Photographers crowded the Cannes red carpet to capture the controversial comeback of Johnny Depp, star of the opening night film Jeanne Du Barry, on Tuesday night (May 16).
Depp was all smiles as he signed autographs and posed for selfies with fans gathered outside before making his way into the theatre, walking hand in hand beside the film’s directorr Maiwenn and the main supporting cast of the film including Benjamin Lavernhe, Pierre Richard, Melvil Poupaud, India Hair and Diego Le Fur.
Maiwenn received a standing ovation as they entered the theatre and as the cameras zoomed in on Depp, the cheers grew louder as the actor responded with a seemingly surprised smirk.
Cannes’ delegate general Thierry Fremaux, incoming president Iris Knobloch and mayor of Cannes David Lisnard welcomed talent per tradition at the top of the red carpet steps. Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning and Emmanuelle Béart were also among the stars in attendance.
As part of the opening night celebrations, US actor and producer Michael Douglas received his honorary Palme d’Or. Uma Thurman introduced Douglas calling him a “titan” and “forever star’ before he received a prolonged standing ovation as he took the stage. ´There are hundreds of film festivals all over the world but there’s only one Cannes,’ said Douglas.
Reflecting on his 55-year career, he added ‘You work just as hard on your failures as you do on your successes.’
The evening’s emcee French actress Chiara Mastroianni presided over the festival’s 76th edition as her real-life mother Catherine Deneuve walked the red carpet steps. An image of Deneuve from 1968 in Alain Cavalier’s La Chamade graces this year’s official 2023 poster that was on full display on the stage in the Lumiere theatre during the ceremony.
Swedish two-time Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker and jury president Ruben Östlund hailed ‘the unique aspect of cinema which is that we are watching together.’ He mentioned watching TV in Swedenm alluding to streamers, citing ‘the algorithm curating content that doesn’t want us to think”.
Östlund was joined on stage by fellor jurors Julia Ducournau, Maryam Touzani, Denis Menochet, Rungano Nyoni, Brie Larson, Paul Dano, Atiq Rahimi, and Damian Szifron.
The ceremony was broadcast live on France Televisions’ France 2 and on Brut. internationally and simultaneously screened in several theatres across France.
Despite the politics, the opening ceremonies provided the prestige and party ambiance for which Cannes is known. However, the outside world wasn’t completely forgotten. Deneuve later walked on stage in a more sombre moment to send her thoughts to Ukraine and officially open the festivities alongside Douglas.
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