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Veteran Hollywood director Michael Mann will be honored with the Lumière Award at the 2025 Lumière Festival, a French event focused on classic cinema.

Lumière Institute and festival director Thierry Frémaux called Mann — director of such features as Heat, The Last of the Mohicans, The Insider, Ali and Collateral — a major artist “straight out of Hollywood mythology…whose mark on cinema is everlasting.”

In a statement, the Institut Lumière said Mann’s filmmaking was “both rooted in a strong Hollywood tradition and embodies a personal and innovative cinema through his choice of subjects, his approach to directing, storytelling and aesthetics. With true independence — and at times, a certain solitude — he is one of the most important filmmakers in the history of cinema.”

Mann is the latest Hollywood icon to receive the Lumière honor, following such directors as Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton, as well...

Michael Mann is set to receive the Lumiere Award at the 17th edition of the Lumière Festival in Lyon this fall. The festival, headed by Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux, celebrates classic films and honors iconic filmmakers and actors every year.

Previous Lumiere honorees include some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Jane Fonda, Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, and Tim Burton, alongside European stars, such as Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve. The Lumière Award honors a figure for their entire body of work and their connection to the history of cinema.

Throughout his career, which spans forty years so far, Mann has delivered cult films such as “Heat,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” “The Insider” and “Collateral,” and has worked with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Cruise, James Caan, Natalie Portman or Gong Li.

“He is both rooted in a strong Hollywood...

Michael Mann will be honored with the Lumière Award at the 17th edition of the classic film-focused Lumière Festival in Lyon this fall.

The Institut Lumière, which oversees the festival, praised Mann’s 40-year career marked by enduring hits such as Heat, The Last of the Mohicans, The Insider, and Collateral as well as his direction of “screen legends” including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Cruise, James Caan, Natalie Portman and Gong Li.

“He is both rooted in a strong Hollywood tradition and embodies a personal and innovative cinema through his choice of subjects, his approach to directing, storytelling, and aesthetics. With true independence—and at times a certain solitude—he is one of the most important filmmakers in the history of cinema,” it continued in its release.

Mann follows in the wake of past Lumière honorees such as Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Jane Fonda, Francis Ford Coppola,...

Quentin Tarantino opted not to direct his Cliff Booth sequel movie – and instead took $20m off Netflix for David Fincher to make it.

According to a new report at The InSneider, Quentin Tarantino did pretty well out of his unused screeplay for a sequel to Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood

Having chosen not to direct the film as his tenth and final movie, Tarantino had the written script for the project – which we think is called The Continuing Adventures Of Cliff Booth – but the filmmaker reportedly wasn’t that enthused about choosing to finish his career with a sequel.

As such, he eventually nixed the project.

However, one person who was rather keen to see the film made was its star, Brad Pitt who is said to have orchestrated the sale of the script to Netflix, with David Fincher now directing. The new report suggests that Netflix gave Tarantino...

Jim Jarmusch’s long-awaited feature “Father Mother Sister Brother” is set to debut in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, running 27 August–6 September 2025 on the Lido.

The anthology follows three interconnected family stories across the United States, Ireland and France, and marks Jarmusch’s first narrative feature since The Dead Don’t Die in 2019. Its ensemble includes Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Mayim Bialik, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat. Principal photography wrapped quietly in Ireland and France last June.

The road to Venice has been unusually circuitous. Early trade chatter tipped the film for Cannes, yet it was absent from Thierry Frémaux’s April line-up announcement, prompting speculation about a late switch to the autumn circuit. World of Reel later reported that the project “skipped Cannes” and became a leading contender for Venice after the festival’s selection committee passed on it.

Shortly after regaining control of Dogma from the Weinsteins last year, Kevin Smith quickly announced that he was working on a sequel. Since then, Smith has taken the original film on tour, including a screening at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, which prompted him to get bitten by the festival bug again. He told Deadline that he wants to return to the festival with a sequel to Dogma by 2028.

“What I didn’t realize is, I would get there and I’d get bit by the bug again, and I’d be seeing all these places, these haunts from my childhood, from my 20s, so to speak, from the three times I was there when I was a kid, once in ’94 with Clerks, once in ’99 with Dogma, and then again in 2006 with Clerks 2,” Smith said. “And suddenly, I was like, ‘Why is it that you assume that the Cannes-worthy...

More than 25 years, four popes and a near-death experience later, Kevin Smith has never felt more inspired to revisit his 1999 religious satire Dogma.

Following the film’s “sweet victory lap” at the 78th Cannes Film Festival last month, where a screening of the film was met with a seven-minute ovation, the multi-hyphenate told Deadline, he wants to return to the festival by 2028 with a “Cannes-worthy” sequel.

