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Cannes Film Festival
The 78th Cannes Film Festival opens on Tuesday with expectations running high for what could be a banner edition. All of the ingredients an absurd number of stars, top-tier filmmakers, political intrigue seem to be lined up for the French Riviera spectacular. Over the next 12 days, Cannes will play host to megawatt premieres including those of Mission: Impossible The Final Recoking, Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest and Ari Aster's Eddington. Things get underway on Tuesday with the unveiling of Juliette Binoche's jury, a three-film tribute to Ukraine and the opening night film, Amlie Bonnin's French romance Leave One Day. At the festival's opening ceremony, Robert De Niro will receive an honorary Palme d'Or, 49 years after Taxi Driver won Cannes' top prize. Cannes is coming off a 2024 festival that produced a number of eventual Oscar contenders, including Emilia Perez, The Substance, Flow and the best picture winner, Anora. Asked if he's feeling the pressure this time around, festival
Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese has boarded the team of Neeraj Ghaywan's upcoming movie "Homebound" as an executive producer, the Indian director announced on Saturday. The film, which is Ghaywan's second feature directorial effort, is set to have its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Un Certain Regard category. Ghaywan shared the news on his official social media handles, saying he is "still in disbelief" to have an icon like Scorsese lend his name to his movie. "(It) is an honour beyond words. I'm deeply grateful to our co-producer Melita Toscan, who introduced us to him. Mr. Scorsese mentored us through the screenplay and multiple rounds of editing. "He listened with care, understood the cultural context, and offered thoughtful, incisive notes each time. His kindness and commitment are extraordinary, and to have him nurture our film has been both a rare privilege and a profoundly humbling experience!" he wrote on X. Scorsese, known for classic film
One of the final few main Competition titles to premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, Payal Kapadia's "All We Imagine as Light" has instantly emerged as a frontrunner for the Palme d'Or. No Indian female director has ever competed for Cannes' top prize nor has any filmmaker from the country bagged the coveted award. Universally applauded by critics at the festival due to end later today, the spellbinding, magnificently crafted drama about three women finding their way into and out of Mumbai, a city with which they have very tenuous relationships, has put India on the threshold of history. Kapadia, flanked by her four principal actors, Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Hridhu Haroon and Chhaya Kadam, cinematographer Ranabir Das and producers Thomas Hakim of Petit Chaos and Zico Maitra of Chalk and Cheese, addressed critics at the festival's press conference hall on Friday morning. Critics have heaped unstinted press on the film. BBC described "All We Imagine as Light" as universal an
The India Pavilion, rechristened the Bharat Pavilion, was formally opened on Wednesday morning at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Explaining the rationale behind the renaming, Mr. Sanjay Jaju, secretary, ministry of information and broadcasting, said: "It symbolises the country's assertion of its traditional storytelling practices while it actively looks for collaborations with the rest of the world." "India," Mr. Jaju said, "is the sutradhar (narrator) of the world." The large Indian presence in the festival is a recognition of that status, the secretary added. The astounding variety of films that India produces and the growing importance of the Diaspora combine to bolster the reach and impact of the nation's "soft touch", Mr Jaju said, adding that he would refrain from using the word "power" in the context of Indian cinema. "We are happy that India is back in the Cannes Competition with a film by a gifted young filmmaker," he said. "This festival is a platform for networking and .