The Cannes Film Festival closing ceremony got underway Saturday, May 24, after a major power outage struck southeastern France due to what police suspected as arson. The ceremony and the awarding of the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, remained as scheduled during the hours-long outage due to an alternative power supply.
But a few hours before stars began streaming down the red carpet, power was restored in Cannes. Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes department, condemned “serious acts of damage to electrical infrastructures”
But as stars including Jane Fonda, Cate Blanchett and Elle Fanning arrived on the red carpet, order was restored in Cannes and attention turned to who might win the Palme d’Or.
One of the big questions heading into the ceremony was whether Neon could extend one of the most unprecedented streaks in movies. The past five winners in Cannes have all been released by the indie distributor, including last year’s victor and eventual best-picture Oscar winner, Anora.
On Saturday, Neon could make it six in a row, adding to its Palmes for Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall and Anora. As far-fetched as that might sound, it might even be likely.
Four of the most widely acclaimed film of the festival – Joachim Trier’s family drama Sentimental Value, Jafar Panahi’s revenge thriller It Was Just an Accident, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s political thriller The Secret Agent and Óliver Laxe’s desert road trip Sirât — will be distributed in the US by Neon.
No one knows which way the nine-member jury, headed by Juliette Binoche, might vote. Their deliberations are done privately, and there are several other films seen as contenders. But critical reception is often a decent guide to what’s in the mix at Cannes.
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Other films that will receive strong support include Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Logznitsa’s period drama Two Prosecutors; Richard Linklater’s New Wave ode Nouvelle Vague; and Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón’s personal coastal tale Romeria.
Saturday’s ceremony brings to a close the 78th Cannes Film Festival, where geopolitics cast a long shadow, both on screen and off. Shortly before the French Riviera extravaganza, which is also the world’s largest movie market, US President Donald Trump floated the idea of a 100% tariff on movies made overseas.
Most filmmakers responded with a shrug, calling the plan illogical. “Can you hold up the movie in customs? It doesn’t ship that way,” said Wes Anderson, who premiered his latest, The Phoenician Scheme, at the festival.
That was one of the top American films in Cannes, along with Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, the Christopher McQuarrie-Tom Cruise actioner Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning and Ari Aster’s Eddington.