“What I didn’t realize is, I would get there and I’d get bit by the bug again, and I’d be seeing all these places, these haunts from my childhood, from my 20s, so to speak, from the three times I was there when I was a kid,” explained Smith. “And suddenly, I was like, ‘Why is it that you assume that the Cannes-worthy portion of your life is over? You never even expected it to begin in the first place. It...

Celebrity and documentary intersected on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival this year with the world premiere of Bono: Stories of Surrender, the film about the U2 frontman directed by Andrew Dominik. The Irish rock star, his wife and two of his kids turned out for the glamorous late-night event on the Croisette, along with Kristen Stewart, Sean Penn, Mariska Hargitay, Imogen Poots, Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux and even the mayor of Cannes.

Before the premiere, Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast got a chance to visit with Bono to discuss the film, which explores the singer-songwriter’s relationship with his father and losing his mother when he was a teenager. Today’s edition of the show features our conversation with Bono and makers of other major documentaries that premiered in Cannes, a lineup that includes:

Eugene Jarecki, director of The Six Billion Dollar Man, his documentary about Wikileaks founder Julian Assange,...

Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux entered the room with a martial bearing, his square jaw tilted upwards in the manner of a man who need not doubt his significance.

He came to the Salon des Ambassadeurs within the Palais to make a few remarks before the awarding of the annual l’Oeil d’or (Golden Eye) award for the festival’s top documentary, as selected by a jury. Before an audience of perhaps a hundred or more nonfiction film lovers, he stated what must be considered unquestionable:

“Documentaries are a minority within the Cannes Film Festival. There have been documentaries in the past, but very few,” Frémaux acknowledged, before adding, “But it’s true that over the past few years, there have been many more.”

Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux speaks at the l’Oeil d’or ceremony Matthew Carey

He went on to say, “[With] your minority status, you can always feel a little oppressed.

The general consensus surrounding the 2025 Cannes Film Festival was that the lineup this year proved to be surprisingly muted; with no shortage of exciting names both in front of and behind the camera, the pervading disappointment that began with the premiere of the bloated and repetitive “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” echoed throughout an edition that never quite caught fire, despite the caliber of talent consistently making its way along the Croisette. In any case, no year in Cannes is ever outright bad, and 2025 still saw its share of exciting features that will no doubt come to dominate movie discourse for the rest of the year and beyond.

In compiling a list of 10 movies from the Cannes festival 2025 to keep your eye on, there are a few titles that just barely miss out on the proceedings. Honorable mentions should therefore go to films like Joachim Trier’s competition standout “Sentimental Value,...

by Cláudio Alves

The heart yearns for Bi Gan's Resurrection.

So, while there may still be some Cannes-related articles to come at The Film Experience, it's time to say a belated goodbye to another edition of Cannes at Home. I hope you've enjoyed this look into past works from the batch of directors who just vied for the Palme. This year, Saeed Roustaee was one of the last auteurs to take their bow at the Croisette, presenting his Woman and Child to mixed reviews that still made sure to highlight the film's cast. Bi Gan brought experimental verve to the competition with Resurrection, which took home a Special Jury prize. I won't lie, despite Panahi's Palme, this genre-hopping Chinese epic about the senses of cinema is my most anticipated title from the fest. Then came the Dardennes' Young Mothers, winner of this year's Best Screenplay award. And as the last competition title,...

Thierry Frémaux, the Delegate Général of the Cannes Film Festival, is propping up the Majestic Beach’s main bar. The joint’s buzzing, the victors being lionized after what has been acknowledged as a strong competition and selection, and I have the temerity to wonder idly when he’ll retire.

“I don’t know,” he murmurs. “You know, in France the social contract is something different.”

“Even if I’m fired, I stay,” he finishes defiantly.

He laughs, then turns the tables and cheekily asks when I will retire.

“I don’t want you to retire,” he says caressing my arm. ”Stay with us.”

Fremaux first visited Cannes in 1979, driving from Lyon in a truck. Every day that year he remained on the Croisette without watching any movies “because I couldn’t attend any film. Each evening I used to go back to the highway and sleep in the car in the gas station.

For many years most in the industry have looked to the fall festival trifecta of Venice, Telluride and Toronto as the real start of Oscar season, but recently, with two Palme d’Or winners going on to also be Best Picture winners, the “start” of the season has to be redefined. It really now starts at Cannes.

For example, in 2024 the Cannes Film Festival selections and winners scored very big at the Oscars, with Palme d’Or winner Anora becoming only the third film to also win the Best Picture Academy Award (after 1955’s Marty and 2019’s Parasite). Emilia Perez, The Substance and the animation feature winner Flow also saw big success out of Cannes at the Oscars, where the festival’s films scored an overall whopping 31 nominations. In fact the track record has been pretty good, not at all a detriment for its early positioning, in the past seven...

