CANNES: The 75th Cannes Film Festival kicked off Tuesday with an eye turned to Russia’s war in Ukraine and a live satellite video address from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called on a new generation of filmmakers to confront dictators as Charlie Chaplin satirized Adolf Hitler.

After tributes and musical numbers, Zelenskyy was streamed live for the formally attired audience who had gathered for the premiere of Michel Hazanavicius’ zombie comedy “Final Cut.”

Zelenskyy, dressed in his signature olive green shirt, drew a thunderous standing ovation and and spoke at length about the connection between cinema and reality. He referenced films like Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” as not unlike Ukraine’s present circumstances.

Zelenskyy quoted Chaplin's final speech in “The Great Dictator,” which was released in 1940, in the early days of World War II: “The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people.”

“We need a new Chaplin who will demonstrate that the cinema of our time is not silent,” implored Zelenskyy.

French actor and President of the Jury of the 75th Cannes Film Festival Vincent Lindon (6thL) attends a press conference with jury members (from 2ndL) US film director Jeff Nichols, Italian actress Jasmine Trinca, Norwegian film director Joachim Trier, Indian actress Deepika Padukone, British actress Rebecca Hall, French director Ladj Ly, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace and Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi during the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. (AFP)

The Ukrainian president pushed filmmakers not to “stay silent” while hundreds continue to die in Ukraine, the largest war in Europe since WWII, and show that cinema “is always on the side of freedom.”

The war is to be a regular presence in Cannes, where the festival has barred Russians with ties to the government from attending this year. Set to screen are several films from prominent Ukrainian filmmakers, including Sergei Loznitsa’s documentary “The Natural History of Destruction.” Footage shot by Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius before he was killed in Mariupol in April will also be shown by his fiancée, Hanna Bilobrova.

Even “Final Cut,” the latest film from “The Artist” filmmaker Hazanavicius, was renamed from its original title, “Z,” after Ukrainian protesters noted that the letter Z to some symbolizes support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Formally attired stars including Eva Longoria, Julianne Moore, Bérénice Bejo and “No Time to Die” star Lashana Lynch were among those who streamed down Cannes’ famous red carpet Tuesday. More star-studded premieres — “Top Gun: Maverick!” “Elvis!" — await over the next 12 days, during which 21 films will vie for the festival's prestigious top award, the Palme d'Or.

But Tuesday’s opening and the carefully choreographed red-carpet parade leading up the steps to the Grand Théâtre Lumiére again restored one of the movies' grandest pageants after two years of pandemic that have challenged the exalted stature Cannes annually showers on cinema.

“Dear friends, let’s come out of this dark together,” said opening ceremony host Virginie Efira.

After last year requiring regular COVID-19 testing and masks in theaters — and no kisses on the red carpet — Cannes has largely done away with pandemic protocols. Masks are recommended inside but are rarely worn.

French actor and President of the Jury of the 75th Cannes Film Festival Vincent Lindon (R) pose with jury members (from L) French director Ladj Ly, Indian actress Deepika Padukone, Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi and British actress Rebecca Hall as they arrive to attend the screening of “Final Cut (Coupez !)” ahead of the opening ceremony of the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. (AFP)

Cannes presented an honorary Palme d’Or to Forest Whitaker, who received a standing ovation. Whitaker, who won best actor at Cannes 34 years ago for his performance as Charlie Parker in Clint Eastwood’s “Bird,” said that while ascending the steps to the Palais des Festivals on Tuesday, he could still hear chants of “Clint! Clint!” ringing in his ears. Eastwood is one of few others who have been awarded an honorary Palme.

On Tuesday, Cannes also unveiled the jury that will award the Palme d'Or. French actor Vincent Lindon is leading a jury that includes Deepika Padukone, Rebecca Hall, Asghar Farhadi, Trinca, Ladj Ly, Noomi Rapace, Jeff Nichols and Joachim Trier.

