Cannes Film Festival Begins with Johnny Depp's Film; Absence of Iranian Cinema in Main Competition

The 76th Cannes Film Festival kicks off on Tuesday, May 16, with the screening of "Jeanne du Barry," featuring American star Johnny Depp as Louis XV. This marks Depp's first performance in three years and is good news for his fans, as he had stepped back from cinema due to personal controversies and a high-profile legal battle with his ex-wife Amber Heard. "Jeanne du Barry," directed by French artist Maïwenn Le Besco, is inspired by the life of this historical figure in the Palace of Versailles. She was a woman from the working class in France, enamored with culture and pleasure, who quickly climbed the social ladder using her intelligence and feminine charms, eventually becoming the mistress of Louis XV. The 76th Cannes Festival, which according to organizers is a return for this artistic event after the COVID-19 pandemic, is taking place amid widespread anti-government protests against changes to retirement laws in France. These unrests are likely to impact the festival's proceedings, and a noticeable presence of security forces is observed in surrounding areas. The festival is chaired by Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund, a two-time Palme d'Or winner. Afghan filmmaker and writer Atiq Rahimi is one of the members of the main competition jury. This year, the festival pays special attention to Hollywood, with the screenings of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" starring Harrison Ford and "Killers of the Flower Moon" directed by Martin Scorsese, featuring Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio as highlights of the red carpet. Other stars attending Cannes include Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Sean Penn, Alicia Vikander, The Weeknd, and Scarlett Johansson. At the festival's opening ceremony, the honorary Palme d'Or will be awarded to American actor Michael Douglas, with Harrison Ford receiving a similar award later in the festival. In the main competition this year, prominent filmmakers such as Wes Anderson, Ken Loach, Nanni Moretti, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Alice Rohrwacher, Todd Haynes, and Wim Wenders are competing for the Palme d'Or. Iranian cinema has no representatives in this section, and the film "Earthly Verses" by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami is the only Iranian feature film screening in the "Un Certain Regard" section. Kaveh Farnam, a film producer and member of the Independent Filmmakers Association of Iran, previously explained to VOA about the lack of Iranian films selected for the main competition of the 76th Cannes Film Festival. This is notable as last year, two films, "Leila's Brothers" and "Holy Spider," were present in this section, and Zahra Amir Ebrahimi won the Best Actress award at Cannes. According to Farnam, the same situation occurred at the Berlin Festival, with no Iranian films in the main competition. He adds that this issue should be examined from several angles, primarily that Iranian cinema did not have a film worthy of Cannes this year. Farnam states, "In the list of selected works at Cannes, we see the names of respected filmmakers like Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Wes Anderson, Ken Loach, and other prominent figures. We do not have many Iranian filmmakers in such a competitive space. Although Mohammad Rasoulof, Jafar Panahi, and Asghar Farhadi are at this level, they did not have the conditions to make films. Mr. Panahi and Rasoulof were in prison, and Asghar Farhadi has been embroiled in very serious controversies and is outside Iran; he probably will not make his next film in Iran either." According to this film producer, "In a period rightly named the Mahsa Revolution, there was practically no opportunity for filming and making films in Iran for 4-5 months, and one or two months prior to that, we witnessed a widespread crackdown by the government on Iranian documentarians, followed by the arrests of Rasoulof, Al-Ahmad, and Panahi. In other words, there was no condition, time, or space for our independent filmmakers and prominent figures to work, and for this reason, we did not have a film to compete in prestigious film festivals." Farnam continues, "It should be noted that world cinema is also experiencing a post-COVID era; there are many good films made in the last two years that have not been screened, and therefore there is tough competition for participation in film festivals." According to Farnam, a combination of these factors has led to Iranian films not being selected for the Berlin and Cannes festivals, and he believes this situation will also exist at the Venice Festival. This member of the Independent Filmmakers Association of Iran provided explanations about the organization's call to include works by independent Iranian filmmakers in the market of the 76th Cannes Film Festival. Ana Lily Amirpour, an Iranian-American filmmaker, is one of the well-known figures at Cannes and a member of the short film jury. "Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon" and "The Bad Batch" are among Ana Lily Amirpour's notable works. The 76th Cannes Film Festival runs from May 16 to May 27 in France. This report utilized information from Associated Press and Hollywood Reporter.