It is brutally unfair that Thierry Frémaux programmed “Resurrection” on day ten of the Cannes Film Festival when we, the remaining press foot soldiers on the ground, are holding onto our critical faculties by a hair. To say that this film is impenetrable is an understatement. It feels for long stretches like the fourth film by Chinese experimentalist Bi Gan has been designed to lock us out of our own brains, forcing us to wade through the treacly sludge of bored incomprehension amidst the nagging suspicion that we are not so cineliterate after all.

The film opens in a playful and straightforward manner, before launching into a digressive metatextual sprawl that I cannot in good faith claim to have grasped. In the absence of being able to confidently frame this film, all I can do is describe it and hope for the best.

Gan lulls us into a false sense...

Illustration by Franz Lang.The last time a Tom Cruise blockbuster premiered in Cannes, the year was 2022, and among the 21 Palme d’Or hopefuls was Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, the kind of work that, in my book at least, exemplifies the electrifying cinema the festival’s Official Competition was designed to showcase. I’ve been chasing an equivalent high at all the editions I attended since, with very mixed results. This year, the festival’s top program promises another cinematic cornucopia, but the menu feels almost conspicuously familiar. A good number of the titles announced so far were directed by Cannes regulars and/or Official Competition habitués; even the few exceptions, like Ari Aster’s Eddington, aren’t exactly debut features. And yet, naïve as this will sound, I like to think that the tidal forces that keep pulling us back to this overpriced stretch of the French Riviera have...

Jodie Foster confessed she was “too scared” to tackle a lead role in a French-language film until director Rebecca Zlotowski’s invitation for Vie Privée proved irresistible, marking Foster’s first starring turn speaking French since 2004’s A Very Long Engagement. The psychological thriller premiered out of competition at Cannes on May 20, where Foster’s portrayal of Lilian Steiner—a Paris-based psychoanalyst drawn into a murder investigation—earned an eight-minute standing ovation.

Filmed last autumn in Paris and Normandy, Vie Privée reunites Foster with screenwriters Anne Berest and Gaëlle Macé, with Frederic Jouve producing under Les Films Velvet and France 3 Cinéma. Cinematographer George Lechaptois captures both the city’s elegance and the story’s undercurrent of menace, while Robin Coudert’s score underlines Lilian’s unraveling as she challenges official conclusions about her patient’s apparent suicide.

At Cannes, foster’s fluency in French surprised critics and attendees alike.

Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director long silenced by his government, made a triumphant return to the Cannes Film Festival this May with his thriller It Was Just An Accident, marking his first in-person appearance at the event in 22 years. Convicted in 2010 of “propaganda against the system,” Panahi endured multiple imprisonments, a hunger strike in 2022, and a 20-year ban on filmmaking and travel before his release in 2023, a period during which he covertly continued creating works like This Is Not a Film and No Bears.

His latest effort, shot clandestinely in Iran and edited in France, probes state violence through the story of a man who kidnaps a figure resembling his former torturer, blending black comedy and moral urgency in a narrative born from Panahi’s own prison encounters.

Upon the film’s world premiere on May 20, he acknowledged that “nothing in Iran is predictable” and expressed gratitude for regaining the right to travel,...

Illustration by Franz Lang.I never expected my first dispatch from the 78th Cannes Film Festival to begin with a message shared on Truth Social. Deranged as it sounds, though, Trump’s promise to impose one-hundred percent tariffs on foreign film productions has hovered ominously over the Croisette. “The Movie Industry in America is Dying a very fast death,” President Trump ranted on May 5 (caps his), pointing his finger at the incentives other countries are offering US filmmakers to draw them away from Hollywood’s hallowed grounds. “This is a concerted effort by other Nations,” apparently, “and therefore, a National Security threat.” Perhaps the edition’s more muted atmosphere can be chalked up to this economic volatility. “Where did the hype go?” Variety quotes an anonymous streaming-service executive as wondering early into the fest. Indeed, studios seem less inclined than usual to splash out money on advertising; no equivalent of...

It was moving to watch Denzel Washington lope up to the Lumière stage at Cannes and tear up as he accepted his Honorary Palme d’Or from Cannes veteran Spike Lee Monday night at the “Highest 2 Lowest” premiere. It was a surprise to the actor, as he watched a clip reel that ranged from his four prior roles with Lee to “Philadelphia,” “Flight,” “The Book of Eli,” “The Hurricane,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” “Fences,” and more.

Festival director Thierry Frémaux knows how to make the most of a Hollywood movie star, who flew into France and out again on his one day off from doing eight sold-out shows a week as Shakespeare’s “Othello” on Broadway. If the man looked weary, it’s understandable. At 70, he’s at the peak of his powers, and if the Oscar gods are smiling, he’ll land his third Oscar (after “Training Day” and...

