Cannes rolled out the red carpet on Tuesday as Hollywood stars jetted
in for the start of the world's premier film festival, which this year
unfolds against the background of a director's daring escape from Iran
and fresh #MeToo allegations.
The 12-day festival officially kicks off in the evening with an
honorary award for Meryl Streep -- one of a host of A-listers flocking
to the Cote d'Azur alongside legendary directors George Lucas and
Francis Ford Coppola.
Coppola's decades-in-the-making epic "Megalopolis", an Ancient
Rome-inspired saga set in a corrupt modern-day city, is the most
anticipated of this year's entries for the top prize Palme d'Or.
"Cannes is important to him and he is important to Cannes," said
festival head Thierry Fremaux, praising the 85-year-old director of "The
Godfather".
Twenty-two films are competing for the affections of a jury led by "Barbie" director Greta Gerwig.
"I'm pinching myself. This is a marvel," she told reporters.
Richard Gere will star in Paul Schrader's "Oh Canada", recent Oscar
winner Emma Stone reunites with Yorgos Lanthimos in "Kinds of Kindness",
and Demi Moore tries her hand at horror in "The Substance".
Outside the race for the Palme d'Or, George Miller's latest "Mad Max"
instalment, "Furiosa", will get its world premiere on Wednesday, while
Kevin Costner returns to the Western genre with "Horizon, an American
Saga".
But darker, off-screen plotlines have emerged on the eve of the festival's 77th edition.
In a last-minute twist, director Mohammad Rasoulof -- also competing
for the Palme d'Or -- announced he had escaped in secret from Iran, just
days after being sentenced to eight years in prison on security
offences.
Rasoulof, who had been under pressure from Iranian authorities to
withdraw his latest film, "The Seed of the Sacred Fig", from Cannes,
urged the world film community to support his colleagues, many of who
remain in Iran.
"My thoughts go to every single one of them and I fear for their safety and well-being," Rasoulof said, in a statement to AFP.
Cannes director Thierry Fremaux said the festival was working with
the French foreign ministry in the hope of ensuring Rasoulof can attend
his premiere next week.
Rasoulof's statement said he did not yet know if he can attend.
- 'Festive moment' -
Meanwhile, France's film industry is in the midst of a belated #MeToo
reckoning, with a string of accusations against its biggest star,
Gerard Depardieu, and rumours that more big names will face accusations.
Gerwig said the #MeToo movement was "evolving all the time".
"It's not a destination we all reach together, it's something we will
keep discussing and figuring out how we want our industry and cinema to
be," she said.
A major French producer, Alain Sarde, was hit with multiple assault allegations on Monday.
Camille Cottin, star of hit television series "Call My Agent!" and an outspoken feminist, will host the opening ceremony.
She said there were a lot of issues she would like to address in her speech.
"But it's also supposed to be a festive moment... and I've only got four minutes," she told AFP.
Adding to the off-screen drama, a group of festival employees have
called for a strike over pay and conditions that could cause disruption.
- Trump, Coppola, Stone -
Among the entries for the Palme d'Or is "The Apprentice" -- a biopic
of Trump's formative years from Iranian-born director Ali Abbasi,
starring Sebastian Stan, known for playing the Winter Soldier in Marvel
films.
Film fans are also excited for new works from body-horror maestro
David Cronenberg ("The Shrouds"), Italy's Paolo Sorrentino
("Parthenope"), as well as "Emilia Perez", an unlikely-sounding musical
about a Mexican cartel boss having a sex change from French Palme-winner
Jacques Audiard.
But the hot ticket is undoubtedly Coppola's "Megalopolis", starring Adam Driver, on Thursday.
There is a growing anticipation over whether the veteran director --
who self-funded the lavish epic -- can match his masterpieces of the
1970s, when he twice won the Palme d'Or for "Apocalypse Now" and "The
Conversation".
Playing out of competition is "She's Got No Name", one of China's
biggest-ever productions, which features megastar Ziyi Zhang tackling
the highly sensitive topic of women's rights.
Legendary Japanese animators Studio Ghibli -- makers of "Spirited
Away" and "My Neighbour Totoro" -- will receive an honorary Palme d'Or,
the first offered to a group rather than an individual.
The festival will round off on May 25 with a final honorary award for "Star Wars" creator Lucas.