entries were chosen to compete out of 2,000 submissions from all across the globe, with only one American entry.
Last year during the Cannes Film Festival, the festival signed the 5050 x 2020 Pledge, a vow to include more films from female directors and crews it its programming, and there were many discussions on what work still needed to be done as far as content goes.
The festival also premieres special screenings of films that have won in years past, showcases a few documentaries and, overall, promotes a jam packed lineup of movies for two weeks. Celebrities from all over come to promote their film and do special panels about it. Fashion at Cannes gains a lot of press and attention on the red carpet, and is a highly spectated event. Cannes tries to stay as trendy as it can, inviting models and current stars to walk on their red carpet.
The opening night film for the festival, “The Dead Don’t Die,” starring Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Selena Gomez and Tilda Swinton had the potential to be a great zombie movie, but received terrible reviews and not so much applause after its initial screening. Special screenings of the the Elton John biopic, “Rocketman” — starring Taron Egerton — received a five minute standing ovation after its debut May 16. Egerton is definitely crowned as an early awards season contender for his role as portraying the iconic musician. Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe received accolades for their film “The Lighthouse,” a black and white thriller set in a remote lighthouse. Amazon Studios spent big on their low-budget “Les Miserables,” and the streaming giant is trying to put forth an intense awards campaign for it.
Paramount spent 40 million on a buddy comedy, “Down Under Cover,” with Chris Hemsworth and Tiffany Haddish. Fox Searchlight scooped up Terrence Malick’s, “A Hidden Life” for around 12 million, being released later in 2019. Quentin Tarantino’s film, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo Dicaprio premiered May 21, definitely being the most hyped up movie at the festival. Tarantino says it’s the closest thing he’s done to “Pulp Fiction.”