Spike Lee is calling out a bad call from the Academy more than 30 years later: The auteur, along with most cinephiles, is convinced that Denzel Washington was snubbed for the Best Actor Oscar for “Malcolm X.” Al Pacino instead won over Washington for “Scent of a Woman.”

During the Cannes press conference for Lee’s latest (and allegedly final) collaboration with Washington, “Highest 2 Lowest,” the director compared the Academy’s decision to a poor referee call in basketball, something that Lee also knows all too well about given his status as the patron saint of the Knicks.

“‘Malcolm X,’ what he did with that film was amazing,” Lee said of Washington, as reported by Variety. “And no disrespect to my brother Al Pacino, I love him. But Denzel, in my opinion, should have won.”

Lee continued, “With these awards, it’s like basketball, where the ref blows a call and...

Raoul Peck’s documentary Orwell: 2+2=5 had its world premiere in the Cannes Premiere section on May 17, 2025, earning a nomination for the L’oeil d’or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival. Featuring Damian Lewis voicing George Orwell’s writings, Peck interweaves biographical elements—Orwell’s time in Burma and his final years on Jura—with stark contemporary imagery to underscore the author’s continuing relevance amid rising authoritarianism.

Produced in collaboration with the Orwell Estate and backed by Jigsaw Productions, Velvet Film and Participant, the film blends archival footage, expert commentary and modern-day news clips to draw chilling parallels between Orwell’s dystopian vision and today’s global political landscape. Critics from Time and The Wrap have hailed its boldness, while industry observers point to its timely warning as central to the 2025 festival’s politically charged offerings.

At the Cannes Premiere on May 17, filmmaker Raoul Peck debuted Orwell: 2+2=5,...

At the May 19 premiere of Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest at Cannes, Denzel Washington rebuked a photographer who grabbed his arm on the red carpet, shouting “Stop!” before continuing down the line of cameras. Despite the tense moment, the evening ended on a high note when Washington was presented with a surprise honorary Palme d’Or for his four-decade career.

Festival officials and industry insiders note that red-carpet protocol has grown stricter in recent years, as stars and photographers navigate crowded walkways and tight schedules. Photographers’ unions stress the importance of respecting personal space—especially when dealing with screen legends like Washington—and festival organizers are weighing further guidelines to ensure both safety and spectacle at future events.

Denzel Washington confronted a photographer by the Cannes red carpet on May 19, telling him to “Stop!” after the shooter grabbed his arm during the world premiere of Highest 2 Lowest . The actor,...

Denzel Washington was the willing recipient of a surprise Palme d’Or honor on Monday night, but he was less enamored with the attention he received from a photographer.

Walking the Le Palais red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, Washington appeared to remonstrate with a snapper after he was touched on the arm while conversing with his Highest 2 Lowest director Spike Lee and co-star A$AP Rocky.

In France for the world premiere of Lee’s new film, Washington pointed his finger, spoke animatedly and clasped the arm of the photographer, who smiled his way through the exchange.

As he motioned to walk away, the actor seemed to be repeatedly saying “stop it,” per a video of the incident. This was supported by an analysis by an expert lip reader, according to MailOnline.

Related: ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ Review: Denzel Washington Finds A Great Role And A$AP Rocky...

Things seemingly got tense between Denzel Washington and a pushy photographer on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet for Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest.” The actor headlines the movie, his fifth collaboration with Lee, and appeared at Cannes for the first time since 1993’s “Much Ado About Nothing” brought him to the festival.

Video from the carpet shared by the New York Post sees the two-time Oscar winner pointing his finger at a photographer and shouting at him to “stop.” As Washington approaches, the photographer is seen trying to laugh off the confrontation and he puts his hands around the actor’s arm. Washington pulls himself away and again tells the photographer to stop. The photographers at Cannes are known to be shouty as they vie for stars’ attention.

Variety has reached out to Washington’s representative for comment.

Washington’s night rebounded once the “Highest 2 Lowest” premiere began.

Spike Lee returned to the Cannes Film Festival Official Selection tonight with his latest feature, Highest 2 Lowest, which is running in the Out of Competition strand. Starring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, A$AP Rocky and Ilfenesh Hadera, the Akira Kurosawa-inspired crime thriller garnered a six-minute ovation at its world premiere.

Highest 2 Lowest is a modern reinterpretation of Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low, which was itself based on the novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain. While the original follows a shoe company exec who becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom, the new film, set in contemporary New York City, sees a music mogul played by Washington contend with a similar plot.

From Apple and A24, the film reunites Lee and Washington for the first time since Inside Man back in 2006. The duo has also previously...

