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The Communiqué News

Festival de Cannes: The opening ceremony will take place today, at 7:00 pm and will broadcast live on France 2 and internationally on Brut.

All of the Festival’s events will also be available to all through our media partnership with France Télévisions and Brut., which will offer a broad media coverage of the venue. Red carpet and steps events, press conferences, photocalls and all official events will broadcast in both French and English on France.tv, Culturebox, Brut. Cannes, YouTube as well as on the Festival de Cannes’ official website.

The closing ceremony will take place on Saturday May 28, at 8:30 pm and broadcast live on France 2 and internationally on Brut. The screening of the Palme d’or-winning film, that was just rewarded by the Jury, will follow in the Grand Théâtre Lumière Auditorium.


Swati Bhat

Waiting for the Opening Ceremony © Amandine Goetz / FDC


Opening Ceremony of the 75th Festival de Cannes TUESDAY MAY 17 AT 7:00 PM LIVE ON FRANCE 2 Actress Virginie Efira will serve as Master of Ceremony and host of the 75th Edition. She will welcome on the stage of the Palais des Festivals’ Grand Théâtre Lumière the Jury, including Vincent Lindon as Jury President alongside Asghar Farhadi, Rebecca Hall, Ladj Ly, Jeff Nichols, Deepika Padukone, Noomi Rapace, Joachim Trier and Jasmine Trinca. The opening ceremony will broadcast live today at 7:00 pm on France 2. One of the highlights of the ceremony will be the presence of the 75th Festival’s guest of honor, American actor, director and producer Forest Whitaker, who will receive an honorary Palme d’or at that time. Vincent Delerm, who celebrates 20 years of career in the Paris-based L’Européen hall these days, will perform on that night – it’s worth noting that the artist directed the feature Je ne sais pas si c’est tout le monde in 2019 and that he was invited by the Festival in 2021 for a photo coverage that will be released as a portfolio, L’année où le Festival de Cannes avait lieu en juillet (Polka). The screening of the opening film, Michel Hazanavicius’ Final Cut will follow the special night. The film will be theatrically released in France on that same day. As in previous years, audience members will be able to experience the special night in nearly 400 theaters across France – opening ceremony and opening film. This initiative is handled by the Festival de Cannes, along with France Télévisions, the Fédération Nationale des Cinémas Français and the CNC. Closing Ceremony of the 75th Festival de Cannes SATURDAY MAY 28 AT 8:30 PM LIVE ON FRANCE 2 After 11 days of Festival, the Jury will give the awards during the Closing Ceremony. It will take place on May 28, beginning at 8:30 pm and broadcasting live on France 2. The Palme d’or-winning film will then be shown in the Grand Théâtre Lumière and bring an already-memorable edition to a close. The 21 films competing for the Palme d'or this year are: Holy Spider by Ali Abbasi, Forever Young by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Crimes of the Futur by David Cronenberg, Tori et Lokita by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Stars At Noon by Claire Denis, Brother and Sister by Arnaud Desplechin, Close by Lukas Dhont, Armageddon Time by James Gray, Broker by Kore-Eda Hirokazu, Nostalgia by Mario Martone, RMN by Cristian Mungiu, Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund, Decision to Leave by Park Chan-Wook, Showing Up by Kelly Reichardt, Leila’s Brothers by Saeed Roustaee, Boy from Heaven by Tarik Saleh, Tchaïkovski's Wife by Kirill Serebrennikov, Pacifiction by Albert Serra, Mother and Son by Léonor Serraille, EO by Jerzy Skolimowski, The Eight Mountains by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen. Follow the Festival from all over the world The opening and closing ceremonies will be broadcast live internationally in English and French thanks to Brut., without geographical blocking, via the following links: Brut America - Brut Côte d'Ivoire - Brut Egypte - Brut Espagne - Brut Inde - Brut Maroc - Brut Mexique - Brut Sénégal - Brut Tunisie The Festival Television The Festival Television, co-produced by France Télévisions, Brut. and the Festival de Cannes covers the red carpet and steps, photocalls and official events. Broadcasting in both French and English in the Palais des Festivals, on its outdoor screens as well as in hotels on the Croisette, TV Festival de Cannes will also be available on France.tv, Culturebox, Brut. Cannes, YouTube and the Festival de Cannes’ official website. The Festival de Cannes’ official app is available on the App Store and Google Play.



Festival de Cannes: The opening ceremony of the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival commenced on Tuesday as Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur led the star-studded Indian delegation on the Red Carpet at Palais des Festivals.


Swati Bhat

The glamorous red carpet contingent along with the Union Minister included R Madhavan, Ricky Kej, Vani Tripathi, Prasoon Joshi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Shekhar Kapur. While Madhavan and Nawazuddin opted for black tuxedos, Ricky, Prasoon and Anurag could be seen dressed in bandhgala suits of blue, black and cream colours respectively. Vani wore a beautiful blue saree and Shekhar donned a white kurta with a Nehru jacket.

Apart from these Nayanthara, Pooja Hegde, Tamannaah Bhatia and folk singer Mame Khan are also a part of the Indian delegation led by the Information and Broadcasting Minister. Actor Akshay Kumar too was part of the official delegation but had to opt-out after he tested positive for COVID-19. Earlier, Bollywood diva Deepika Padukone who is currently creating waves at Cannes Film Festival as a jury member attended the red carpet ceremony wearing a saree designed by Sabyasachi.

At the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival India has been named the 'Country of Honour' at the Marche du Film, the business counterpart of the marquee event.


Festival de Cannes: A few hours before the 75th anniversary edition was due to kick off, Vincent Lindon, president of the Feature Films Jury and his jurors, Noomi Rapace, Jeff Nichols, Jasmine Trinca, Joachim Trier, Deepika Padukone, Ladj Ly, Rebecca Hall and Asghar Farhadi, answered questions from journalists. They discussed the responsibilities of their role as jurors.


Pritish Bagdi

Feature Films Jury of the 75th Festival de Cannes © Joachim Tournebize / FDC


Vincent Lindon on the responsibility his jurors are preparing to shoulder:

It is an enormous responsibility, which I've thought about a lot. The only way to shoulder it successfully is to go back to being the viewer you were as a child, and try to do things from the heart. I like to think of it as unscrewing my brain like a light bulb and approaching things with a mind clear of prejudices, with the will to love and accept all the cinemas of the world. I'm not going to deny my pleasure at being here. I am quite simply crazy with joy about it. I am going to make the most of every second.

Asghar Farhadi describing his joy at participating in this 75th edition as part of the Jury:

I am extremely happy. I did not hesitate when I was offered the chance to join in this inspiring experience. It's the third time that I've been contacted to join the Jury and this year the time was right. But this joy that I'm feeling is not so deep as I would like, because of what my country is living through today. The outlook is bleak for the Iranian people: they are exhausted. And I have to admit that does slightly spoil my pleasure at being here.

Ladj Ly discussing the importance of the Festival de Cannes for a film's prospects:

Presenting Les Misérables here and winning an award was an incredible showcase. The Festival de Cannes changes the life of a film - no doubt about it. My film went on a journey that we never dreamed of. When I was offered a place on the Jury this year, I could hardly believe it. I think it gives hope to our young people, who can tell themselves that anything is possible. I'm very happy and I hope we make good choices together.

Deepika Padukone on her responsibility as a juror:

We promised ourselves when we arrived not to feel overwhelmed by the responsibility. But it is true that the cinema is such a powerful tool. It can influence people's lives. We are not here to judge the films or criticise them. The most important thing is to enjoy them.

Joachim Trier discussing the task awaiting the Jury :

I have faith in this group and I think that we are going to have discussions which will be as interesting as they are difficult in order to make our choices. Cannes represents the most sophisticated approach there is to cinema. It's a very great honour to be here.

Jasmine Trinca describing her expectations of this 75th edition:

My career started at Cannes in 2001, with Nanni Moretti's La Chambre du fils (The Son's Room). I was 18. I had no clue about the glamourous side of things. I've been back several times since and I can say that I've grown up with the Festival. So to find myself here again is very moving for me. I will watch the films with respect and admiration. I want to be surprised by a look.

Vincent Lindon on the difficult period the world is going through:

We cannot completely put aside the time we're living through. Of course it might have a bit of an unconscious effect on the way we look at the films. Some of them are very closely related to those issues and others are further away. We will steel ourselves to remain worthy, for the people whose days are more difficult than ours.


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