By Caroline CHU
.
The 2024 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL has succeeded in renewing itself. Like the Phoenix rising from its ashes, becomes a rebirth Symbol , the Cannes Film Festival has shed a new light on female film “makers” (producers, directors, actresses, technicians etc), and female representations.
.
OPENING CEREMONY OF THE CANNES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, 2024
.
Being at Cannes is always a privilege, and this year was really inspirational, with a new generation of young female film “makers” calling out sexual violence and sexism in the industry. Breaking the silence surrounding the experience of sexual abuse.
The Opening Ceremony reflected the concerns of women.
French actress Camille Cottin opened the Ceremony with a speech paying tribute to the #MeToo movement. With a touch of irony, she said: “I’d like to point out that nocturnal rendezvous in the hotel rooms of all-powerful men are no longer part of the habits and customs of this Cannes vortex following the adoption of the #MeToo movement, and we are delighted.”
Noteworthy is Greta Gerwig’s nomination as Jury President of the 77th International Film Festival of Cannes. A way for the Cannes Film Festival of thumbing its nose at the Academy Awards.
Indeed, Greta Gerwig is the director of the blockbuster Barbie, which, barely 3 weeks into its run, raked in an astounding $1.03 Billion at the global box office, but the Academy this year failed to recognise Greta Gerwig as a Best Director Nominee, creating a historic firestorm and making social media angry.
It doesn’t matter anymore, instead of being an Academy nominee, Greta will become President of the Jury.
For Cannes Festival President Iris Knobloch, Greta Gerwig was an “obvious choice”
and the Cannes Film Festival’s general delegate Thierry Frémaux added she was “the representative of an era that is breaking down barriers and mixing genres, and thereby elevating the values of intelligence and humanism”.
Jury President Greta Gerwig, whose appointment as head of jury broke nevertheless with 4 years of male presidency, paid tribute to France’s Seven Art and expressed her delight at the 10 days that awaited her: “I love cinema, and this is holly to me. Art is sacred and films are sacred, and I cannot believe I am getting the opportunity to spend the next 10 days in this house of worship.”
Only 12 women have been nominated Jury President since the creation of the Cannes Film Festival in 1939. The first female Jury President was Olivia de Havilland in 1965.
Greta Gerwig also seemed genuinely moved by French singer Zaho de Sagazan’s powerful performance of David Bowie’s “Modern Love” one of the theme songs from Noah Baumbach’s film, Frances Ha (2013), in which Greta Gerwig, also the director’s wife, played the lead role.
What struck my attention too was Lily Gladstone’s presence as one of the Jury members at Cannes Film Festival this year.
Lily Gladstone made history as being the first Native American woman to have been nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Award this year, and this happened for “Killers of the Flower Moon”, a film which precisely had its World Premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival last year. Lily Gladstone remembered that the reception that the film got at Cannes was incredible.
But Lily Gladstone’s Oscar loss had been largely compensated by her role with the other Members of the Jury this year. A way to put the young talented actress in the spotlight again.
Then, was Meryl Streep’s turn for recognition. She received an Honorary Palme d’Or for her career. The award was presented by French actress Juliette Binoche, who couldn’t hold back her tears when she paid tribute to the actress and said, “You changed the way we look at the women in the cinema world and helped us to look at ourselves differently.”
.
EMILIA PÉREZ
.
The French auteur Jacques Audiard’s new film ‘Emilia Pérez’ is unlike any other. It is a Spanish language gonzo musical about a major Mexican drug cartel Lord undergoing gender reassignment. On paper, this seems a very risky exercise for a movie. But Audiard gonzo musical turned out to be a marvel.
Rita (played by Zoe Saldaña) is an exploited lawyer taken down by her gender and her darker skin, who works for a big firm in Mexico, more interested in getting criminals off the hook than bringing them to justice. Her work is not recognised for its true worth.
One day, she is hooded and taken to meet one of Mexico’s most feared drug cartel Lord, Juan « Little Hands » Del Monte aka Manitas who makes an unexpected offer to her: help him retire from his business and disappear forever.
But ‘Emilia Pérez’ is not just the story of a man’s gender change, it is also the story of a 180 degree change in life direction.
Karla Sofia Gascón is the revelation of the movie. The 52-year-old Spanish actress is trans, and plays both the ruthless Manitas, with a grill covering his teeth and the bountiful Emilia.
Karla Sofia Gascón became the first transgender woman to be awarded the Best Actress Prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year.
“Emilia Pérez” and the 2 awards it received ( a joint Best Actress Prize and a Jury Prize) from its global peers at Cannes Film Festival this year, is the embodiment of a new Era in the film Industry.
.
By Caroline CHU
Pluton-Magazine 2024