Questions of gender equality have long surrounded the Cannes Film Festival, where no more than five female filmmakers have ever been a part of the Palme competition lineup and only two women directors have won it. On Monday, Fremaux defended the festival, arguing that it selects films purely on the basis of quality. Hall, who last year made her directorial debut with the film “Passing,” was asked about her opinion on Cannes' record.

“I believe that it is a work in progress. I mean for the whole film industry, not just the Cannes Film Festival,” replied Hall. “The way of dealing with these things needs to be addressed on a grassroots level as well. It’s not just the festivals or public-facing situations. It’s about all the minutiae of what goes into the industry at large."

Farhadi, the Oscar-winning Iranian director, also spoke for the first time about an ongoing plagiarism suit regarding his previous film, “A Hero,” which won the Grand Prix in Cannes last year. A former film student of Farhadi's, Azadeh Masihzadeh, has accused him of stealing the idea of the film from a 2018 documentary she made in a workshop taught by Farhadi.

Speaking at length, Farhadi said “A Hero” was not based on the documentary.

“It was based on a current event so this documentary and this film are based on an event that happened two years prior to the workshop,” said Farhadi. “When an event takes place and is covered by the press, then it becomes public knowledge and you can do what you like about the event. You can write a story or make a film about the event. You can look up the information on this event. ‘A Hero’ is just one interpretation of this event.”

At the tradition-upholding Cannes, the world's largest and most glitzy temple to film, cinema, controversy and glamour swirl together in a 12-day spectacle of red carpet premieres and rampant movie deal-making up and down the Croisette. Theatrical release is a requirement of any film vying for the Palme, which has prevented streaming services from playing a big role at Cannes.

But this year, one new festival partner — TikTok — has raised some eyebrows. The festival is hosting TikTok creators from around the world and holding a separate contest for best (very short) videos created during the festival. Thierry Fremaux, artistic director of Cannes, granted TikTok wasn't the future of cinema.

“The cinema remains the final art,” said Fremaux.

TUNIS: Actress Claudia Cardinale may have been a sixties legend of Italian and French cinema, but in Tunisia, in the portside district where she grew up, she says she feels “at home.” “I left very young, but I spent my whole childhood here, my adolescence,” said Cardinale, now 84. “My origins are here.” To celebrate her connection to the North African country, authorities on Sunday named a street after her in the La Goulette suburb of the capital Tunis, where petals were scattered in a ceremony in her honor. “You marked the world of cinema for almost half a century with your dazzling beauty, your charisma and through the roles you played,” said Amel Limam, the mayor of La Goulette. “I am very honored, because it is here that I was born and spent my childhood,” Cardinale said. “I kiss you!“ The multicultural beachfront neighborhood was once home to a sizeable Sicilian population — including Cardinale’s parents. Before Tunisia’s independence from France in 1956, more than 130,000 Italians were resident, and many of their ancestors had settled there before French colonial rule. “I still keep a lot of Tunisia inside me — the scenery, the people, sense of welcome, the openness,” Cardinale told AFP. In 1957, aged 19, Cardinale won a beauty contest for “the prettiest Italian” in newly independent Tunisia. Her prize was a trip to the Venice film festival, where she caught the eye of influential cinema figures. That led to her first film role, in Mario Monicelli’s Le Pigeon. Soon afterwards, she moved with her family to Rome to pursue her career, which took off with a role in Luchino Visconti’s film The Leopard, alongside French film star Alain Delon and Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster. That was the start of a long career that has continued into her 80s. After starring in The Pink Panther opposite David Niven in 1963, she shot to attention in the United States and Britain. In one of her latest roles, she plays a grandmother in a film by Tunisia’s Ridha Behi, “L’ile du Pardon,” currently in post-production. Her parents never recovered from their departure from Tunisia, which they experienced as an exile. “It was very hard. My father never wanted to come back, that’s how much he dreaded the pain of what was for him a real heartbreak,” she said. “My mother recreated Tunisia in Italy. She planted all Tunisian plants and kept on cooking Tunisian meals.” But Cardinale said the Tunisian sense of hospitality can be a model for how to treat migrants. The country “can and should be proud of its history,” she said. And in an era when many Tunisians are willing to risk their lives boarding unseaworthy boats to reach Europe, she stresses the importance of “remembering this shared past to build the future.” “The wind changes, and we’re all equal in terms of the need to leave,” she said. “Tunisia for us was a welcoming land. I wish everyone in the world who needs to leave somewhere could receive the same welcome.”

