{"id":962,"date":"2026-05-13T09:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/?p=962"},"modified":"2026-05-13T09:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:58:11","slug":"stars-descend-as-cannes-film-festival-opens-without-hollywood-backing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/?p=962","title":{"rendered":"Stars descend as Cannes Film Festival opens without Hollywood backing"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS: Celebrities from Demi Moore to \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d star Elijah Wood headed up the red carpet for the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, where the impact of AI and the absence of Hollywood studios are major talking points.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The annual film extravaganza on the French Riviera was declared open by American cinema veteran Jane Fonda and Chinese star Gong Li at a star-studded ceremony attended by \u201cBlack Panther\u201d actor Isaach De Bankole and \u201cSpider-Man\u201d James Franco.<\/p>\n

Fonda, a vocal critic of US President Donald Trump and long-standing anti-war and women\u2019s rights campaigner, urged the industry to create films that serve as \u201can act of resistance\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tell the stories\u2026 that bring empathy to the marginalised, stories that allow us to feel across difference, stories that let us see that there is an alternative future that is possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Wood,\u00a0 who starred as Frodo Baggins in \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d trilogy, was reunited with director Peter Jackson on stage as he handed the New Zealand filmmaker an honorary Palme d\u2019Or award for his epic career.<\/p>\n

No longer peripheral: SKorean director makes Cannes history<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Jackson was typically self-deprecating as he accepted the award to a prolonged standing ovation, saying it was a \u201cstunning surprise, miraculous\u2026 I am not a Palme d\u2019Or sort of guy\u201d.<\/p>\n

Off-screen events<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the main Cannes competition, which begins Wednesday, a total of 22 films are vying for the prestigious Palme d\u2019Or prize for best film, which was won last year by Iranian movie \u201cIt Was Just an Accident\u201d by Jafar Panahi.<\/p>\n

The competition features a handful of historical dramas pondering the impact of authoritarianism and fascism, as well as others from arthouse heavy hitters such as Spain\u2019s Pedro Almodovar, Japan\u2019s Hirokazu Kore-eda or Romania\u2019s Cristian Mungiu.<\/p>\n

As usual in the build up to the festival, off-screen events have dominated the conversation, from the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, Hollywood\u2019s decision to ghost the event, to the under-representation of women directors.<\/p>\n

Cannes Film Festival opens, grappling with AI and Hollywood<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Irish-Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty, one of the nine-person Palme d\u2019Or jury, took a shot at Hollywood in a press conference just hours before the opening ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t it fascinating to see Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo blacklisted because of their views in opposing the murder of women and children in Gaza?\u201d Laverty said in reference to the stars who have publicly opposed Israel\u2019s war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cShame on Hollywood, people who do that,\u201d the Scottish-born writer added.<\/p>\n

For years, activists have pushed European festivals to condemn Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, which left tens of thousands dead and devastated the territory \u2013 calls that have been resisted.<\/p>\n

AI fears<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux came out strongly against AI and its effect on the industry, however, where job losses are mounting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is certain\u2026 is that here in Cannes, we stand with the artists, we stand with the screenwriters and we stand with everyone in these professions, with actors and voice actors alike,\u201d he told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n

Tom Cruise dazzles Cannes for \u2018Mission: Impossible\u2019 premiere<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the festival said Monday that it had signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with social media giant and AI technology investor Meta.<\/p>\n

Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s group is at the heart of a brewing controversy about the latest film from Oscar-winning \u201cTraffic\u201d director Steven Soderbergh, which will premiere in Cannes.<\/p>\n

Soderbergh partnered with Meta to obtain AI-generated video of late Beatles songwriter John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono for his documentary \u201cJohn Lennon: The Last Interview\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Come back\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Soderbergh is a rare Hollywood directing heavyweight in Cannes this year, with others such as Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan \u2013 hoped for by organisers \u2013 failing to appear on the programme.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s biggest film festival typically relies on Hollywood to provide a dose of mass-market entertainment alongside its programme of arthouse cinema.<\/p>\n

Cannes Festival promises escapism in Hollywood-lite edition<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But no major US studio agreed to launch a blockbuster this year, or at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, raising questions about why giants such as Universal, Disney or Warner are dodging European events.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really hope that the studios come back,\u201d Fremaux said Monday, attributing their absence to scheduling issues and industry turmoil.<\/p>\n

He stressed that American cinema was well represented, with \u201cPaper Tiger\u201d by James Gray starring Adam Driver, as well as \u201cThe Man I Love\u201d by Ira Sachs featuring Rami Malek, in the main competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARIS: Celebrities from Demi Moore to \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d star Elijah Wood headed up the red carpet for the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, where the impact of AI and the absence of Hollywood studios are major talking points. The annual film extravaganza on the French Riviera was declared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypakistannews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}