Berliner Abendpost - Cannes braces for stars and protests

NYSE - LSE

RBGPF	-10.81%	61.5	$
CMSC	0.14%	22.01	$
NGG	0.5%	83.53	$
CMSD	0.72%	22.35	$
GSK	-1.52%	52.52	$
AZN	-2.03%	189.28	$
BP	1.53%	39.21	$
BTI	-0.67%	61.39	$
RELX	-2.37%	32.05	$
BCE	0.23%	21.45	$
BCC	-2.96%	71.29	$
RIO	-2.76%	88.8	$
JRI	-0.77%	13	$
RYCEF	-2.21%	19.01	$
VOD	0.31%	13.09	$

Cannes braces for stars and protests

ECONOMY 15.05.2023

Cannes braces for stars and protests / Photo: Valery HACHE - AFP

The Cannes Film Festival was preparing to roll out the red carpet on Monday for a star-packed edition featuring Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp and Natalie Portman -- but also concerns over protests by French unions.

Text size:

Some 35,000 people are expected for the festival's 76th edition, which kicks off Tuesday in the French Riviera town and runs to May 27.

Several big-name premieres are showing at the world's biggest cinema industry shindig, including "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro and new Pixar film "Elemental".

Meanwhile, 21 films are competing for the top prize Palme d'Or, including a record seven women directors.

Around a thousand police and security guards are in place for the festival, which has been held under a heightened security alert ever since a wave of terror attacks in France in the 2010s.

This year, organisers face additional worries that recent protests over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms will affect the festival.

All protests are banned around the Croisette during the event, local authorities told AFP, adding that this was the same as previous years.

But the CGT union has vowed to make its presence felt -- threatening last month that it would cut power during the festival and announcing a "fixed" protest in front of the famed Carlton Hotel on Friday.

The famous red carpet, 60 metres (yards) long, will be unrolled on Tuesday. These days, in a nod to environmental concerns, its size has been cut in two to save some 1,400 kilos of carpet.

The jury is led by last year's Palme d'Or winner, Ruben Ostlund, and also includes Hollywood stars Brie Larson and Paul Dano.

Several Palme laureates are back in competition, including Britain's two-time winner Ken Loach, Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda and Germany's Wim Wenders.

The opening film is bound to make waves: "Jeanne du Barry" is billed as Johnny Depp's comeback film, a period drama in which the controversial star tests out his French skills as King Louis XV.

Its director and lead actress is French star Maiwenn, an outspoken critic of the MeToo movement, who was last month accused of assaulting a journalist in a Paris restaurant.

P.Schubert--BlnAP

Featured

Taylor Swift fans pay $25 for garbage from outside wedding

Taylor Swift fans have paid $25 for pieces of trash -- including cigarette butts and an ovulation test kit -- collected near the US pop queen's wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce.

After quakes, Venezuelans fear losing damaged homes

Morela Luna anxiously awaits the arrival of a team of experts to inspect her partially collapsed home, where her neighbors had to rescue her after Venezuela's double earthquake on June 24 that has claimed more than 3,600 lives.

Nocera Expands Diversified Technology Strategy With Binding Agreement to Acquire an Equity Interest in INERGX, an Integrated Energy Storage and Power Platform for AI, Defense and Mission-Critical Demand

Investment Positions Nocera at the Intersection of the Global AI and Energy Infrastructure Build-Out, a Market Projected to Approach $7 Trillion by 2030

UN maritime head urges halt to Hormuz transit to protect seafarers

The head of the International Maritime Organization said Wednesday the 6,000 seafarers still stranded in the Gulf must not be put in unnecessary danger by crossing the Strait of Hormuz amid fresh US-Iran attacks.