12 Established 1961 Lifestyle Cannes Film Festival Sunday, July 4, 2021

pike Lee has been captivating and “She’s Gotta Have It” in two weeks in remembers that “from the start, he was a Boy”. Though always shot through with provoking audiences since the Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, good storyteller.” He thought Lee’s career political commentary, his recent films have S1980s with his frank depictions of and took one of the key roles himself as would be focused on documentaries, giv- returned to some of his earlier themes, to America’s racial tensions, infused with his motor-mouthed Mars Blackmon. John en his keen powers of observation of soci- great critical success. “BlacKkKlansman”, signature mix of entertainment, activism Canada Terrell, one of his co-stars, ety around him. about a Black FBI agent infiltrating the Ku and rage. He is the first Black man to described Lee as a “very strange cerebral But Lee would only embrace that for- Klux Klan, won him the second-place head the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, kind of cat.” mat in 1997 with “4 Little Girls”-the Oscar- Grand Prix at Cannes, and best adapted which helped launch his career back in The black-and-white feature was his nominated story of the racially motivated screenplay at the Academy Awards, his 1986 when his shoestring debut “She’s breakout moment, but it was the follow- bombing of an African-American church first Oscar not counting an honorary Gotta Have It” won the Youth Award. up, 1989’s “Do the Right Thing” that during the US civil rights movement. Lee award in 2015. Since then, he has gone on to make sev- established him as one of the stand-out instead established himself as a force to His most recent film, “Da 5 Bloods”, eral landmark films about Black America, US director Spike Lee directors of his generation. Exploring be reckoned with in cinema, producing about Black veterans from the Vietnam while also branching out into very different Brooklyn’s racial tensions across one films that often had a political bent like war, was another critical success-and part of a jazz musician father and an English styles. sweltering day, it is now seen as one of “Malcolm X” and “Jungle Fever”. He man- of a recent tie-up with Netflix that also saw teacher mom. He was primarily raised in In the process, he has blazed a trail for the defining movies of the decade. aged to keep the Hollywood machine at him direct a TV adaptation of “She’s Gotta Brooklyn, which is home to his production new generations of Black filmmakers. arm’s length, maintaining control of his Have It”. Lee is also a lifelong basketball company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. Michael Genet, an actor and screenwriter ‘Storyteller’ own marketing, distribution and editing, fan, and a fixture at New York Knicks A small man with a piercing gaze from who penned the script for Lee’s 2004 “Spike was always quiet. He kept to with mostly Black casts. games. He made a series of black-and- behind his round glasses, Lee graduated comedy “She Hate Me”, says Lee himself but I called him the idea man,” white Nike ads in the 1980s and 1990s, in from Atlanta’s Morehouse College, a his- “opened the doors for everybody who’s recalls Herbert Eichelberger, an associate Full circle character as Mars Blackmon alongside torically Black, all-male school, with a come after him.” professor of film at Clark Atlanta But Lee has refused to be typecast NBA legend Michael Jordan, that communications degree, before moving University whom Lee calls his mentor. “He and has tried his hand in many different changed sports marketing forever. — AFP on to a master’s in film and television at ‘Cerebral kind of cat’ would come with all kinds of ideas about genres. These have included a heist dra- New York University. Born Shelton Jackson Lee in Georgia doing films and making certain kinds of ma, “Inside Man”, and a remake of In the summer of 1985, Lee filmed on March 20, 1957, “Spike” was the son approaches to a situation.” Eichelberger Korean martial arts revenge flick “Old

t will be a feast for the ears as well as the eyes on the Croisette this year Iwith a string of films celebrating musical heroes across different eras and cultures.

Opening Sparks Wild film-maker meets legendary band in the opening film of the festival on July 6. “Annette” by French director Leos Carax features Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver, but the real stars may prove to be the US band Sparks. Cult favorites since the 1970s, the duo pro- vided not just the soundtrack but the script to this otherworldly musical about a celebrity couple whose lives are turned upside down by the arrival of their first child. “‘Annette’ is a much-anticipated gift for lovers of cinema, music and cul- ture,” promised festival president Pierre Lescure.

