How Cannes Topper Thierry Fremaux Is Guiding 75th Edition of the Film Festival Through a Fast-Changing World

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThirty-three films comprise the eclectic lineup for the 56th Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, the programming team led by the artistic director Karel Och revealed Tuesday.

The exquisite and sublime journeys of Oregon-based filmmaker Kelly Reichardt are arguably, more or less, incidental or oblique political statements about survival in America, often focusing on two or more friends, usually outsiders, and their struggle to endure. “Wendy And Lucy,” about a destitute woman and her soulmate canine companion, was overt about human inequity and hardship; “Meek’s Cutoff” depicted the unbearable burden of living off a hostile, unforgiving land; and “First Cow” presented the warm, but sad futility of two friends trying to sustain themselves under the grueling rigors of nascent American capitalism.

Neon has acquired North American rights to Ruben Östlund’s buzzy satire, Triangle of Sadness, following its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

CANNES, France -- When the Cannes Film Festival audience stood to applaud James Gray's richly observed autobiographical drama “Armageddon Time," about the director's own 1980s childhood in Queens, Gray's voice quivered as he addressed the crowd.“It’s my story, in a way,” said Gray. “And you guys shared it with me.”“It took every last bit of control not to burst out into tears," Gray said, still recovering the next day in Cannes. “It’s been a really strange journey making the film and my father died two months ago of COVID.

Anne Hathaway is looking so chic for her second appearance at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe question arising at every Cannes Film Festival lineup announcement about why the festival has not selected films from a particular country tends to irk chief selector Thierry Frémaux. But this year, with films from China notable by their absence, Frémaux may be asking himself if he messed up, or whether bigger forces are at play?Last year, Cannes was at pains to conceal its selection of Hong Kong pro-democracy film “Revolution of Our Times” until as late as possible, in order not to alert mainland Chinese authorities or disrupt the other Chinese indies showing in the festival.China experts differ as to how much Cannes’ defiance last year was a factor in this year’s de facto boycott.

Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in France. The French model, 27, wore a baby pink tiered mesh floor-length gown as she walked the red carpet on Thursday.

Anne Hathaway is looking incredible on the Cannes red carpet!

EXCLUSIVE:  NEON has taken the North American distribution rights to Mark Jenkin’s horror feature Enys Men, starring Mary Woodvine and Edward Rowe. The deal was hatched before Cannes, ahead of the pic’s world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight section.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNeon has purchased North American distribution rights to Mark Jenkin’s “Enys Men,” ahead of the horror film’s premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival.The film, which sounds very shades of “The Wicker Man,” stars Mary Woodvine and Edward Rowe. Jenkin wore a lot of hats on this one.

cast landed on the red carpet in style at the 75th Annual Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. The spectacle began with the celebrated arrival of superstar Tom Cruise, who greeted cheering fans at the Palais before walking down the red carpet with co-star Jennifer Connelly. Cruise and Connelly were also joined by fellow co-stars Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell and Jay Ellis. The cast's arrival was made even more memorable when an eight-jet flyover released smoke in the colors of the French flag over the event.

William Earl Variety will partner with Campari to bring the Variety Studio to the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. The interview studio will run May 18 – 25 and feature conversations with top directors and stars attending the 75th annual fest.Talent participating in the interview studio includes Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Michael Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb and writer/director James Gray from “Armageddon Time” (Focus Features), a coming-of-age story about family and the generational pursuit of the American dream; Julianne Moore and Jesse Eisenberg from his feature directorial debut, “When You Finish Saving the World” (A24), a comedy-drama about a mother (Moore) and her teenage son’s (Finn Wolfhard) complex relationship; Paul Mescal and writer-director Charlotte Wells from “Aftersun” (Pastel), an intimate drama following Sophie (Frankie Corio) as she reflects on a holiday she took with her father (Mescal) 20 years earlier; Alicia Vikander and writer-director Olivier Assayas from “Irma Vep” (HBO), a remake of the French silent film classic “Les Vampires”; and writer-director Park Chan-wook, and actors Tang Wei and Park Hae-il from “Decision to Leave” (Mubi), a thriller following a detective’s investigation of a man’s death in the mountains.

Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, and Jennifer Connelly pose for photos together at the Top Gun: Maverick photo call at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday (May 18) in Cannes, France.

Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux took part in a ‘meet the press’ session with journalists in Cannes yesterday afternoon.

CANNES, France -- After a canceled 2020 edition and a scaled back gathering last year, the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday rolled out the red carpet for what organizers hope will be a f ully resuscitated French Riviera spectacular.The 75th Cannes Film Festival is set to open Tuesday night with the premiere of Michel Hazanavicius' zombie comedy “Final Cut.” Over the next 12 days, 21 films will vie for the festival's prestigious top award, the Palme d'Or, while a handful of high-profile Hollywood titles — including “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Elvis” and “Three Thousand Years of Longing” — will also launch in Cannes.“This year, everyone wanted to come to Cannes,” said Thierry Frémaux, artistic director of the festival, ahead of the opening. “Everyone wanted to meet again.”This year's Cannes will officially begin Tuesday evening with an opening ceremony preceding the premier of “Final Cut," which was renamed from its original title, “Z,” after Ukrainian protesters noted that the letter Z to some symbolizes support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.The war in Ukraine is expected to be a regular presence in Cannes.

Ellise Shafer Cannes Film Festival has responded to complaints over the online press ticketing system, saying that the fest is currently working to resolve the issue.“The technical difficulties met this morning on the online ticketing service are very likely due to acts aimed at saturating the site with ticket requests, thus preventing festival-goers from accessing it,” Cannes’ official statement reads. “We are currently working on fixing the problem.”Many journalists and critics took to Twitter this morning to express their frustration at the ticketing site, which was not allowing them to access badges or book tickets for screenings.“It’s fair to say the Cannes online ticketing system is a shambles wrapped inside a clusterfuck wrapped inside an enigma,” critic Martyn Conterio wrote on Twitter.

The Cannes Film Festival, which gets underway this week, has given an update following complaints from journalists today about online ticketing issues.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentCannes Film Festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux didn’t just have to field questions about Russia and the dearth of female directors at the fest during his meeting with journalists on Monday afternoon. He also had to address a claim that the festival is attempting to censor the press — and confirmed that he has asked publications to revise his quotes.Reading his quotes before publication is just a “French tradition” and “not a big deal,” he told journalists.But Fremaux denies that he has asked to change what journalists have written or to remove certain questions.

CANNES, France -- After two years of pandemic, the 75th Cannes Film Festival is getting going with a familiar dose of controversy and some new snafus as it readies for its largest gathering on the French Riviera since the 2019 edition.Preparations were in full swing up and down the Croisette on Monday ahead of the festival's opening. The festival is set to open Tuesday with “The Artist” director Michel Hazanavicius' zombie film “Z."But before things even kicked off, the festival had already found plenty of commotion.

Long a bastion of artistic freedom, the Cannes Film Festival has a secret: it censors interviews with festival head Thierry Frémaux.