Cannes Film Festival 2025: red carpet restrictions, Oliver Hermanus' official selection and more
The 78th Cannes International Film Festival kicks off on Tuesday until May 24 in France — with this year's red carpet organisers putting a long list of new guidelines in place for the red carpet.
The Cannes red carpet gala screenings at the Grand Théâtre Lumière have historically been one of the most ultra-glamorous in the world — with Hollywood's biggest stars dressed in voluminous and elaborate gowns with long trains and embellishments.
According to this year's Festival de Cannes organisers: 'For decency reasons, nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, as well as any other area of the festival.
'Voluminous outfits, in particular those with a large train that hinder the proper flow of traffic of guests and complicate seating in the theatre, are not permitted. The festival welcoming teams will be obligated to prohibit red carpet access to anyone not respecting these rules.'
South Africa's National Film and Video Foundation will have an exhibition stand in the African Pavilion.
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Daily Maverick
29-05-2025
- Daily Maverick
From Cannes 2025: Five standout films you should watch next
With the Cannes Film Festival acting as a very early awards season indicator, these are the most acclaimed and notable films to put on your Must Watch List in 2025. The Cannes Film Festival is about more than Riviera-side schmoozing, 15-minute standing ovations and their booing flipside (plus the new addition of lengthy blackouts). The iconic film festival is an early indicator of potential award season contenders. Last year alone, Anora, which took home the festival's highest honour, the Palme d'Or, went on to win five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Fellow Oscar winners The Substance, controversial Emilia Pérez, and Animated Feature upset Flow all premiered at Cannes. Notably, before that, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite made the journey from Palme d'Or to Academy Award in 2019-2020, while legal drama-mystery Anatomy of a Fall picked up Best Original Screenplay at several awards ceremonies following its 2023 Palme d'Or win. The point is that it pays to keep an eye on what stands out at Cannes, whether competing (see the full 2025 winner's list here) or simply screening. These are the premieres from the 78th Festival de Cannes that you should keep a lookout for at local cinemas and film festivals in the coming months. Anti-authoritarianism earns accolades Film has always been a powerful medium to critique social and political injustice, and this year the Cannes main competition jury seemed eager to reward those movies vocal about power abuse and despotism. Case in point: the 2025 Palme d'Or went to It Was Just an Accident, from Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who has repeatedly been hit with filmmaking bans, travel restrictions and prison sentences from his country's authorities. Acclaim for It Was Just an Accident doesn't appear to be performative, though. Narratively straightforward, accessible, but also thought-provoking, the film sees an apparent everyman kidnapped by people who suspect that he may have been their prison torturer. Can they overrule their doubts and take revenge? Honourable mention: The only film to earn two awards at Cannes this year, The Secret Agent also features anti-totalitarian themes. Scoring Best Director for Kleber Mendonça Filho, and Best Actor for Narcos' Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent is a genre-hopping Brazilian thriller that explores how Carnival was used as a front in the 1970s to make the then-military dictatorship's opponents disappear. The latest auteur efforts For decades, the Cannes Film Festival has been catnip for the world's most acclaimed filmmakers. This year was no different, with Wes Anderson debuting his latest quirky all-star effort, The Phoenician Scheme, a few days before it comes to US cinemas on 30 May. Benicio del Toro plays a 1950s industrialist who, in the middle of a spate of assassination attempts, names his estranged daughter (Mia Threapleton), a nun, as his heir. The good news is that if you found Anderson's last few efforts over-styled and underwhelming, The Phoenician Scheme is apparently a return to enjoyable form. Largely thanks to Threapleton. Honourable mention: Spike Lee and Denzel Washington reunite for the first time in almost 20 years for Highest 2 Lowest, an English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low. Washington plays a successful New York City record producer forced into a ransom scenario that tests his morals. The film is already lined up for an Apple TV+ debut on 5 September. Queer experience on screens The Cannes Film Festival is always welcoming of LGBT+ content, even having an independent Queer Palm accolade for films that excel in their depiction of non cishet experience. There were several contenders for the award in 2025 (it eventually went to The Little Sister), but the most intriguing is the rule-bending romance Pillion. Described as a gay version of Babygirl, this directorial debut from Harry Lighton sees Harry Potter's Harry Melling enter into a sub/dom relationship with Alexander Skarsgård's aloof biker. It's kinky but also tender in its exploration of consensual power dynamics within a relationship. Honourable mention: South African filmmaker Oliver Hermanus, who previously made the likes of Moffie and Queer Palm winner Beauty (AKA Skoonheid), debuted historical gay romance The History of Sound at Cannes this year. Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor star as two men who connect over their mission to record American folk music circa World War I. The comparisons to Brokeback Mountain are there by default. A quick second shout-out also must go to Honey Don't!, a consciously B-grade detective comedy from Ethan Coen, which sees Margaret Qualley's lesbian private investigator hook up with Aubrey Plaza's cop. Charlie Day and Chris Evans also star. Of families and generations It's been called Arthouse with a capital A, but historical drama Sound of Falling, from German filmmaker Mascha Schilinski, emerges from Cannes heralded as something boldly original due to its storytelling approach – which dips into and interweaves the lives of four girls on a farm in northern Germany over the course of a century. It turns out that women's experience doesn't really change, with trauma having a way of seeping through time. Considered a grim watch, Sound of Falling was a tied winner of the Jury Prize (alongside Sirat), which is typically bestowed on up-and-coming filmmakers seen as driving the industry forward creatively. Honourable mention: The Grand Prize is Cannes's second highest honour and that went this year to Sentimental Value, from festival favourite Joachim Trier. Could this Norwegian drama, about the complex relationship between sisters, and daughters and fathers, finally earn Stellan Skarsgård an Oscar nomination? Also worthy of a Must Watch List spot is My Father's Shadow, the first ever Nigerian film to make it onto the festival's Official Selection. In his feature debut, British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr. has told a semi-autobiographical tale with his brother Wale, set against the backdrop of the 1993 Nigerian election. Siblings spend a day with their estranged father (Sope Dirisu) and learn surprising things. The film earned a Camera d'Or Special Mention. One to talk about Finally, if you're looking for the most divisive movie release of Cannes 2025, that dubious honour has to go to Eddington, the latest from Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau Is Afraid filmmaker Ari Aster. Is it an escalating parody of American divisiveness? Does it actually harbour MAGA leanings as it jeers at mask mandates and other liberal ideas? With a wider release set for July, you'll have to watch this moody modern Western, which pits Joaquin Phoenix's small-town sheriff against Pedro Pascal's mayor in the early days of the Covid pandemic, with their friends and neighbours taking sides, and things turning violent. DM
eNCA
24-05-2025
- eNCA
Cannes hit by power cut as film festival draws to a close
CANNES - The Cannes film festival drew to a close on Saturday, promising to overcome a major power cut in order to hand out its prizes at a VIP-studded ceremony later. A wry Iranian film about political prisoners and a Ukrainian-directed drama about despotism are among the frontrunners after almost a fortnight of red carpets and politically charged statements. French actor Juliette Binoche and her jury will announce the winner from the 22 films competing for the Palme d'Or for best film. The best-reviewed contenders include Iranian director Jafar Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident" and Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa's study of tyranny in "Two Prosecutors", according to analysis from Screen magazine. But cinema bible Variety predicted a triumph for Norwegian director Joachim Trier's "Sentimental Value", a moving tale about a quietly fractured family starring Elle Fanning. It got an extraordinary 19-minute standing ovation after its premiere on Thursday. Rumours buzzed around the Riviera resort on Saturday morning about the likely winners, but the traffic did not. Traffic lights were knocked out by the power cut, causing major snarls, while the electricity supply was briefly cut at the film festival headquarters. Organisers said they had switched to an alternative supply, "which enables us to maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony". The cause of the outage has not been announced, but police sources told AFP it was caused by a fire, probably an arson attack, on a nearby electricity substation. - Politics - Amid the red carpets and parties, this year's Cannes Festival has been politically charged, with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as US President Donald Trump major talking-points. AFP | Miguel MEDINA The Gaza war has been on the minds of some of the festival's guests, with more than 900 actors and filmmakers signing an open letter denouncing "genocide" in the Palestinian territory, according to organisers. Binoche, "Schindler's List" star Ralph Fiennes, US indie director Jim Jarmusch and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange -- in town to present a documentary he stars in -- are among the signatories. Speaking at a press conference on Friday, UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, however, said that the festival felt like a "bubble of indifference". Trump's presidency was denounced by US filmmaker Todd Haynes as "barbaric", while Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal admitted it was "scary" to speak out against the Republican leader. - Awards - Other awards have already started to be announced. The first Chechen film to screen at the Cannes Festival -- "Imago" -- won best documentary, while the film about the life of Assange -- "The Six Billion Dollar Man" -- picked up a special jury prize on Friday. AFP | Miguel MEDINA In the secondary Un Certain Regard section, Chilean filmmaker Diego Cespedes won the top prize for "The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo", which follows a group of trans women living in a desert mining town in the 1980s. French actor-turned-director Hafsia Herzi won the unofficial Queer Palm for "The Last One", a coming-of-age tale about a teenage lesbian Muslim living in Paris. "I wanted to show that there were no borders in friendship, in love," Herzi said. Earlier in the week, "Useful Ghost", an off-the-wall Thai LGBTQ ghost story packing a daring political punch, was awarded top prize in the Critics' Week sidebar section. On a lighter note, a sheepdog that features in Icelandic family drama "The Love That Remains" won the Palm Dog prize for canine performers in festival films, organisers announced. Icelandic director Hlynur Palmason cast his own pet, Panda, in his poignant story about a couple navigating a separation and the impact on their family.
