The evil winds suddenly moved away, the shadow of scandal dissipated. The voice of the collective of precarious cinema workers (who had just managed to hoist their banner above the Palace) did not cross the barrier. So much so that inside, the noise and rumor were silent. Time, at least, for a truce. The one offered to us, Tuesday May 14, the opening ceremony of the 77e edition of the Cannes Film Festival. And over which queens have reigned.
Solid, trembling, moving and funny. Actresses, directors, singers gathered on stage to kick off the festivities. Wearing the colors of cinema loudly and brilliantly, without silencing what, behind the scenes, sometimes comes dirty to splash them, they echoed the words of women. And paid tribute to them by composing a 100% feminine tableau to which it was up to the mistress of ceremonies, actress Camille Cottin, to add the first touches.
A bit of humor: “Dear guests, dear friends (…) you may not know it but you are about to enter a parallel world called the Cannes vortex (…) In this world, day and night merge. We leave for screenings very early in the morning without having slept and we have our professional meetings in the middle of the night, on a beach that bears the name of a brand. It’s normal. »
A touch of irony: “I would like to point out that nocturnal meetings in the hotel rooms of all-powerful gentlemen are no longer part of the habits and customs of the Cannes vortex following the adoption of the #metoo movement and we welcome this. » And more serious accents to evoke the state of the world which “worries us, even, in places, makes our blood run cold”the burning planet and the danger posed by artificial intelligence.
Emotion
We could therefore rejoice, as Camille Cottin firmly underlined, with this parenthesis, “ this place of meetings, debates and wonder » that the Cannes Film Festival brings us every year. Stage on which the actress then welcomed the jury of the official competition – 22 films, only four of which were signed by female directors. A jury chaired this year by the American actress and filmmaker whose film barbie (released in 2023) exploded the global box office: Greta Gerwig.
The latter – whose appointment as head of the jury breaks with four years of male presidency – said she was delighted with these ten days that awaited her “ in this sacred place » and seemed sincerely moved by the ” gift “ what the festival had in store for him: the presence of the Belgian singer Zaho de Sagazan. With a powerful voice and graceful body movements, she emerged from the back of the room to perform Modern Love by David Bowie, one of the key songs from Noah Baumbach’s film, Frances Ha (2013), in which Greta Gerwig, also the director’s wife, played the leading role.
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