Cannes Festival: an opening between homage and big show

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In this first Cannes diary, meet a hobbit, his creator, super accomplice actors and the star of stars.

A mistress of ceremonies like a conductor. There was music to open this festival. From a legendary shabadabada to a revisited classic, Théodora takes on the Beatles for a very special guest, a director who conquered the world with a cult trilogy: Peter Jackson receives an honorary Palme d’Or from the hands of his favorite actor and hobbit, and the ovation that goes with it. For the first climb of the steps, the usual Cannes extravaganzas. And in the middle of the frou-frous, a jury without a Frenchie this year, chaired by the Korean Park Chan-wook, at his side to deliberate Demi Moore and Chloé Zhao. And to get the ball rolling, a group of ultra-popular actors: Gilles Lelouch, Pio Marmaï, Anaïs Demoustier, who came to present the opening film. With The Electric Venus, the party begins.

A funfair in 1920s Paris and a burlesque encounter between a grieving painter and a false clairvoyant. In The Electric Venus, the actors make sparks and in life, actors without fuss, who have even found pet names. Anaïs Demoustier says: “It’s a film which is like a sort of homage to cinema, a homage to fiction, to dreams, to the stories we tell ourselves, and so I think it’s great to start the festival with that.”

Behind the scenes, there is one who has still remained discreet, but she is ready for the party. The Palme d’Or, taken out of its box just for us. A trophy which, in the history of the festival, has already caused some fears. Caroline Scheufele, artistic director and co-president of Chopard, explains: “A few years ago, when Catherine Deneuve presented the Palme, it fell off the screen and I was at the presentation. But it didn’t break.”

Quickly put away in its box, the beauty will only come out for the closing ceremony in 11 days.”