With no Brazilian film competing this year, the festival returns in person for its 75th edition, uniting commercial, social criticism, and prestige in the world of cinema.
After two years of being based remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic, the traditional Cannes Film Festival finally took place in person on the French Riviera from May 17th to 28th for its 75º edition. The event is much awaited by great film directors and actors and 21 films competed for the Palme d’Or this year, the most coveted award of the night. Unfortunately, Brazil, like most of Latin America, did not receive any nominations. Latin cinema was represented by the Costa Rican feature “Domingo y la Niebla”, by Ariel Escalante Meza, which is part of the Un Certain Regard section.
However, Brazil was not left out of the awards. The Festival holds unprecedented exhibitions, and in 2022, the classic “Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol”, by director Glauber Rocha, was restored and digitized, with scenes in 4k. Its rerun took place in the “Cannes Classics” section, dedicated to the preservation of the world’s cinematographic heritage. This film is the director’s second feature and marks the peak of Cinema Novo, reflecting Brazil from the Sertão and its residents’ perspectives. Besides, celebrities without films have always been seen at the awards, usually at the invitation of festival sponsors, but what caught the attention of the Brazilian public was the presence of former BBBs Sarah Andrade and Rafa Kalimann, actress Samantha Schmutz and fashion influencer Thássia Naves.
The second day of the festival moved the whole French Riviera. The reason? Tom Cruise. The star was present at the entrance of the red carpet in the Grand Théâtre Lumière, where his new movie “Top Gun: Maverick” was shown, out of competition. Fans and photographers swarmed around the carpet as the cast of the movie classic passed, while fighter jets passed the Palais des Festivals smoldering with the red, blue, and white of the American flag.
The festival, however, also had political demonstrations on the red carpet. A protester invaded the entrance to the screening of “Three thousand years of longing”, the new movie by George Miller (“Mad Max: Fury Road”). She brought attention to the high numbers of rapes and violence by Russian soldiers in the occupied areas of Ukraine. The phrase “Stop raping us” was written over the colors of the country’s flag painted on her body, while red ink smeared across her waist. The word “Slag” was written on the back. After being covered with a coat by security, she was removed from the scene.
In addition to this protest, a group of feminists took to the red carpet before the opening of the movie “Holy Spider” to protest against the murder of women in France. In total, 12 activists participated in the action, holding a giant poster with the name of 129 women killed in the country since the last edition of the festival, victims of domestic violence.
Returning to the Palme d’Or nominees, not only were foreign films snubbed and Europe dominated the nominations, but only three women competed for the award: Claire Denis, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, and Kelly Reichard. The prize ended up going to Ruben Ostlund’s “Triangle of Sadness”, his second win at the French awards after he won the trophy with “The Square” in 2017. This sarcastic comedy movie tells the story of two young models, Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), who are navigating the fashion world while trying to become influencers. They win tickets to travel on a luxury cruise, the only middle-class passengers in a group of millionaires, led by an alcoholic communist boat captain (Woody Harrelson). However, a stormy night and pirate attacks cause the ship to sink, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island. The hierarchy within the group changes completely when among this bunch of rich people, the only person who knows how to survive in this inhospitable place is the Filipino cleaning lady – capable of fishing and making a fire.
Other notable winners are director Park Chan-Wook, winning the best direction for “Decision to Leave”, a detective novel between a detective and the widow of a possible murder victim, while the award for best screenplay went to the Swedish Tarik Saleh, who wrote and directed the film “Boy From Heaven”, a story about the intricacies and conflicts of the Islamic and religion takes place in the halls of Cairo’s Al-Ahzar University, the oldest in the world and one of Islam’s premier institutions. In the acting categories, Song Kang-ho won the best actor category for his role in “Broker”, by director Hirokazu Koreeda, and the best actress award went to Sahra Amir Ebrahimi, who stars in the film Holy Spider, by director Ali Abbasi.
Check out the festival’s winners:
Palme d’Or: “Triangle of Sadness,” directed by Ruben Östlund
Grand Prix: “Stars at Noon,” directed by Claire Denis, and “Close,” directed by Lukas Dhont
Jury Prize: “Eo,” directed by Jerzy Skolimowski, and “Le Otto Montagne,” directed by Charlotte
Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen
Best director: Park Chan-wook for “Decision to Leave”
Best screenplay: “Boy From Heaven”
Best actress: Zar Amir Ebrahimi for “Holy Spider”
Best actor: Song Kang-ho for “Broker”
Camera d’Or: Gina Gammell and Riley Keough for “War Pony”
Short film Palme d’Or: “The Water Murmurs”
The article above was edited by Carolina Azevedo. Like this type of content? Check out Her Campus at Cásper Líbero for more!