Overview
- The 79th Festival de Cannes, which opened Tuesday, featured Eye Haïdara hosting and Pierre Salvadori’s La Vénus Électrique screening out of competition.
- Elijah Wood presented Peter Jackson with the festival’s lifetime Palme d’Or during the opening ceremony.
- Park Chan-wook leads the competition jury, joined by Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao and Stellan Skarsgård.
- Early press events surfaced debate on Gaza and artificial intelligence, with juror Paul Laverty decrying alleged Hollywood blacklists and Guillermo del Toro urging resistance to tech that sidelines artists.
- This year’s selection favors European auteurs, includes Cannes Classics with a 4K Pan’s Labyrinth, and features no Italian films, which Thierry Frémaux defended as a choice, with the festival running through May 23.