All eyes on Cannes as movie-makers vie for top prize

PARIS: Oscar winners Julia Roberts and Jodie Foster will grace the red carpet at next month’s Cannes Film Festival but it is actress Kristen Stewart who grabbed the early spotlight after being dubbed “Queen of Cannes” by organisers on Thursday.

Organisers announced Woody Allen’s Café Society, featuring Stewart, will open the festival which will run from May 11 to 22. The American actress also stars in French director Olivier Assayas’s Personal Shopper, a film that will be vying for the Palme d’Or.

Festival director Thierry Fremaux and his team watched 1 869 films before shortlisting 49, a total of 20 of them included in the main competition, whose jury will be presided over by Mad Max director George Miller.

Two films expected to gain a lot of attention will be Steven Spielberg’s The BFG, based on the novel by Roald Dahl, and the American thriller Money Monster, which is directed by Jodie Foster and stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts. While Roberts has never previously featured in a Cannes film, Foster will be at the festival for the first time as a director. Canadian rising director Xavier Dolan, who won the Jury Prize with Mommy in 2014, is back with It’s Only the End of the World. Jim Jarmusch will have a double presence on the Riviera with a documentary on Iggy Pop, Gimme Danger and Paterson, which will be screened in the main competition. The main competition will feature former Palme d’Or winners JeanPierre, Luc Dardenne and Ken Loach. Pedro Almodovar is also in the main competition alongside Paul Verhoeven. Thursday’s launch followed a demonstration by showbusiness workers, who demanded an improvement of their working conditions. – Reuters

STAR ATTRACTION: Kristen Stewart has been dubbed Queen of Cannes.