One of Hollywood’s most gifted actors, Denzel Washington, is having a hell of a Monday after being surprised with an honorary Palme d’Or award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Only 21 people have acquired the prize for career achievement since Marty director Delbert Mann first received the award for his 1955 romantic drama. Cannes director Thierry Fremaux surprised Washington with the Palme d’Or ahead of the screening of Spike Lee’s police procedural crime drama Highest 2 Lowest, starring Washington as David King. Lee presented Washington with the Palme d’Or after an enthusiastic introduction from Fremaux. Naturally, the moment elicited a spirited standing ovation from the crowd.

“This is a total surprise for me, so I’m emotional,” Washington said as part of his acceptance speech. “It’s a great opportunity to collaborate with my brother once again, brother from another mother, and to be here once again in Cannes.

Denzel Washington received a surprise Palme d’Or at Monday night’s world premiere of Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest in Cannes.

The Oscar-winning actor, attending the festival for the first time in his career, sat through a montage of his credits cued up by festival head Thierry Fremaux prior to the screening.

Lee then took to the stage to present the award to his longtime collaborator, with whom he has worked on five films dating back to Mo’ Better Blues in 1990.

Their fifth collaboration screened out of competition and is a New York-set reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic...

Denzel Washington received a surprise Palme d’Or at the world premiere of Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest in Cannes on Monday evening.

The Oscar-winning actor, attending Cannes for the first time in his career, sat through a montage of his credits cued up festival head Thierry Fremaux prior to the screening, before Lee took to the stage to present the award.

Lee and Washington reunite in their fifth collaboration on the out-of-competition New York-set reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classicHigh And Low.

The story follows a music mogul who gets entangled in a ransom plot.

The cast includes Jeffrey Wright,...

Who needs another Oscar nomination when you can get an honorary Palme d’Or? Screen legend Denzel Washington received the surprise career achievement badge from Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux for his amazing contributions to cinema, currently represented on the Croisette in his starring role in Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s classic “High and Low,” which is screening out of competition at the fest.

Honorary awards are not unheard of, as Robert De Niro received an expected one at the top of this year’s festival, and Frémaux similarly bestowed one upon Tom Cruise in 2022, the last time this distinction was given under wraps.

Video was captured of the event (which you can watch below), where a quite-moved Washington accepts the honor from Frémaux and Lee, his longtime collaborator, who has worked with him in “Mo’ Better Blues,” “He Got Game,” “Inside Man,...

Denzel Washington got a career-defining surprise at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival when he was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or at the world premiere of his latest film, Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest.” The two-time Oscar winner was already having a historic festival, considering this is the first time Washington has attended Cannes in his 50-year acting career.

Ahead of the screening of Lee’s latest movie, Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux introduced a montage of Washington’s films — including “Malcolm X” and “Mo Better Blues,” both directed by Lee — as well as his Oscar-winning performances in “Glory” and “Training Day.” Lee then presented the actor-director with the honorary Palme d’Or.

Lee was on stage for the special moment and handed off the Palme d’O trophy to Denzel while calling the actor “my brother from another mother.” Washington said that the honor was a complete surprise.

Directed by Lee,...

Denzel Washington got a surprise Palme d’Or honor from the Cannes Film Festival ahead of Monday night’s world premiere of Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, the actor and filmmaker’s fifth collaboration. It is screening Out of Competition.

Watch Denzel Washington’s speech below #Cannes2025 pic.twitter.com/z20gasMcau

— Deadline (@Deadline) May 19, 2025

The unannounced honor came after a reel of Washington’s stellar career was shown in the Palais. The bombshell announcement was made by festival chief Thierry Frémaux as he addressed the crowd. “It’s a very special day,” he said. “Denzel, because you are here, we want to make something special for you … it’s a kind of way for us to tell you our adoration, what you have done in cinema. Nobody knows about that except Spike Lee, who wrote me to do that.”

Related: Denzel Washington’s Career In Pictures: ‘Glory’ To...

Denzel Washington was surprised at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday night with an honorary Palme d’Or, a career achievement acknowledgement that has been presented only 21 previous times.

Ahead of an out-of-competition screening of his latest film, Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, fest director Thierry Frémaux surprised the Oscar winner with the honor.

Lee presented Washington with the honor after an introduction from Frémaux. The presentation saw Washington receive a huge standing ovation.

“This is a total surprise for me, so I’m emotional. It’s a great opportunity to collaborate with my brother once again, brother from another mother, and to be here once again in Cannes,” Washington said in part, after Lee previously referred to Washington as his brother and expressing his love for him. “We’re a very privileged group in this room that we get to make movies and wear tuxedos and nice clothes and...

