The Cannes Film Festival has opened: the work of the “old people” will be judged by the “new people”

Russian director Ilya Povolotsky will represent Russia in the “Directors’ Fortnight”

On May 16, the 76th Cannes Film Festival opened with the film Jeanne Dubarry by French director and actress Maivenn Le Besco about the mistress of Louis XV (Johnny Depp played him). The jury of the main competition headed by the two-time winner of the Palme d’Or, Swedish director Ruben Östlund, who directed The Square and The Triangle of Sorrow, passed along the starry path. The 78-year-old American actor Michael Douglas became the king of the ceremony. At the opening ceremony, he was awarded the honorary Palme d’Or for his career achievements and contribution to world cinema. Douglas first visited Cannes in 1979 with China Syndrome, then presented Basic Instinct, I’ve Enough, Behind the Candelabra.

Since this year, for the first time in its long history, the festival has been headed by a woman, and not yet a Frenchwoman, but a German producer, Iris Knobloch. There are enough women in all programs, in the panel of judges. It was specifically declared that this year the jury is represented by a new generation of filmmakers. In addition to Ostlund, it included: Zambian-British director Rugano Nioni, Frenchwoman Julia Ducorneau, who received the Palme d’Or for Titan, directors Maryam Tuzani from Morocco and Damian Sifron from Argentina, actors Brie Larson and Paul Dano from the USA, Denis Menoche from France, writer Atik Rahimini from Afghanistan. Such an unusual company will have to evaluate mainly the works of the great “old men” who are selected for the main competition.

It features “Dead Leaves” by the Finnish genius Aki Kaurismäki, who once threw a desperate dance on the red carpet in Cannes out of resentment for underestimating his painting. His new film, about young people who meet by chance on a night in Helsinki, features the director’s favorite dog. “Old Oak” by 87-year-old British classic Ken Loach tells the story of Syrian migrants who have come to a Welsh village where the mines have closed. The painting is named after a local pub. “Kidnapped” by the Italian classic Marco Bellocchio is based on the true story of a child taken from his parents and placed under the care of Pope Pius IX. Future Sun by Nanni Moretti tells about Rome in the 1950s and the cinema of that time. The main role in the film was played by the French actor Mathieu Amalric. Beautiful Days, directed by German director Wim Wenders, tells the story of a Japanese man who cleans toilets and is fascinated by music and books. “Asteroid City” by American Wes Anderson was filmed in Italy at the foot of the crater. “Chimera” by Italian Alice Rohrwacher tells about an archaeologist from Britain. One of the roles was played by Isabella Rossellini. The film “About Dry Grass” by Turkish director and Palme d’Or winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan will again tell about a teacher from Eastern Anatolia accused of harassment. “Monster” by Hirokazu Kore-eda, awarded the “Palme d’Or” for “Shoplifters”, is about the difficult relationship between a teacher and a student. In general, strangers do not go here. A rare exception was the debutante from Senegal, Ramata-Tulai Si, who lives in France. She shot her picture in a Senegalese village in the Pular language with the participation of local residents, including heroines who are experiencing a dangerous attraction.

There are no Russian films in the main competition and Un Certain Regard. But in the “Directors’ Fortnight” is presented “Whim” by documentary filmmaker Ilya Povolotsky, who will make his feature film debut. This is a road movie where a father and daughter travel across Russia with an urn containing the ashes of their wife and mother. They travel around Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Stavropol Territory, Rostov and Murmansk regions, Karelia, St. Petersburg. The film was shot by the magnificent Belarusian cameraman Nikolai Zheludovich, who worked with Ilya on the documentary “Northerers”. The main roles in “Blazhi” were played by Maria Lukyanova and non-professional Georgian actor Gela Chitava, who made his debut in “Shultes” Bakura Bakuradze.

In the competition, until recently called Cinefondation, and now La Cinef, where various film schools of the world are represented, the animated Elektra by Daria Kashcheeva participates. She was born in Dushanbe, studied music in Moscow, and then entered the Prague Film School FAMU. Her previous animated film “Daughter” received a student “Oscar” and was nominated for the big “Oscar” -2020. Her Elektra at Cannes represents the Czech Republic.

A native of Buryatia, Diana Mashanova has been announced as one of the six young residents of this year’s festival. Born in Ulan-Ude, she attended the University of London where she studied culture and the creative industries and studied filmmaking in Paris and New York. Having a British diploma, Diana graduated from the Moscow School of New Cinema, shot the short film Tolya, with which she traveled around the world. Now she is finishing work on a full-length project, which was filmed in Buryatia. Her next project, God’s First Cigarette, allowed her to become a Cannes resident and secure patronage at the world’s premier film festival.