65th edition of Cannes
May 16, 2012
The 65th Cannes Film Festival started Wednesday on the French Riviera. Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, starring Bruce Willis, Bill Murray and Edward Norton is the first film to be shown competing for the festival's biggest prize, the Palme d'Or.
Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two 12-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness.
A group of prominent female filmmakers wrote an open letter to the French newspaper Le Monde criticizing the lack of women being showcased at the festival. All 22 films in the official selection were written by men said directors Fanny Cottencon and Virginie Despentes in the letter.
Festival director Thierry Fremaux has supported the list of nominees, saying the judges "would never select a film that doesn't deserve it just because it is directed by a woman."
This year's Palme d'Or judges are led by Italian Nanni Moretti and include Britain's Ewan McGregor and Andrea Arnold. Also on the panel are Diane Kruger and fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier.
Sharon Stone, Bill Murray and Marion Cotillard are among the stars expected to attend.
Out of the 22 contenders The Paper Boy, which stars John Cusack, Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman; and Killing Them Softly, starring Brad Pitt, are being tipped for success. Pitt and his partner Angelina Jolie are expected in Cannes this year.
A total of eight films are English language but entries from the non-anglophone world are serious contenders. They include Romania's Cristian Mungiu (Beyond the Hills), Iranian Abbas Kiarostami (Like Someone in Love) and Austria's Michael Haneke (Amour). Mexico's Carlos Reygadas, a 2007 contender with Silent Light, returns with Post Tenebras Lux.
The festival runs through May 27.
jm/msh (Reuters, AFP)