One would expect Nicole Kidman to be quite used to being honored, considering she has an Academy Award, five Golden Globes, a BAFTA, two Emmys, the Cannes Film Festival’s 70th anniversary prize and the Venice Film Festival’s best actress award among those lining her trophy case. But the legendary actor was still moved by the gesture of being named the Kering Women in Motion awardee on Sunday night at the luxury fashion house’s 10th annual gala during the Cannes Film Festival.

“I’m so happy to be here supporting women’s voices in cinema,” Kidman said as she floated down the press line outside of the glamorous dinner held at the Place de la Castre, overlooking the Croisette. “I’m an advocate and want to continue moving forward with my pledge. It ain’t over.”

Following a clip reel of her greatest performances, including “Moulin Rouge,” “Far and Away...

One can only marvel at Nicole Kidman’s astuteness. The actress and producer wanted to know where I was scooting off to after the Kering/Festival de Cannes Women in Motion dinner Sunday night. When I started to tell her about the afterparty for Akinola Davies Jr’s My Father’s Shadow, her eyes lit up.

“That’s one of the hits of the festival, right? First-time director, shot in Nigeria, right?”

Kidman then proceeded to quiz me about the movie and the filmmaker siblings Akinola and Wale Davies, who penned the script together.

She would’ve loved the party on the beach thrown jointly for My Father’s Shadow and Harry Lighton’s biker romance Pillion.

During his presentation to Kidman, Cannes fest chief Thierry Frémaux hailed her as the “Barefoot Queen of Cannes” because of her propensity to whip off her heels whenever possible. “Yeah, but you’re not allowed to do that now,...

Top dogs from The Love That Remains, Sleepless City and Sirat are among the early frontrunners being considered for the Palm Dog 2025, as the cinematic canine competition celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

Toby Rose, London-based founder of the Palm Dog as well as the year-round honours The Fidos, said it has been remarkable to witness the growth of the Palm Dog over the past decades. “It’s been embraced widely across the Cannes festival and beyond.We’re a Cannes fixture now.”

Cannes head Thierry Fremaux has an open invitation to attend but has not made it yet – although...

Leo Lewis O’Neil’s documentary “Slauson Rec” was one of the late additions to the Cannes Film Festival lineup, but it’s certainly now one of the festival’s buzziest titles following its premiere in the Cannes Classics section.

The film, which received a two-minute ovation on Sunday, had been teased for weeks as a rollercoaster ride through an experimental theater company run by a famous actor. In a smaller theater inside the festival’s Grand Palais on Sunday, however, the full two-hour-and-25-minute documentary was no trip to the theme park.

What begins as a 2018 attempt to build a creative “family” of players and stimulate the community of South Central Los Angeles played more like a descent into ego-driven insanity, complete with physical violence and harrowing screaming matches.

Labeouf turned up to the screening, in what was his first time seeing the film. He spoke with festival director Thierry Frémaux at the start,...

Iris Knobloch, who was recently re-elected for a second mandate at the Cannes Film Festival, was awarded the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters medal by the French culture minister, Rachida Dati, at a ceremony on Sunday.

The intimate ceremony, held at the Palais des Festivals, gathered Knobloch’s husband, brother, niece and Cannes general delegate Thierry Fremaux, alongside powerful entertainment industry figures such as Kering boss Francois-Henri Pinault, Tarak Ben Ammar, Vivendi’s Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Metropolitan FilmExport’s Victor Hadida, among others.

Knobloch, who previously headed Warner Bros. in Europe, became the first female president of Cannes in 2022.

In her speech, Knobloch said she and Dati had a lot in common. “We both have foreign roots and French wings,” Knobloch said. “And we made careers in a men’s world, we were outsiders in very closed circles, and we’ve had that need to prove ourselves,...

Angelina Jolie is bestowing a great honor on two rising stars: Marie Colomb and Finn Bennett!

The ceremony of the 25th edition of the Trophée Chopard took place at Carlton Beach during the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on Friday night (May 16) in Cannes, France.

Keep reading to find out more…

It was co-hosted by Festival President Iris Knobloch, General Delegate Thierry Frémaux, and President of Chopard Caroline Scheufele.

Following a moving retrospective of their careers, the 30-year-old Culte actress and the 26-year-old Warfare actor were presented with the iconic gold-coated silver film reel trophy by the 49-year-old acclaimed actress and activist, acting as the official “Godmother” of this year’s edition.

Angelina offered words of encouragement to the two actors as she presented the award, met with applause by an audience of film industry luminaries and

international stars.

Attendees included President of the Cannes Festival jury Juliette Binoche, Members of the Cannes Festival jury Halle Berry,...

