Highlights from Cannes as film festival wraps up

As the Cannes film festival hands out its prizes, AFP looks back at some of the highlights of a politically charged fortnight of screenings and celebrity sightings. The festival began on May 13 with a flap about a new dress code which states that extravagantly large dresses are prohibited on the red carpet, as well as “total nudity”.

Oscar-winner Halle Berry was the first victim, with the “Monster’s Ball” star forced into a wardrobe change for the opening ceremony because her dress was too long.

Although many people seemed to flout the guidelines, Indian model and influencer Snigdha Baruah was forced to remove a flowing train from her dress having been barred by security at the VIP entrance.

Not content to let the dresses steal all the limelight, “Succession” star and jury member Jeremy Strong has brought some eye-catching menswear in bold colours to the Riviera.

US actress and member of the jury of the 78th cannes film festival Halle Berry arrives on stage during the closing ceremony at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on Saturday. AFP

After years of scandals in the film industry and pressure to take a stand, the festival announced a new #MeToo policy by barring an actor in a prominent French film from the red carpet because of rape allegations. Theo Navarro-Mussy, who appears in “Dossier 137”, denies the allegations and an initial police investigation was closed last month. This year’s gathering on the Riviera marked a step in the rehabilitation of scandal-plagued star Kevin Spacey, however, who accepted a lifetime achievement award at a charity gala.

Australian legend Nicole Kidman meanwhile issued a plea for more women directors, saying their number was still “incredibly low”. Only three women have ever won a Palme d’Or. A trio of actors made their highly anticipated directorial debuts, with differing fortunes. “Babygirl” actor Harris Dickinson, 28, and “Twilight” star Kristen Stewart, 35, left Cannes with praise ringing in their ears for their films, “Urchin” and “The Chronology of Water”.

Reviews for Scarlett Johansson’s first turn behind the camera, “Eleanor the Great”, would have made for more difficult reading, however. There was no escaping the war in Gaza this year. Hundreds of film figures signed an open letter on the eve of the festival calling on the movie industry to call out “genocide”. Iranian film maker Sepideh Farsi’s heart-wrenching documentary about slain Palestinian photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, killed in an Israeli air strike on her home in Gaza last month, left its audience in stunned silence when it premiered on May 15.

Scarlett Johansson poses for a portrait at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, on Wednesday. AP

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange walked the red carpet wearing a T-shirt bearing the names of killed Gaza children as he promoted a documentary about his own life. US President Donald Trump was also focusing minds, particularly in the Cannes film market where the deals are cut for new projects. Trump’s pledge to implement 100-per cent tariffs on movies “produced in foreign lands” provoked a mixture of horror, disbelief and mockery from industry insiders.

“I can’t find myself taking it very seriously. It’s just too surreal,” American director Wes Anderson told AFP. “Taxi Driver” star Robert De Niro slammed “America’s philistine president” in his opening ceremony speech.

Tom Cruise swept into Cannes on a steamroller of hype around “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” which premiered to mixed reviews in the first week. Director Christopher McQuarrie revealed that Cruise — who does his own stunts — took his risk-taking a little far during a shoot in South Africa and could have died.

Tom Cruise.

“He was laying on the wing of the plane. His arms were hanging over the front of the wing. We could not tell if he was conscious or not,” said the US filmmaker.

Saturday’s closing ceremony was the final act of a drama-filled day that saw Cannes suffer a more than five-hour power cut.

Local authorities blamed suspected sabotage at a nearby electricity substation and a pylon. The reaction of French emergency services was also one of the biggest talking points among attendees this year after a man was knocked down by a falling palm tree in a freak accident during the first week.

Agence France-Presse