AFP, CANNES, France
A tense family drama set against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is among the favorites for the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival which was to be handed out yesterday.The world’s biggest film festival is set to bestow its annual Palme d’Or for best film at a star-packed ceremony on the French Riviera after two weeks of premieres, red carpets and parties.Minotaur, by exiled Russian auteur Andrey Zvyagintsev, depicting a callous and calculating Russian businessman in the midst of Russia’s mobilization for the Ukraine war, has emerged as one of several strong contenders for the prize.
A guest wears a dress reading “world peace” at Crescendo‘s premier at the Cannes Film Festival in France on Friday.
“Those who agree that it’s time to put an end to this hell, and that it’s a nightmare and a disaster for Russia, those people will understand this film clearly,” Zvyagintsev said.Other critics’ favorites include La Bola Negra, a big-budget Spanish drama about multiple gay lives; arty black-and-white historical drama Fatherland; and Fjord, which stars Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve.
A widely praised French production, A Man of His Time, about an ambitious local official working in France’s collaborationist government during World War II, or poignant humanist drama All of a Sudden, by Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi, might also be in with a shot.This year’s jury is headed by South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook and includes Hollywood star Demi Moore and Oscar-winning Nomadland director Chloe Zhao.Some prizes have already been handed out, with Iranian documentary Rehearsals for a Revolution, about political repression in the war-wracked country by exiled actress and director Pegah Ahangarani, taking the top documentary prize. One of the only British feature films showing in Cannes, I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, by Clio Barnard about a group of five friends, picked up top prize in the parallel Directors’ Fortnight section. No major US studio agreed to launch a blockbuster at Cannes this year, or at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, raising questions about why giants such as Universal, Disney or Warner are dodging European events.