Nicole Kidman has touched down at the Cannes Film Festival, where she is set to receive the Woman in Motion Award from Kering chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault, Cannes president Iris Knobloch and festival director Thierry Fremaux. Ahead of the awards dinner, Kidman joined Variety’s Angelique Jackson for a Kering Woman in Motion talk in which the Oscar winner spoke passionately about her commitment to uplifting female directors.

It was in 2017 when Kidman made a public vow to work with a woman director every 18 months. She had no idea if that would even be possible, but she was determined to see it through. And see it through she has. In the last eight years, plus factoring in her current projects in development, Kidman has teamed up with 27 female directors across her her various film and television projects.

“I was going to make it possible,” Kidman said during the Kering talk about her vow.

Sealed with a kiss! Alexander Skarsgard felt the love during an electric seven-minute standing ovation for his Cannes film Pilion, and returned it two-fold with a warm embrace and by planting a wet one on the cheek of a smiling Pedro Pascal who was on his feet.

The directorial debut of Harry Lighton had its world premiere Sunday morning inside Salle Debussy, and the crowd — filled with guests like Eddington star Pascal, The Substance filmmaker Coralie Fargeat and Babygirl David Hinojosa — lapped up the sexy, Bdsm-themed dramedy. The Un Certain Regard selection centers on Colin, a shy London lad played by Harry Melling, who encounters the smoldering and charismatic leader of a motorcycle club named Ray, Skarsgard, on Christmas Eve at a local pub. After a steamy oral sex session in an alleyway, Ray takes Colin under his wing by making Colin his submissive as they get tangled up in...

Eight years after Cannes dipped its toes into VR waters with their presentation of Alejandro González Iñárritu‘s ultra-haptic empathy machine Carne y Arena (2017), the festival’s general delegate Thierry Frémaux continues to promote cinema’s expanding Xr toolbox. In addition to bringing back the festival’s Immersive Competition for a second year—from what I saw of the press tour held a few hours before the Opening Ceremony, it would be difficult to justify a third—Frémaux also, per an interview with Screen International, trained this year’s festival staff using an AI version of his own voice when he couldn’t be present to address them […]

The post Cannes 2025: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning; Eddington; Sirât first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Eight years after Cannes dipped its toes into VR waters with their presentation of Alejandro González Iñárritu‘s ultra-haptic empathy machine Carne y Arena (2017), the festival’s general delegate Thierry Frémaux continues to promote cinema’s expanding Xr toolbox. In addition to bringing back the festival’s Immersive Competition for a second year—from what I saw of the press tour held a few hours before the Opening Ceremony, it would be difficult to justify a third—Frémaux also, per an interview with Screen International, trained this year’s festival staff using an AI version of his own voice when he couldn’t be present to address them […]

The post Cannes 2025: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning; Eddington; Sirât first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Nouvelle Vague director and Austin native Richard Linklater is calling B.S. on President Donald Trump’s suggestion for film tariffs.

“That’s not gonna happen. That guy changes his mind 50 times. Film is our No. 1 U.S. export,” said the filmmaker who shot Nouvelle Vague in France and his previous movie Blue Moon in Ireland — pics potentially could be “tariff”-able under the Trump plan that has proposes a 120% tariff on movies receiving foreign film credits. The debate is that, given the fact that film is digital, it’s not necessarily taxable under the World Free Trade Agreement. Motion pictures aren’t car parts.

Related: Cannes Chief Thierry Frémaux Addresses Trump’s Tariffs: “Cinema Always Finds A Way Of Existing & Reinventing Itself”

As far as whether it’s more expensive to shoot in the U.S., the Boyhood filmmaker disagrees: “I think the true indie film with no budget cost...

Mariska Hargitay fought back tears while basking in a four-minute standing ovation at Saturday’s Cannes Film Festival premiere of “My Mom Jayne,” a new HBO documentary about her mother, Jayne Mansfield.

The film is Hargitay’s feature directorial debut, and marks the first time she publicly dives into Mansfield’s story and legacy, nearly sixty years after her death. It’s also the first time that Hargitay shares the truth about her rumored parentage. Her biological father is an Italian singer named Nelson Sardelli, not Mickey Hargitay, the Hungarian bodybuilder who was her mother’s second husband.

Mansfield died in a car accident when Hargitay, who was a passenger in the vehicle with her brothers, was three years old.

”Tonight I’m celebrating the power that film has for me to remember somebody I didn’t have the good fortune to know or grow up with,” an emotional Hargitay said while introducing the film.

Having turned 50 last year, the French film studio and arthouse cinema chain MK2 is far from a midlife crisis. The family-run company, which was founded by Marin Karmitz in 1974 and is now presided over by Nathanael and Elisha Karmitz, has never been more in the game. MK2 Films, whose international sales division is headed by Irish-born executive Fionnuala Jamison, rolled into Cannes with six films in competition and 12 in total across the Official Selection, likely more than any other sales outfits.

