After 11 days of an exceptional edition, the Jury of the 76th Festival de Cannes, chaired by Swedish director Ruben Östlund, surrounded by Moroccan director Maryam Touzani, French actor Denis Ménochet, British-Zambian screenwriter & director Rungano Nyoni, American actress & director Brie Larson, American actor & director Paul Dano, Afghan author Atiq Rahimi, Argentinian director & screenwriter Damián Szifron and French director Julia Ducournau, presented its winners’ list among the 21 films presented in Competition this year
Justine Triet, Palma d’Oro al festival di Cannes
Feature Films
Palme d’or
ANATOMIE D’UNE CHUTE (ANATOMY OF A FALL)
Justine TRIET
Grand Prix
THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Jonathan GLAZER
Best Director
TRAN ANH Hùng
for LA PASSION DE DODIN BOUFFANT (THE POT-AU-FEU)
Jury Prize
KUOLLEET LEHDET (FALLEN LEAVES)
Aki KAURISMÄKI
Best Screenplay
SAKAMOTO Yuji
for KAIBUTSU (MONSTER) directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu
Best Performance by an Actress
Merve DIZDAR
in KURU OTLAR USTUNE (ABOUT DRY GRASSES) directed by Nuri Bilge CEYLAN
Focused on arthouse, artistically daring films, the 2023 Un Certain Regard selection has included 20 feature films – 8 of which are first features also competing for the Caméra d’or. This year, the opening film was Thomas Cailley’s Le Règne animal. Chaired by American actor John C. Reilly, the Jury included French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne. Un Certain Regard 2023 ends on a high note with the screening of Alex Lutz’s film Une nuit.
Abdullah Al-Eyaf CEO Saudi Film Commission at the Cannes Film Festival 2023
Saudi Arabia has seen a “spike” in production and requests to scout locations since launching its 40% cash rebate at Cannes last year, according to Abduljalil Alnasser, general manager of sector development and investment attraction at Saudi Film Commission.
He was speaking on a Cannes market panel on Wednesday (May 17,2023) with senior figures from the Saudi film industry, titled “A Saudi Ecosystem, a Conversation with Saudi Film Sector Partners”. Alnasser noted that three feature films had shot in Jeddah in the past three months.
Charlene Deleon-Jones, executive director of Film Alula, said two brand new studios at the production hub — which are due to open in August — are already booked up until the end of 2024.
Wayne Borg, managing director of media industries, entertainment and culture at Neom, said the production hub has four stages up and running out of a planned 50. He added Neom has serviced 30 productions, and now has a crew depth that enables it to handle three major productions simultaneously.
When the rebate launched last year, Saudi had only had three international films ever shoot in the Kingdom, according to Alnasser.
Alnasser pitched Saudi Arabia as a rapidly growing film market and as a location for film production in the Middle East. He cited a strong economy, a large population of young people keen to watch content and a commitment to putting in place film-friendly regulation and building a strong film industry ecosystem.
“As an example, in 2018 — we had no cinema theatres and today we are the number-one box office in the Middle East — and we have done that in five years,” said Alnasser.( Saudi Arabia has a total of 262 theatres and galleries for theatrical performances in the Kingdom)
(Above From Left) Panellists Rasha Al-Masoud, Ministry Of Investment; Wayne Borg, Neom; Abduljalil Alnasser, Saudi Film Commission; Charlene Deleon–Jones, Film Alula; Najla Alnomair, Cultural Development Fund
Also taking part in the panel discussion was Najla AlNomair, chief strategy and business development officer of the Saudi Cultural Development Fund (CDF), which in March launched a $234m (sar879m) Film Sector Financing Programme, which is open to local and international companies working in the country’s film industry.
As part of this programme, CDF announced at Cannes this week the launch of a $100m fund specifically to invest in local and international productions and infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia.
Also speaking on the panel was Rasha Al-Masoud, investment development director for culture at the Ministry of Investment, who said the ministry “acts as a catalyst to facilitate investments throughout the Kingdom, including within the creative and cultural industries”.
Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll died peacefully on Wednesday at her home in Switzerland. She was 83.
Bee & Tee
Beyoncé Mourns Tina Turner’s Death and Thanks Her For Paving the Way
“My beloved queen. I love you endlessly. I’m so grateful for your inspiration, and all the ways you have paved the way,” Beyoncé wrote in her tribute. “You are strength and resilience. You are the epitome of power and passion. We are all so fortunate to have witnessed your kindness and beautiful spirit that will forever remain. Thank you for all you have done.”
