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Cannes International Film Festival 2015: Day one wrap-up

It was a warm evening and the mood on the red carpet

Cannes: The 68th edition of the Cannes Film Festival kicked off on May 13. With around 35,000 film professionals and over 4,000 international journalists coming together for the 12-day extravaganza, it is clearly the world’s biggest film event.

It was a warm evening and the mood on the red carpet was festive as guests were individually greeted by artistic director Thierry Fremaux. Songs from The Beatles albums and Pharrell Williams’ catchy Happy created a lively pre-ceremony atmosphere in the theater. A note in the festival bag had clearly instructed “No Selfies” to each attendee — yet several guests were spotted taking endless selfies on the red carpet. Ushers did their best to keep the “traffic” moving.

Among those who walked the red carpet on day one were Katrina Kaif (making her Cannes debut); Nandita Das; Natalie Portman, whose directorial debut, A Tale of Love and Darkness, plays in the official selection; Naomi Watts (here for competition drama Sea of Trees); Lupita Nyong’o; and Isabella Rossellini, whose mother, the effervescent Ingrid Bergman, graces the official festival poster. Fan Bingbing and Angelababy (Chinese stars); the cast of all the films in competition, some distinguished members of the press; the members of the jury and the international and European film industry.

Lupita Nyong'o (Photo: AP)

Among the French stars who attended were Emmanuelle Devos Guillaume Gallienne, Emmanuelle Beart, Leila Bekhti, Marie Gillain, culture minister Fleur, CNC president Frederique Bredin, producer Sylvie Pialat and directors Agnes Jaoui and Abderrahmane Sissako.

The opening night saw well known Cannes emcee Lambert Wilson open the ceremony with a photo retrospective paying homage to women both in front of, as well as behind, the camera. Wilson also paid tribute to the work of Thierry Fremaux, who put together an impressive exhibit on the 120th anniversary of Lumiere brothers’ invention of cinema. The elaborate homage (choreographed by Natalie Portman’s husband Benjamin Millepied) saw dancers perform modern jazz ballet to clips from classic movies.

Emmanuelle Bercot (Photo: AP)

While Lambert Wilson mock struggled to say “presidents” in French to address the Coen brothers (who’re heading the jury this year), he incidentally choose to speak only in French throughout the ceremony. So until Julianne Moore broke the French spell with her fine English for the dignitaries of different nationalities who made up the audience, most of them looked rather bewildered and could only guess when they needed to smile or clap. Ms Moore was present to collect belatedly, her Best Actress prize for 2014’s Maps to the Stars. She did try to translate her few lines in French as she declared the 68th Cannes Film Festival “open”.

The Coen brothers received a standing ovation after a reel showed some of their greatest hits from Fargo to No Country For Old Men. Then, the opening night film La Tête Haute (Standing Tall) began. The film brought home brutal facts about child and juvenile delinquency, and critiqued a failing social system that absolves itself, with the hope that tomorrow will be better. The film holds a mirror to societies, transcending geographical boundaries.

Julianne Moore (Photo: Chopard)

After the ungraceful cracks made by critics about Grace of Monaco, that opened last year’s festival, this French drama made for a refreshing “back to cinema” opening. Cannes is clearly celebrating women this year as it is only the second time in the history of Cannes that the opening night film is by a woman director, in this case, Emmanuelle Bercot. Bercot and her cast were given a standing ovation — the applause echoing long after the audience filed out of the Theatre Lumiere.

Naomi Watts (Photo: AP)

Anjali is the owner of Apricot Sky Entertainment

Diary items:

While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has had the most triumphant of relationships with the Cannes red carpet (leave aside the drubbing she gets from fashion critics back home for her less than sensational sartorial choices) it seems Katrina Kaif didn’t quite manage to get an equally warm reception for her Cannes debut. In fact, while the actress made a stunning entry in her Oscar de la Renta gown, with her mane coloured a striking shade of red, she simply didn’t enough attention from the cameramen covering the event. Looks like it’ll be a while yet before she matches the star quotient of fellow L’Oreal-ites Ash or even Sonam Kapoor.

Natalie Portman (Photo: AP)

Natalie Portman’s red carpet appearance too caused a bit of talk — simply because the actress was so discreet about it! She left from the back entrance and seemed very shy. A case of nerves, Natalie?

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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