The company, which has always championed female auteurs, has been turning the spotlight on a new generation of daring female directors, from Celine Sciamma to Noemie Merlant, Justine Triet and Mati Diop. And at this year’s Cannes, they have three out of the seven competition films directed by female directors, Hafsia Herzi’s drama “La petite dernière,” Carla Simon’s “Romeria” and Mascha Schilinski’s “Sound of Falling” which has been unanimously praised.

This week on “Screen Talk,” we take you behind the scenes of the goings-on at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera, where we recorded on Day Two. Politics dominated the first press conferences with director Thierry Frémaux and the nine-member jury led by Juliette Binoche. They turned up for opening night as well, where Leonardo DiCaprio presented an honorary Palme d’Or to Robert De Niro, and Quentin Tarantino bounded onto the stage to declare the festival open. The opening night film “Leave One Day,” from French rookie Amélie Bonnin, a strictly local jukebox musical with the actors singing French pop hits of the ’80s, will not travel.

Later that night, DiCaprio attended the gala dinner with De Niro at the Palm Beach, where Anne enjoyed talking with “Anora” Oscar-winners Sean Baker and Samantha Quan, the hilarious Michael Covino (“Splitsville”), Amazon’s Scott Foundas, Michael Barker...

Angelina Jolie is at the Cannes Film Festival, not with a film in the lineup but with official duties thanks to the festival’s longtime (and glamorous) sponsor, Chopard.

The Oscar winner agreed to serve as this year’s Chopard Godmother, a gig that saw her preside over Friday night’s A-list Trophée Chopard dinner at Carlton Beach and present trophies to an actor and actress anointed as next generational talent by a jury comprised of previous recipients of the esteemed festival honor. This year’s awards went to French actress Marie Colomb and breakout British star Finn Bennett, most recently seen in Alex Garland’s Warfare and opposite Jodie Foster in True Detective: Night Country.

The honors were doled out during what is always a glitzy ceremony attended by Cannes Film Festival president Iris Knobloch, general delegate Thierry Frémaux, Chopard co-president and artistic director Caroline Scheufele, members of the competition jury and A-list guests.

This year’s Cannes Film Festival kicked off with Gerard Depardieu’s 18-month suspended sentence for sexual assault on two women during the filming of “The Green Shutters.” While that case itself has nothing to do with the festival, the sentencing of Depardieu, once a frequent presence at Cannes, was a reminder of how far France has come in embracing the #MeToo movement it was initially slow to champion.

And that wasn’t the only sign of shifting attitudes in the country and its most prominent showcase for cinema when it comes to sexual violence. This year, Cannes has issued a new rule banning filmmakers or talent accused of sexual misconduct from walking the red carpet and presenting films at the festival. Because of the change, the festival forbid Theo Navarro-Mussy from attending the premiere of Dominik Moll’s “Case 137” because he has been accused of rape and sexual assault.

Angelina Jolie presented the 25th Trophée Chopard at a dinner on Carlton Beach on May 16, honoring Marie Colomb and Finn Bennett as rising screen talents. The event, co-hosted by Cannes Film Festival president Iris Knobloch, general delegate Thierry Frémaux and Chopard co-president Caroline Scheufele, brought together jurors, filmmakers and industry figures under a starry Mediterranean sky. Jolie used her platform to highlight the reach of international cinema, its capacity to foster empathy and the urgent need to support storytellers working under threat.

Jolie told attendees—including jury president Juliette Binoche, Halle Berry, Jeremy Strong, Leïla Slimani, Alba Rohrwacher, Quentin Tarantino and Carla Bruni—that films carry audiences far beyond their own experiences. “Through international cinema, we enter private moments, we witness lives at stake on distant front lines,” she said. Referencing My Father Shadow, a drama set against the 1993 Nigerian election crisis premiering at the festival, she added, “Any step...

Oscar winner Angelina Jolie made a special appearance at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday night to present the Trophée Chopard to rising stars Marie Colomb and Finn Bennett. During the glamorous dinner ceremony, Jolie reflected on the power of international cinema to make an impact in times of global turmoil.

“I love international cinema,” Jolie told the star-studded assembly of guests, which included Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche and her fellow jurors, including Halle Berry, Jeremy Strong, Leïla Slimani and Alba Rohrwacher, as well as Quentin Tarantino and Carla Bruni. “We are brought to other lands, into private moments, even on the battlefield, we connect and we empathize. I think of films like ‘My Father Shadow’ [set during the during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis], which is premiering here at Cannes. Anything that is possible to make international cinema more accessible is necessary and welcome.”

“And none of us are naive,” Jolie, whose contributions as a humanitarian are...