United News of Bangladesh

The 78th Cannes Film Festival opens Tuesday with expectations running high for what could be a banner edition. All of the ingredients — an absurd number of stars, top-tier filmmakers, political intrigue — seem to be lined up for the French Riviera spectacular. Over the next 12 days, Cannes will play host to megawatt premieres including those of “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” and Ari Aster’s “Eddington.” Things get underway Tuesday with the unveiling of Juliette Binoche’s jury, a three-film tribute to Ukraine and the opening night film, Amélie Bonnin’s French romance “Leave One Day.” At the festival’s opening ceremony, Robert De Niro will receive an honorary Palme d’Or, 49 years after “Taxi Driver” won Cannes' top prize. Cannes is coming off a 2024 festival that produced a number of eventual Oscar contenders, including “Emilia Perez,” “The Substance,” “Flow” and the best picture winner, “Anora.” Asked if he's feeling the pressure this time around, festival director Thierry Frémaux said the only kind of pressure he believes in is in beer. (Beer on tap in France is "bière à la pression.") “Indeed last year was a beautiful year,” Frémaux said Monday. “But at the very time when I was with (journalists) as the festival started, we didn’t know if it was going to be a good year or not.” Cannes is kicking off the same day Gérard Depardieu, one of France’s most famous actors, was found guilty of having sexually assaulted two women on a 2021 film set. In one of France’s most prominent #MeToo cases, Depardieu was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. The 76-year-old has long been a regular presence at Cannes. This year’s Cannes Film Festival, the premier international cinematic gathering, is also unspooling following U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for tariffs on movies made overseas. While Frémaux expressed sympathy for the cause of strengthening local movie production, he said it was too soon to comment on the still-unformed plans. Cannes, Cinema’s Global Arena, prepares for 78th edition amid fresh challenges “It’s far too early in the game,” said Frémaux. “But if I say one thing here at the Cannes Film Festival, we wouldn’t want the American cinema to cease to be strong. And right now, it’s very strong.” Cannes will follow up Tuesday’s festivities with the return Wednesday of Tom Cruise to Cannes. Three years after he brought “Top Gun: Maverick” to the festival, he’s back with the latest “Mission: Impossible” movie. Twenty-two films will vie for Cannes’ top prize, the Palme d’Or. Those films include Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme,” Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” Lynne Ramsay’s “Die, My Love,” Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind,” Oliver Hermanus’ “The History of Sound,” Julia Ducournau’s “Alpha” and Jafar Panahi’s “A Simple Accident.” Binoche will be leading the jury that picks the Palme d’Or winner, along with jurors including Halle Berry and Jeremy Strong. The festival closes May 24. In Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, three prominent actors are making their directorial debuts: Harris Dickinson (“Urchin”), Kristen Stewart (“The Chronology of Water”) and Scarlett Johansson (“Eleanor the Great”). Geopolitics are likely to play a starring role at Cannes, which is beginning by screening three 2025 Ukraine documentaries: “Zelensky,” Bernard-Henri Lévy’s “Notre Guerre” and The Associated Press-Frontline coproduction “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” by “20 Days in Mariupol” Oscar-winner Mstyslav Chernov. “This ‘Ukraine Day’ is a reminder of the commitment of artists, authors and journalists to tell the story of this conflict in the heart of Europe,” the festival said in a statement. Cannes will also celebrate its opening by turning to an old favorite. A restoration of Charlie Chaplin's “The Gold Rush” is to debut Tuesday, timed to the film's centenary.

Bangladeshi filmmaker Adnan Al Rajeev’s short film 'Ali' has been officially recognized by the social media platforms of the prestigious Festival de Cannes, marking a proud moment for the country’s film industry. The announcement was made on Friday through the festival’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts, listing 'Ali' among the 11 films selected for the Short Film Competition at Cannes 2025. A total of 4,781 films were submitted, out of which 9 fiction and 2 animated films were chosen. Five of the selected works were directed by women. The Cannes post on its official Facebook and Instagram pages stated, “The films of the Short Film Competition #Cannes2025 in pictures. The Palme d’Or of the short film will be awarded by the Jury chaired by Maren Ade at the Palmares ceremony, on Saturday, May 24, 2025.” Following the announcement, Adnan Al Rajeev shared his emotional reaction on Facebook, reflecting on the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. "My lifelong dream was to one day have my work featured on the official social media page of Festival de Cannes. That dream came true today," Rajeev wrote. ‘Priyo Satyajit’ premieres on Chorki marking Bengali maestro's 104th birth anniversary He added, "My work on the Cannes page — what a beautiful feeling. My heart trembles with fear, but it still feels good." "My name will be there, our name will be there, my country’s name will be there. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. I feel scared — I don’t know why!," Rajeev shared in his emotional Facebook post. The recognition of 'Ali' at Cannes adds to the growing presence of Bangladeshi filmmakers on the global stage, and comes as a major milestone in Adnan Al Rajeev’s career. More details on the selected films can be found on the official Cannes link: https://f.mtr.cool/rhkhiosbwh

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud has said the feature film on Bangabandhu was about the struggle, pain and suffering of Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in liberating a nation. “People of the world will know how he remained unwavering in the face of gallows and how he transformed an unarmed nation into an armed one and led the liberation war. It isn’t easy to capture the whole life of such great people in 3 hours but the team making the movie has done a great work," he said while talking about the movie "Mujib – The Making of a Nation." Trailer of ‘Mujib– The Making of a Nation’ was released at Festival de Cannes on Thursday.  

After a canceled 2020 edition and a scaled back gathering last year, the Cannes Film Festival kicked off Tuesday with an eye turned to Russia’s war in Ukraine and a live satellite video address from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Formally attired stars including Eva Longoria, Julianne Moore, Bérénice Bejo and “No Time to Die” star Lashana Lynch were among those who streamed down Cannes’ famous red carpet Tuesday for the opening of the 75th Cannes Film Festival and the premiere of Michel Hazanavicius’ zombie comedy “Final Cut.” Also Read: Arefin Shuvo to attend Cannes film festival Tuesday More star-studded premieres — “Top Gun: Maverick!” “Elvis!” — await over the next 12 days, during which 21 films will vie for the festival’s prestigious top award, the Palme d’Or. But Tuesday’s opening and the carefully choreographed red-carpet parade leading up the steps to the Grand Théâtre Lumiére again restored one of the movies’ grandest pageants after two years of pandemic that have challenged the exalted stature Cannes annually showers on cinema. But the war in Ukraine was in Cannes’ spotlight Tuesday. During the festival’s opening ceremony, Zelenskyy spoke at length about the connection between cinema and reality, referencing films like Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” as not unlike Ukraine’s present circumstances.    

South Korean director Kim Ki-duk, who won the top award at the Venice Film Festival in 2012 but later faced allegations at home of hitting an actress and trying to force her into shooting off-script sexual scenes while making another movie, has died in Latvia. He was 59.