Cannes Film Festival news stories on Newser

On the Road Debuts at Cannes

Rob Quinn — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:40:23 CDT

The film adaptation of On the Road has finally reached the screen, more than 30 years after producer Roman Coppola bought the rights to Jack Kerouac's Beat Generation classic. The movie, which stars Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, and Kirsten Dunst, made its debut at the Cannes film festival...

Brad Pitt: Why We Haven't Set a Date

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 22 May 2012 10:24:31 CDT

Brad Pitt was flying solo today at Cannes, but in addition to his gangster film, Killing Them Softly , Angelina Jolie was predictably a big topic of conversation. Pressed by reporters for some juicy gossip, he said his engagement to Jolie was "something that made sense," People reports. As for a...

Cannes Ripped for Shutting Out Women Directors

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:32:00 CDT

The Cannes Film Festival is battling charges of sexism after officials failed to chose a single female-directed movie among its 22 competition films. In a scathing open letter printed in the French media , a group of prominent female directors accuse organizers of failing to recognize the achievement of women in...

Iran Blasts Cannes for Punishing Director Von Trier

Tue, 24 May 2011 14:11:05 CDT

Iran is suddenly all about free speech, criticizing the decision of the Cannes Film Festival to ban Nazi-joking director Lars von Trier. Iran's deputy culture minister wrote that Cannes had smirched its history and rendered its claims to defend free speech "a meaningless slogan." Cannes declared von Trier "persona non...

Malick's Tree of Life Wins Palme d'Or

Sun, 22 May 2011 15:48:05 CDT

Terrence Malick's expansive drama The Tree of Life won the top honor at the Cannes Film Festival today, while Kirsten Dunst took the best-actress prize for the apocalyptic saga Melancholia . The Palme d'Or prize was accepted by two Tree of Life producers for the notoriously press-shy Malick, who has skipped...

Lars von Trier: I Love Being 'Persona Non Grata'

Kevin Spak — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:46:05 CDT

Lars von Trier is truly sorry he joked about being a Nazi —but he's not all that sad he's been kicked out of Cannes . "I must say, `persona non grata' is a wonderful word," the former Palme d'Or winner tells the AP . "It has a sweetness to it that I...

Peter Fonda to Obama: You're a Traitor

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 19 May 2011 09:46:18 CDT

Another Cannes ruckus: Peter Fonda called President Obama a “f***ing traitor” at the launch of a documentary about the BP oil spill, the AFP reports. At yesterday’s premiere of The Big Fix , Fonda recalled his reaction to the feeling that Washington was trying to silence reporting on the Deepwater Horizon...

Lars Von Trier Banned From Cannes

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 19 May 2011 09:11:05 CDT

Lars Von Trier may have apologized for his bizarre “Nazi” comments during yesterday’s Melancholia press conference, but the Cannes Film Festival organizers apparently don’t care. After a special Board of Directors meeting today, they issued a formal announcement labeling Von Trier “a persona non grata at the Festival de Cannes,...

Director Lars Von Trier Apologizes for 'Nazi' Joke

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:52:50 CDT

The always controversial Danish director Lars von Trier really pulled out all the stops at his Cannes press conference today, calling himself a Nazi and claiming to sympathize with Adolf Hitler. The Hollywood Reporter notes that the whole thing appeared to be a joke, albeit an uncomfortable one, as the...