Velvet Underground and Jane Birkin There is more from the annals of rock lore in the form of Todd Haynes’s new documentary, “The Velvet Underground”, about the hugely influential New York band led by Lou Reed. It’s familiar terri- tory for the US director, who made a fic- tional film inspired by David Bowie, “Velvet Goldmine”, and a fictionalized account of Bob Dylan’s life, “I’m Not There”. The new doc promises a mix of interviews and exclusive footage from the time. Meanwhile, actor Charlotte The Velvet Underground Gainsbourg is premiering an intimate documentary about her mother Jane Already a familiar face on French TV Birkin. “Jane” is her first outing as a screens, he stars alongside Vanessa Times Up UK Critics. director and has been in the works for Paradis in competition entry “Love A familiar question Touting this year’s selection of four several years, with scenes shot in the Songs for Tough Guys”, while a film women as the joint best-ever with 2019 famous Parisian home she shared with about his early rap collective NTM, “New Worlds, the Cradle of a was “embarrassing,” she added, “espe- husband Serge Gainsbourg. “Supremes”, is premiering on the same Civilization”, has Murray reciting songs at Cannes: Where cially as statistically female representation night out of competition. from West Side Story to Van Morrison in is worse this year than in 2019 as the Multi-generational rap what promises to be one of the more competition line-up has swollen from 21 to The sounds of Moroccan hip-hop Bill Murray to Celine Dion random out-of-competition screenings. are the women? 24”. They will, however, face a jury that is form the basis for the country’s first Among the other musical options fea- Another intriguing entry in the pro- mostly female, including French- Palme d’Or nomination in 60 years. turing on the Croisette is an unofficial gram is “Tralala” from French film-mak- Senegalese director Mati Diop and actor Nabil Ayouch’s “Casablanca Beats” fol- biopic about Celine Dion, “Aline” by ers the Larrieu brothers, in which a mid- Maggie Gyllenhaal, for the fourth time in lows a rapper working in a cultural cen- director Valerie Lemercier, whose dle-aged songwriter goes searching for ith just four women among the the Virgin Mary. If nothing else, it fea- directors behind the 24 films in the festival’s history (2009, 2014 and ter in a working class area, where hip- release has been pushed back several 2018). hop culture runs up against the social times due to the pandemic. It gets odder tures the spectacle of former Bond villain Wcompetition for the Palme d’Or, Mathieu Amalric looking like a hobo and constraints of the neighborhood. with a concert film featuring legendary a familiar script is playing out at Cannes. playing a ukulele.— AFP Only one woman has ever won the film Parallel sections Meanwhile, one of the godfathers of US comedian Bill Murray reciting con- industry’s most prestigious prize: Jane There is more to Cannes than the main French rap, JoeyStarr, features in two temporary numbers in collaboration with Campion for “The Piano” in 1993. competition, however. Exactly half of the films at the festival. a German cellist and piano trio. The film, Debates over whether to blame the festi- 24 films featured in the Directors’ val’s selection committee, or the wider Fortnight are by women, including a film industry, have become as routine as directing debut from Luana Bajrami, who sunshine and champagne on the appeared in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”. Croisette. The International Critics’ Week, which The debate reached new heights in focuses on young directors, has seven 2018. With the #MeToo movement in full women among its 13 entries. swing, 82 women held a protest on the There is hope this will continue, with steps of the Palais in Cannes, including the recent appointment of film expert Ava Jane Fonda, Marion Cotillard and Cahen as the new head of the independ- “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins. ent strand. Born in 1986, she is the This year’s edition can at least boast a youngest person ever to hold the position more balanced list when the other sec- and will take over after this year’s event tions of the festival are included, with from director Charles Tesson. Milla Jovovich Nicole Kidman some 40 women presenting films this Heidi Klum year. Out of competition There is much to look forward to out- er on things. “A festival without real parties seems side the competitions, too. “Peaceful” by COVID makes the “It’s our responsibility to everyone-the unimaginable,” lamented Alexandre Palme nominees festival, the town, the participants-that this Maras, party correspondent for Gala mag- Three of the four women in the main French director Emmanuelle Bercot stars that great icon of Gallic cinema Catherine post-pandemic event goes smoothly,” said azine, whose Cannes supplement has competition are French: Mia Hansen- Cannes parties even Lescure. What that means in real terms is been cut from seven pages to four. “The Love (“Bergman Island”), Catherine Deneuve, who suffered a minor stroke during filming but is making a triumphant that hangers-on are getting axed from the parties are part of the festival. Now the Corsini (“The Divide”) and Julia guest lists. One of the high points-the gala events will be even more exclusive... even Ducournau (“Titane”), along with return to the Croisette. There is also more exclusive excitement over the premiere of Charlotte for US AIDS charity amfAR-is still going more premium,” he said. Some see this Hungary’s Ildiko Enyedi (“The Story of ahead, but the number of attendees at as long overdue. “A new era is dawning. My Wife”). Cannes organizers insist they Gainsbourg’s directing debut, a documen- tary about her mother Jane Birkin this year’s event on July 16 are falling The Cannes parties often had lots of peo- choose films on merit, taking no account he battle for after-party invites was from 900 to 400. The star power will still ple who had no business being there,” of race, gender or nationality. But certain (“Jane”). always fierce at the world’s most And US actor-director Jodie Foster, of be in evidence, however, with Alicia Keys sniffed Albane Cleret, one of the last great (male) arthouse luminaries and Cannes Tglamorous festival, but thanks to performing and Milla Jovovich, Nicole party hosts at the festival. “Taxi Driver” and “Silence of the Lambs” regulars are practically guaranteed a social distancing rules it will be even hard- Kidman and Heidi Klum confirmed to Her “Terrasse by Albane” takes over slot, even when their films turn out to be fame, will receive an honorary Palme. er than usual to get past the doorman in Foster did not mince her words during her attend. the roof of the Marriott Hotel to become awful. Cannes this year. “We won’t be able to do Chopard, the jewelers who make the one of the most exclusive spots of the fes- Campion may have been among this last visit to Cannes in 2016, saying just whatever we want,” warned Cannes Hollywood studio bosses still saw women actual Palme d’Or trophy, have cancelled tival. “Now we can have dinners where we year’s selection if it were not for the festi- Film Festival president Pierre Lescure. their grand party-another of the usual high put the world to rights, and really talk busi- val’s ongoing beef with Netflix, which has directors as “too great a risk to take”. But “We are not going to have a lot of parties she also said she opposed the idea of points-in favor of a few select get-togeth- ness.” One undeniable advantage of all produced her latest, “The Power of the and big gatherings that could create diffi- ers on the terrace of the Martinez hotel. this: the Cannes municipality says orders Dog”. “It’s no surprise that the history of setting a quota for female representation. cult consequences.” The parties had “We’re not talking about junior execu- “In any case, for the last decade, the for garbage bins are sharply lower this the Cannes Film Festival is dominated already been scaled down in recent years budget for parties has fallen considerably. year.— AFP by the celebration of male achievement tives,” she said. “We’re talking about an from the festival’s golden age last century, art form.”— AFP Parties that had once gathered 1,000 when it has overwhelmingly been pro- due to the economic downturn and pres- people were already down to 300,” grammed by men,” said Sophie Monks sure from locals for a bit of peace. But Dominique Segall, one of France’s top Kaufman, co-chair of pressure group now the pandemic has really put a down- press agents, told AFP.