In the Festival Palace - the biggest projection room in the world - hordes of stars were gathered together to witness a one-time prize bestowed upon a director for his lifetime contribution, having never before received a Golden Palm.
Jeanne Moreau presented the 29 ex-Palm winners, including double Palm winners Bille August, Francis Ford Coppola and Emir Kusturica, who voted this Palm of Palms to Igmar Berman. The only woman among this jury of winners, Jane Campion, pronounced the winner's name. The prize was received by his daughter, Lin Ullmann, accompanied by her mother Liv and several other Nordic actresses. Lin conveyed the message for her absent father who after years of portraying life and death, felt himself an old man now, too timid and fragile to come.
Wender's film The End of violence which followed the ceremony is a favored pick for the Golden Palm this year. Not only was The End of Violence programmed to be screened for the anniversary celebration, but Wenders is considered one of the most thought-provoking creators today. He has already received four prizes at Cannes including the Golden Palm for Paris Texas. He was jury president in 1989.
Many who anxiously awaited The End of Violence - the only film in competition today - were turned away from the press screening this afternoon for lack of seats. Addressing the violence in each one of us, it is meant to be more of an explication of violence that denounces violence. "Though we wanted the film to be about violence, we didn't want violence to be part of the film's language", said Wenders. He wrote it in six weeks for Ciby 2000, locked in a hotel room with U2 star Bono and shot it in 28 days. Once again the music is signed by Ry Cooder and it stars Gabriel Byrne and Andie Mac Dowell. Oddly enough, it was shot in Los Angeles, yet it was in Cannes that Wim Wenders fell subject to an aggression.
Among the many parties following the projection, the jewellers Cartier hosted a dinner for 600 persons. Cartier, celebrating 150 years, has provided part of the backing for Cannes' 50th festival, an event costing 60 million francs.
For the first time ever, the festival was graced with the presence of France's president. Jacques Chirac stopped in for lunch with the jury, seated between Isabelle Adjani and Gong Li. He paid hommage to French cinema vaunting that cinema is what France does best, is best known and loved for.
Star talk of the day revealed that Demi Moore is pregnant for the fourth time. Sylvester Stalone and Robert De Niro promoted Copland which unfortunately was not ready at the moment the festival committee was making their selections. Juliette Binoche signed for her next film with André Téchiné.
Two Web sites are offering a 24hour fixed camera view of the Festival Palace. www.perceptualrobotics.com allows the viewer to move the camera angle and to zoom in on the action. wwwcplus.fr has a camera fixed 6 meters over the Palace transmitting images every 6 seconds.
The line-up for 12 May
Official Selection:
A Certain Regard:
Directors Fortnight:
Critics Week:
