Deauville 2024: Michael Douglas speaks (very well) French, Kate Winslet plays opposite Marion Cotillard… a look back at the opening ceremony of this 50th edition

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The Deauville American Film Festival launched its 50th edition with great fanfare last night, in the presence of many celebrities, including Michael Douglas, a regular at the venue.

This year again, the Côte Fleurie welcomes the biggest stars of American cinema for a week of festivities. For its 50th edition, the Deauville Festival had to pull out all the stops and the opening ceremony held on Friday evening at the CID set the tone.

Deauville 2024: Natalie Portman, the next Tim Burton, the Palme d’Or… A rich program for the 50th edition!

And five for Michael Douglas!

The organizers logically thought of Michael Douglas as the guest of honor for this 50th edition. It must be said that the actor, who will soon be 80 years old, knows Deauville and its legendary boards very well. He has been there several times, just like his father, Kirk Douglas.

Whether it is to present films or to receive awards. And if this American Film Festival is so precious to him, it is because in 1998 he met the woman with whom he still shares his life today: Catherine Zeta-Jones.

At the microphone on the red carpet or on stage to receive his honorary award, Michael Douglas took the time to thank France for all the help it has given his country in recent decades, between two slightly more personal anecdotes: he had a crush on Zeta-Jones in Zorro and asked for a private interview with her when he found out she was passing through Deauville…

You know his name… but not his job!

This year, and for the first time, the Festival chose to celebrate youth and rising talent. The New Generation Award was presented on stage to Malia Ann, a screenwriter and director who screened her first short film, entitled “The Heart”. A story of loss, mourning, and forgiveness that tells how a young man who lost his mother was unable to tell her what was on his heart before she passed away.

AlloCine

If this name may not ring a bell, her face might: Malia Ann is indeed the daughter of former US President Barack Obama. But it was very much alone that she went to Deauville to receive her award and as an independent artist that she presented herself. Her poetic speech on youth and hope was one of the highlights of the ceremony.

Kate Winslet back on top?

Who says opening ceremony, says film preview. This year, the Festival screened Lee Miller, a biopic about one of the first female war photographers. Having gone to the front and ready to do anything to bear witness to the horrors of the Second World War, she changed the way we see the world through her courage and her refusal of conventions. It is expected in theaters on October 9.


Sky UK Ltd / Kimberley French

And it is Kate Winslet who brings this forgotten story and this iron-fisted character to the screen. If the actress impresses, as usual in this role, it is especially a real treat to see her share a few scenes on screen with our French stars, such as Marion Cotillard, Noémie Merlant, Vincent Colombe or Zita Hanrot.

And the Festival could not have chosen a better film to open this 50th edition which also celebrates the 7th French art.

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