cinema

Cannes 2025: Films as Living Paintings

Some films speak, others depict, but rare are those that feel like paintings. At Cannes 2025, two films in competition stand out for their deep connection to visual art: Renoir by Chie Hayakawa and The Phoenician Scheme by Wes Anderson. The first explores the intimate world of a young girl immersed in Impressionism. The second, more stylized, ...

Cannes After 8 PM: Where Cinema Is Born

It’s easy to assume that Cannes winds down after the last screening, that the gowns are packed away and everything fades into the next day’s headlines. But that’s a misconception of the true rhythm of the Croisette. After 8 PM, a different atmosphere takes over. A cinema without screens, yet one where everything can begin. This parallel ...

Kristen Stewart Breaks Silence with Bold, Unflinching Debut

"I can't wait to make 10 more movies," Kristen Stewart told AFP the morning after making what Rolling Stone called "one hell of a directorial debut" at the Cannes Film Festival. Nor can film critics, judging from the rave reviews of The Chronology of Water, her startling take on the American swimmer Lidia Yuknavitch's visceral memoir of surviving ...

Cannes Behind the Scenes: Red Carpet, Silent Hands

In Cannes, everything seems to float. Spectacular gowns, knowing glances and intense spotlight beams. Yet, beneath this radiant veneer, hundreds of anonymous figures move quietly behind the scenes. They don’t climb the steps or feature in Instagram stories. But without them, the red carpet would simply be a piece of red fabric. Every ...

Denzel Washington Honored with Surprise Palme d’Or

A hard-hitting Egyptian political thriller shook up the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, just before a surprise Honorary Palme d’Or was awarded to Hollywood icon Denzel Washington. The evening also marked the return of French director Julia Ducournau, four years after her explosive win with Titane. The event had been kept tightly under wraps: ...

Scarlett Johansson Steps Behind Camera in Cannes Debut

Scarlett Johansson won praise from veteran filmmaker Wes Anderson as she nervously prepared to unveil her debut feature as a director at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. Actors behind the camera are something of a trend in Cannes this year, with Twilight star Kristen Stewart and British actor Harris Dickinson both unveiling their first ...

Cannes, Reimagined: When Style Becomes a Manifesto

The Cannes Film Festival has always been a stage, not only for cinema, but for fashion that borders on the theatrical. Every May, the red carpet blooms with extravagant gowns, daring cuts and dramatic silhouettes. But in 2025, something deeper shimmered beneath the surface. Women are using style not to dazzle, but to declare. Less about seduction, ...

Wes Anderson’s Starry Cast Shines Bright at Cannes

US director Wes Anderson brought his latest A-list cast led by Benicio del Toro to the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, ramping up the star power as the competition reaches the halfway mark. Anderson's typically whimsical The Phoenician Scheme, which also finds roles for Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Kate Winslet's daughter, Mia Threapleton, ...

Cannes Charity Gala to Award Kevin Spacey Lifetime Honor

Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey is to be given a lifetime achievement award on the fringes of the Cannes Film Festival Tuesday. The Better World Fund told AFP on Sunday that the actor — who was acquitted of nine charges of alleged sex offenses in Britain last year — will be recognized "for his decades of artistic brilliance" at a charity gala in ...

Jennifer Lawrence Stuns Cannes in 'Die, My Love'

Jennifer Lawrence gives a raw, unflinching performance in Die, My Love, screened Saturday night in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The American actress plays a mother losing her grip on reality, opposite British actor Robert Pattinson. The film marks the eighth Cannes appearance for Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, a festival ...

Red Carpet Micro-Dramas: Cannes’ Unspoken Language

Yet, there are the gowns. The flashbulbs. The practiced smiles and impeccable poses. But that’s only the surface. Beneath the glamour lies a quiet choreography, a visual language made of gestures and body language, whispered like a secret to those who know how to watch. Each appearance on the Croisette is a delicate balance between instinct and ...

Fatih Akin Fears Jail, Blasts Turkish Government at Cannes

Acclaimed film director Fatih Akin said he fears ending up behind bars if he returns to Turkey, with his manager there in jail accused of attempting to overthrow the government. The Turkish-German auteur — a hero to many in the country for films like Head-On, In the Fade and the Istanbul music documentary Crossing the Bridge — told AFP late ...