More than a few hours before knowing the big winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prized trophies in the world of film awards. After the slap of Titanium last year, the games are open on Saturday May 28, between a young director who questions masculinity (Close), a South Korean thriller or the film by the Dardenne brothers. After viewing the 21 films in competition, the jury retired in the greatest secrecy, cut off from the rustling of the Croisette, to choose who will receive a palm more chic than ever: encrusted with 100 diamonds for this 75th edition.
Before getting into the hard part, the prize for best documentary, the Golden Eye, was awarded in the morning to All That Breathes by Shaunak Sen, about the rescue of raptors in Delhi. But it is not until 8:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. GMT) that the ceremony that everyone is waiting for should begin, broadcast on France 2 and the online channel Brut. The president of the jury, the Frenchman Vincent Lindon, will try not to trip over the carpet like his predecessor, Spike Lee, who, in 2021, inadvertently revealed the Palme d’Or at the start of the competition. ceremony.
The games remain open to succeed Julia Ducournau, the thirties who shook the Croisette and dusted off the competition last year with Titane. The chances of seeing a third crowned director in the history of the Festival seem slim: the American Kelly Reichardt did not transport her audience with Showing Up, nor did the French Claire Denis (Stars At Noon). And the step seems a bit high for the young talents Charlotte Vandermeersch and Léonor Serraille.
A coronation of Lukas Dhont, 31-year-old Belgian with a meteoric career, would send an additional signal of rejuvenation for the 75th edition of the most important film festival, which wishes not to lose the link with new audiences. His film Close, heartbreaking, won the applause meter in official screening (twelve minutes of cheers). It paints the portrait of a boy scarred by a lost friendship, delicately addressing the question of masculinity and the weight of norms. And reveals a talent, the young Eden Dabrine, 15 years old.
The Dardenne brothers are also cited for Tori and Lokita, which could earn them a third Palme d’Or, an unprecedented event in the history of Cannes. Other favourites: the American James Gray, very autobiographical in Armageddon Time or Tchaikovsky’s Wife by the Russian Kirill Serebrennikov, about the composer’s wife, who for a long time remained in the shadows and with whom he married to hide his homosexuality.
To make the public dream, the 75th edition of the Festival unsheathed this year, out of competition, the mega star Tom Cruise, who came to present the new Top Gun, or even the new darling of Hollywood, Austin Butler, in the role of Elvis for the King’s biopic-event.
