The ill winds abruptly receded and the shadow of scandals dissipated. The protesting voices of the collective of cinema workers with unstable positions (who had just succeeded in raising their banner above the Palais des festivals) did not penetrate inside, where the ruckus and rumors died down. Time for a truce at least. On Tuesday, May 14, the opening ceremony of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival offered just such a truce on Tuesday, May 14. And it was one over which queens reigned.
Solid, nervous, moving and funny: Actresses, directors and singers gathered on stage to kick off the festivities. Carrying the colors of the cinema high and bright – and not shying away from the things that sometimes diminish the brightness behind the scenes – they reflected the concerns of women. And they paid tribute to them by composing a 100% female tableau, to which the mistress of ceremonies, actress Camille Cottin, provided the first touches.
A touch of humor: "Dear guests, dear friends, (...) you may not know it, but you are about to enter a parallel world known as the Cannes vortex. (...) In this world, day and night merge into one. You leave for a screening very early in the morning without having slept, and you take professional meetings in the middle of the night, on a beach named after a brand. It's normal."
A touch of irony: "I'd like to point out that nocturnal rendezvous in the hotel rooms of all-powerful men are no longer part of the habits and customs of this Cannes vortex following the adoption of the #MeToo movement, and we're delighted." And there were more serious overtones too, as she referred to a world that "worries us, even, in places, freezes our blood," the planet that is burning and the danger posed by artificial intelligence.
As Cottin emphasized, it will be possible to rejoice in this escape, "this place of encounters, debates and wonder" that the Cannes Film Festival serves up every year on a platter. The actress then welcomed the jury for the official competition – 22 films, with only four of them by women directors. This year, the jury is being presided over by Greta Gerwig, the American actress and filmmaker whose film Barbie (released in 2023) exploded at the global box office.
Gerwig – whose appointment as head of the jury breaks with four years of male presidency – expressed her delight at the 10 days that awaited her "in this sacred place," and seemed genuinely moved by the "gift" that the Festival had arranged for her: A performance by singer Zaho de Sagazan. With her powerful voice and graceful movements, she emerged from the back of the room to perform David Bowie's "Modern Love," one of the theme songs from Noah Baumbach's film, Frances Ha (2013), in which Gerwig, also the director's wife, played the lead role.
This emotional moment preceded another, that of Juliette Binoche, who couldn't hold back her tears as she paid tribute to Meryl Streep, who had come to receive an honorary Palme d'Or. "In Falling in Love [1985], I fell in love with you, you made me want to find love again, to let it go, to feel that emotion. (...) You changed the way we see women in the world of cinema. You've given us a new image of ourselves," she told the American star, whose arrival on stage a few minutes earlier was accompanied by an extended standing ovation.
The two actresses then declared the 77th Cannes Film Festival open, with Cottin standing beside them. The image of three women dressed in long black, red and white gowns will live long in the memory. Like the colors of a flag that commands respect.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.