Hindustan Times (Lucknow) - Hindustan Times (Lucknow) - Live
Conflicts in the limelight at Cannes
Alegal drama played out at the on-going 71st Cannes Film Festival (till May 19), as filmmaker Terry Gilliam won a verdict on Wednesday that allowed the screening of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. His film was in danger of not being screened, as Portuguese producer Paulo Branco, a former backer of the film, had gone to court saying that he owned the film rights. But a Paris court ruled in favour of Gilliam.
This has ended a very long struggle for Gilliam, who had to abandon an initial version starring Johnny Depp in 2000 due to a series of calamities, including flooding, ill health and money problems. Finally remade with Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver, the film will now close the festival.
Several guests also posed with placards and T-shirts showing solidarity with Kirill Serebrennikov, the Russian director currently under house arrest in Moscow on embezzlement charges. The Cannes fest director also asked the Russian authorities to let Serebrennikov attend the premiere of his film, Leto, but got no positive response. As is the tradition for the past few years, Cannes’ India Pavilion was inaugurated on the second day of the festival. Among those present were Prasoon Joshi, lyricist and chief of the Central Board of Film Certification, and actors Sharad
Kelkar and Huma Qureshi. The agenda this year is to showcase diversity in Indian cinema while boosting collaborations with other countries. The ceremony also saw the trailer of the film T for Taj Mahal. Directed by National Awardwinning writer-director Kireet Khurana, the film is about a man’s mission to bring education to his village. “I’m happy with the overwhelming response at Cannes. Many programmers of film festivals across the country saw the trailer and approached us. I’m grateful that the production house is going the extra mile for something they believe in,” said Khurana.