LOS ANGELES: A Saudi architecture and urban planning scholar, who has released a series of original artworks, told Arab News how her work is helping to bring different cultures together. 

Dina Abdul Karim said she discovered a unique beauty in the buildings, streets and sidewalks of US cities where she teaches at universities. 

Now she’s sharing her perspective and more in an ongoing series of original artwork.

“I like that creative capacity of architecture, but I wanted to do more art, and now I think my art is very much influenced by my architectural background and my training and planning in urban design,” she said.

Born in Saudi Arabia with mixed Middle Eastern heritage, Abdul Karim’s art combines American architecture with her pan-Arabic culture. 

Using symbols such as the damask pattern, which Dina identified as being appropriated by western culture, she expressed how her identity has also been melded with “Americana.”

“I use different patterns from the Middle East and I overlay them with suburban with aerial views of suburban roofs and suburban homes in ways that really cannot unravel the two because we are assimilating in cultures we live in and we’re assimilating even with some degree with cultures we don’t live in,” she said.

After seeing a radical shift in how people interact with cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dina hopes to use her position as an artist and educator to promote the exploration and appreciation of public spaces and to help others see the beauty that she sees.

“People adorn in cities a lot more than any flower pots or other items of street furniture. I wish people can come to the public realm and think of it as their living room and dining room and where they can explore and play and celebrate together.”

DUBAI:  Celebrities from Gigi Hadid to Michelle Obama flooded part-Middle Eastern actress Yara Shahidi’s Instagram comments section this weekend as she graduated from Harvard University.

Shahidi took to the social media platform to mark the occasion, sharing two photos of herself wearing a black graduation gown and a custom Dior skirt suit in the prestigious Ivy League school’s signature red hue.

“Yara (noun): a Harvard graduate #ITSOFFICIAL #CLASSOF2022,” she captioned the images.

Additionally, Shahidi’s father, Afshin, also took to the social media platform to post a selfie photo of himself and his daughter on her graduation day.

“Beautifully surreal moment seeing our delicate petal in full bloom,” her dad captioned the picture, tagging Yara and his wife, Keri.

A number of celebrities also took to the “Grown-ish” star’s comment section to celebrate the fresh graduate.

“CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!” posted Tracee Ellis Ross, who co-starred in “Black-ish” as Rainbow Johnson, mom to Shahidi’s character.

“Mashallah, congrats beautiful” wrote US-Iranian singer Snoh Aalegra.

Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama also left a sweet congratulatory comment.

“Congratulations, Yara! This is such a special accomplishment. I am so proud of you and the strong example you’ve set for others to follow,” she wrote.

Obama wrote Shahidi’s college recommendation letter.

The 22-year-old was accepted into the school in 2017, but took a gap year before beginning her studies.

According to a piece published by Vogue US, Shahidi studied in the school’s social studies and African American departments. Her focus was on “Black political thought under a neocolonial landscape," and prior to graduating she completed a 136-page thesis titled “I Am a Man: The Emancipation of Humanness from Western Hegemony Through the Lens of Sylvia Wynter.”

Working on her thesis, Shahidi said she felt “pushed” as an academic.

“It was important for me, as a young adult, to prove to myself — during these times of transition — that I am capable, and perhaps more capable than I give myself credit,” she told the magazine.

During her four-year undergraduate program at Harvard, Shahidi maintained her busy schedule as an actor — starring in hit shows “Black-ish” and “Grown-ish” ­— producer, and Dior brand ambassador.

Shahidi’s impending post-grad plans including wrapping up the filming of the fifth season of “Grown-ish,” which is slated to kick off in July.

