Cannes Film Festival 2015: 19 works competing for the Palme d'Or

In less than 24 hours, the 68th Cannes Film Festival will take place in France.

Up to now, all preparations are nearly completed. With many innovations and breakthroughs, the Festival organizers hope that the 12-day film event in the beautiful city of Cannes on the Cote d'Azur will create interesting surprises along with the competition of 19 films for the Palme d'Or.

This year, the film “La tête haute” (Lifting the Head High) by French director Emmanuelle Bercot was honored to be selected to open the Film Festival.

It can be seen that in recent years, the Cannes Film Festival organizers have gradually changed their trend by no longer choosing famous or blockbuster movies to premiere at the opening ceremony.

Mr. Thierry Frémaux, Director of the Cannes Film Festival, affirmed that choosing a film by a female director to open the festival was a surprise, because the organizers wanted to bring a different start.

“I don’t like to discuss films by female directors in particular. This year we chose Emmanuelle’s film to open the festival because it honestly reflects contemporary society, focusing on common social issues, making it perfectly suited to a global audience. In addition, through this choice, we hope that world cinema will have more female directors, editors, and novelists,” said Mr. Thierry Frémaux.

Also aiming to highlight women, the face chosen as the symbol of the Cannes Film Festival is also a female star - Swedish star Ingrid Bergman. Her name is associated with classic works such as Casablanca, For Whom the Bell Tolls...

Among the 19 films officially competing for the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, three heavyweights emerged. That is the film “Youth” by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino with the participation of actor Michael Caine.

Japanese director Hirozaku Koreeda, who won an award at Cannes 2013 with “Like Father, Like Son,” returns with the highly anticipated film “Our Little Sister.”

Recently, the media has also mentioned a lot about the film The Tale of Tales by director Matteo Garrone as a strong candidate for the highest award.

The host country, France, dominated with five films. This year, Asian cinema had three films competing at the Cannes Film Festival, including two from China and one from Japan. The Vietnamese film by director Victor Vu was not competing but was introduced by distributor Fortissimo on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival.

At this time, the film festival atmosphere has filled the streets of Cannes. Nearly 300,000 tourists and movie lovers flock to the Croisette Avenue, where famous stars from all over the world gather.

“We came here because we love cinema and movies. The Cannes Film Festival is unique in the world because there are so many famous people in one place at the same time, where we can see them very close. Normally, you can only see them on film. When I come here, I can see them every day. It's fun and wonderful because this is happening right where we live, very close. The 68th Cannes Film Festival is the biggest film event in Europe and is always looked forward to every year,” said a tourist.

The film about climate change “La Glace et le Ciel” (Ice and Sky) by director Luc Jacquet was chosen to premiere on the closing day.

Canadian director Xavier Dolan, 26, is the youngest member of the jury ever, alongside veteran actors such as Isabella Rossellini and Jake Gyllenhaal. Director brothers Joel and Ethan Coen serve as President of the jury.

As France remains on high alert following the terrorist attacks in Paris in January this year, security at the Cannes Film Festival has been tightened by the country's authorities./.

According to VOV.VN