Ball Gowns Galore! And Other Cannes Film Festival Fashion Statements

At the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, the larger the ball gown, the better. Here, Sharon Stone in Dolce & Gabbana.Credit...Brynn Anderson/Associated Press
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Forget comfort clothing. Seriously, forget it. The year of the nontraveling sweatpants has come to an end.

The Cannes Film Festival that just ended was notable for a number of things (besides simply being the first Cannes Film Festival since 2019): That a female director won the Palme d’Or for the first time since 1993; Jodie Foster’s special award; Adam Driver’s singing in “Annette.” And the fact that it was proof positive, if anyone was in doubt, that the year of the nontraveling sweatpants has well and truly come to a close.

Like, put a stiletto in that one and stick it to the wall-of-history close.

If the Oscars kicked off the Return of the Red Carpet, Cannes took it to a whole other level. For 10 days the plumage was out: tulle and tuxedos, glitter and glamour, as if to make up for dressing down of the last, lost year. This film festival, of all film festivals, has become the greatest real life — or real life-ish — runway of the year, other than the Met Gala. Perhaps even more than the Met Gala, which can be handicapped by sometimes silly theme. » | Vanessa Friedman | Monday, July 19, 2021

Iranian Actress Leila Hatami Apologises for Kissing Cannes President on the Cheek

Ms Hatami underlined her respect for Islamic rules of behaviour
in public, but festival president Gilles Jacob, 83, "had forgotten the
aforementioned rules, which comes with old age"

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An Iranian actress who kissed the 83-year-old president of the Cannes film festival on the cheek has apologised to her country, after a photo of the red carpet incident caused outrage

Leila Hatami, the Iranian actress who angered authorities in Iran by kissing the Cannes film festival's president on the cheek, has apologised to her country.

"I am so sorry for hurting the feelings of some people," she wrote in a letter to Iran's cinema organisation, and reported by the state media agency.

Ms Hatami underlined her respect for Islamic rules of behaviour in public, but festival president Gilles Jacob, 83, "had forgotten the aforementioned rules, which comes with old age".

"My pre-emptive action of hand shaking was fruitless," she wrote, explaining the kiss.

"Although I am embarrassed to give these explanations, I had no choice but to go into details for those who could not understand the inevitable situation that I was stuck in," she said. » | AFP | Saturday, May 24, 2014

What Can You Be Flogged For In Iran? »

Who, What, Why: What Can You Be Flogged For In Iran?

Leila Hatami

BBC: A campaign has begun in Iran to get an actress flogged after she was seen being kissed at the Cannes Festival. Flogging is common in Iran - but what offences in Iranian law are punished with the lash, asks Tom de Castella.

It was a normal French greeting. The actress Leila Hatami - best known for starring in the Oscar-winning film, A Separation - received a kiss on the cheek from festival president Gilles Jacob. But she has come under attack from religious hardliners for accepting the greeting rather than ducking away.

Radical students have condemned her "sinful act of kissing a strange man in public" and demanded she be flogged under article 638 of the criminal code, which deals with public morality.

Adultery, kissing in public, theft, homosexual acts, drinking or selling alcohol, and blasphemy are all grounds for flogging in Iran. Offenders are usually sentenced to between 10 and 100 lashes across the back, carried out with a one-metre (three-foot) whip. The pain is so severe that they often faint after seven or eight strokes, says Anicee Van Engeland, a specialist in Iranian law at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies. » | Who, What, Why | BBC News | Friday, May 23, 2014

Festival de Cannes: Le film «Grace de Monaco» boycotté par les enfants de la princesse

Un portrait de Grace Kelly décédée dans un tragique accident en 1982

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Leurs parents se sont rencontrés grâce au festival, mais les enfants de Grace Kelly n'iront pas à Cannes cette année, ulcérés par le film consacré à leur mère, un «détournement» de l'histoire familiale.

Albert II, Caroline et Stéphanie n'en démordent pas: le film d'Olivier Dahan «Grace de Monaco», qui sera projeté à l'ouverture du 67e Festival de Cannes en avant-première mondiale (mais hors compétition),«ne peut en aucun cas être qualifié de biopic».

Tous trois fustigent par voie de communiqué une «bande-annonce fantaisiste» qui «renforce la conviction laissée lors de la lecture du scénario qu'il s'agit d'une production, d'une page de l'histoire de la Principauté, basée sur des références historiques erronées et littéraires douteuses».

Les enfants de la princesse, décédée le 14 septembre 1982 dans un accident de voiture au-dessus de Monaco, assurent que «le réalisateur et les producteurs (ont) refusé de prendre en considération les très nombreuses observations formulées par le Palais, qui auraient eu pour conséquence une remise en question globale du scénario et des personnages». » | afp/Newsnet | vendredi 02 mai 2014




Related: The Last Interview with Grace Kelly »

Lesbian Love Story Wins Top Award at Cannes
French-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche's "La Vie d'Adele" wins the coveted Palme d'Or.

Cannes Film Festival – Unlawful Killing: Film about the Death of Diana Likens Prince Philip to Fred West
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Given that its entire £2.5 million budget was paid for by Mohamed Fayed, the conclusions of a new documentary about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales were not entirely unexpected.


The film, called Unlawful Killing, asserts that the Duke of Edinburgh is a “psychopath” in the mould of Fred West, that the Princess was murdered by the Establishment and that the Queen and other members of the Royal family are “gangsters in tiaras”.

As the film was premiered at Cannes, its director, Keith Allen, tried to defend the “ludicrous” slurs on the monarchy as he was accused by the Princess’s closest friend of cashing in on her death.

Allen, best known for playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in the BBC’s Robin Hood TV series, had already upset those closest to the Princess by including a photograph of her lying fatally injured in the back of a car moments after it had crashed in Paris in 1997.

And the astonishing comments about the Royal family which are made in the film have provoked fresh contempt.

Rosa Monckton, the Princess’s best friend, said: “Why is he doing this?

“The only reason he could be doing it is to make money by appealing to the conspiracy theorists.

“I also think he’s an attention seeker.” » | Anita Singh, in Cannes and Gordon Rayner | Friday, May 13, 2011

YOUTUBE: Watch video here

FACEBOOK: Unlawful Killing - The Film - Princess Diana's Death »

Glamorous Start to Cannes Film Festival

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Cannes 2011: 'Embarrassing' Nicolas Sarkozy Biopic to Debut
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A biopic of Nicolas Sarkozy that charts his rise to power and break-up of his marriage has been selected for the Cannes Film Festival, threatening to turn the unpopular French president into an international laughing stock.


La Conquête (The Conquest) will receive its world premiere at the French festival on May 18 after months of fevered speculation about its content. The drama charts Mr Sarkozy’s victory in the 2007 election.

It also shows him fretting about his height and using colourful language to describe his enemies. Yet it brings out a more sympathetic side of the French leader as he struggles to cope with the break-up of his marriage to Cécilia, his second wife. She left him for another man shortly after the presidential race.

Mr Sarkozy now faces a dilemma over his attendance at the festival. He had been expected to walk his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, down the red carpet at the premiere of her film, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which will open the 10-day event.

Critics of Mr Sarkozy await its unveiling with glee, after a teasing trailer for the film showed him proclaiming: “I am a Ferrari. You open the hood with white gloves on.”

The premiere spells potential embarrassment for Mr Sarkozy and could dent his bid for a second presidential term at a time when his disapproval rating amongst the French electorate stands at 74 per cent. » | Anita Singh, Henry Samuel in Paris | Thursday, April 14, 2011

Islamischer Extremismus am Filmfestival von Cannes
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Am Filmfestival von Cannes könnte das Themenspektrum der gezeigten Werke nicht breiter sein. Von der Finanzkrise über Robin Hood bis zu den Kriegswirren in Algerien. Letztere wird im französischen Wettbewerbsbeitrag «Des Hommes et des Dieux» thematisiert. Erzählt wird die grausame Ermordung von französischen Mönchen im algerischen Atlas-Gebirge. Der Film beruht auf einer wahren Geschichte.

Iranian Filmmaker Makes Cannes Headlines

Sharon Stone Stirs It Up in China
Photo of Sharon Stone courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: Film star Sharon Stone has set off a storm of fury across China after she suggested the deadly earthquake that killed as many as 80,000 people was bad karma for Beijing policy in Tibet.

Several Chinese cinemas have pledged not to screen her movies and the Internet has exploded in a stream of angry comments.
Ms Stone, speaking at the Cannes Film Festival last week, said: “I’m not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else.” China Boycotts Sharon Stone Films after Star Blames Earthquake on Bad Karma for Tibet >>> By Jane Macartney in Beijing | May 28, 2008

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