CHENNAI: “Top Gun: Maverick” is not all action and high-flying antics — it has tender moments, poignant nostalgia and a touch of romance that make Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell endearingly humane. A sequel to Tony Scott’s 1986 “Top Gun,” a blockbuster that is said to have caused a spike in US military enlistment, this fresh take is sure to enrapture crowds once again.

The film, which played at the just-concluded Cannes Film Festival, is enriched by the presence of a boyish and charming Cruise, who is a trained pilot and executed many stunts in the movie propelled by director Joseph Kosinski. The high-octane action is nail biting with daredevil maneuvers that are magical to watch.  

The sequel catches up with Maverick after more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators. He is seen pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him, before a dangerous mission comes his way.

The narrative falls into a predictable pattern after that, but the flying — during the practice sessions and the actual operation — is exhilarating with the action sequences captured with clockwork precision by cinematographer Claudio Miranda. What is more, they look authentic — indeed, they are, for we are told Cruise is famously averse to CGI, opting instead to perform white-knuckling stunts himself. Production designer Jeremy Hindle got hold of old fighter jets and refurbished them to create believable and engaging action sequences.

Much of the runtime is confined to this, but when the film moves to a tender love story between Penny (Jennifer Connelly), who runs a local bar, and Maverick, we understand that he is not just obsessed with his planes. This plotline allows for a more nuanced version of the lead character to come to the fore, and the film is all the better for it.  

Kosinski and editor Eddie Hamilton, as well as the writers, are careful to keep the balance intact between this personal drama and the flying adventures. The score by Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga and Hans Zimmer also adds to the enjoyment quotient, with Lady Gaga’s song “Hold My Hand” of particular noteworthiness. But in the end, “Top Gun: Maverick” is all about death-defying action and miraculous escapes and will give cinema-goers a wild ride.

CANNES, France: Ruben Ostlund’s social satire “Triangle of Sadness” won the Palme d’Or at the 75th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, handing Ostlund one of cinema’s most prestigious prizes for the second time. Meanwhile, Swedish-Egyptian filmmaker Tarik Saleh took best screenplay at Cannes for “Boy From Heaven,” a thriller set in Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque. The festival also named Korean star Song Kang Ho best actor for his performance in Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s film “Broker,” about Korean family seeking a home for an abandoned baby. “I’d like to thank all those who appreciate Korean cinema,” said Song, who also starred in Bong Joon Ho’s Palme d’Or winning film “Parasite” in Cannes three years ago. Best actress went to Zar Amir Ebrahimi for her performance as a journalist in Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider,” a true-crime thriller about a serial killer targeting sex workers in the Iranian religious city of Mashhad. Violent and graphic, “Holy Spider” wasn’t permitted to shoot in Iran and instead was made in Jordan. Accepting the award, Ebrahimi said the film depicts “everything that’s impossible to show in Iran.” The awards were selected by a nine-member jury headed by French actor Vincent Lindon. The jury prize was split between friendship tale “The Eight Mountains,” by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen, and Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s “EO,” about a donkey’s journey across a pitiless modern Europe. “I would like to thank my donkeys,” said Skolimowski, who used six donkeys while making the film. This year’s award for best first film, the Camera d’Or, went to Riley Keough and Gina Gammell for “War Pony,” a drama about the Pine Ridge Reservation made in collaboration with Oglala Lakota and Sicangu Lakota citizens. Saturday’s closing ceremony brings to a close a Cannes that has attempted to fully resuscitate the annual France extravaganza which was canceled in 2020 by the pandemic and saw modest crowds last year. This year’s festival also unspooled against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, which sparked red-carpet protests and a dialogue about the purpose of cinema in wartime. Last year, the French body horror thriller “Titane” took the top prize at Cannes, making director Julia Decournau only the second female filmmaker ever to win the Palme. In 2019, Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” triumphed in Cannes before doing the same at the Academy Awards. This year, the biggest Hollywood films at Cannes — “Elvis,”“Top Gun: Maverick,”“Three Thousand Years of Longing” — played outside Cannes’ competition lineup of 21 films. But their presence helped restore some of Cannes’ glamor after the pandemic scaling down the festival for the last two years.