The Citizen
23-05-2025
- The Citizen
Over R40 million per year spent on salaries for 24 arts and culture CEOs
The highest arts and culture earners were the CEOs of the Playhouse Company and the National Film and Video Foundation. The department of sports, arts and culture (DSAC) has released details of the remuneration packages of its executives. The information was shared via a written response to a parliamentary question submitted this month. It lists the salaries and perks of almost 30 CEOs of department agencies and heritage organisations. All the salaries are in line with levels 13 to 16 of the department of public service and administration's senior management service model. R45 million annually for 24 CEOs The DA's Thamsanqa Mabhena put in many parliamentary questions requesting the salaries of state-run agencies across multiple departments. DSAC responded with the total remuneration package, allowances, performance bonuses and all benefits of the CEOs of 26 entities – 24 for arts and culture and two for sport – under its umbrella. 'The CEOs/Directors of DSAC public entities are not employed under the Public Service Act with the exception of Pan South African Language Board and Boxing South Africa,' the department clarified. The remuneration packages of the 24 arts and culture CEOs totalling at least R45 million per year, while two sport's bodies came in at just under R3.5 million per year. Of the 25, only five were awarded or disclosed the awarding of performance bonuses for either the 2023/24 or 2024/25 financial years. Arts and culture CEO pay The disclosed amounts included housing subsidies, medical aid, pension contributions and UIF contributions. The only two sporting bodies listed were Boxing South Africa and the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport, whose CEOs earn R1.74 million and R1.69 million per year, respectively. Here is the list of the annual CEO remuneration packages for arts and culture entities under the DSAC: Playhouse Company: R3.02 million National Heritage Council: R2.6 million National Film and Video Foundation: R2.6 million plus a R130 000 performance bonus National Library of South Africa: R2.5 million South African State Theatre in Pretoria: R2.42 million Freedom Park at Salvokop in Pretoria: R2.32 million Artscape theatre in Cape Town: R2.3 Million South African Heritage Resources Agency: R2.01 million War Museum of the Boer Republics in Bloemfontein: R1.9 million Performing Arts Centre of the Free State in Bloemfontein: R1.89 million Pan South African Language Board: R1.89 million Afrikaanse Taal Museum and monument in Paarl: R1.77 million plus two performance bonuses of just under R40 000 National Arts Council: R1.76 million plus two performance bonuses totalling R247 000 National Museum in Bloemfontein: R1.69 million Mandela Bay Theatre complex, formerly the Port Elizabeth Opera House: R1.65 million Market Theatre Foundation: R1.63 million plus two performance bonuses totalling R229 000 Ditsong Museums of South Africa, which includes eight historical sites, including the National museums of natural and military history: R1.56 million The Nelson Mandela Museum, Mandela house in Vilakazi Street: R1.56 million National Library for the Blind: R1.49 million plus one performance bonus of R149 000 William Humphreys Art gallery in Kimberley: R1.43 million Luthuli Museum outside Charlottedale: R1.38 million Amazwi South African Museum of Literature in Grahamstown: R1.42 million per year KZN Museum in Pietermaritxburg: R970 000 per year plus R536 000 in undisclosed perks uMsunduzi – Voortrekker Museum in Pietermaritzburg: R878 000 salary per year and R207 000 annual travel allowance NOW READ: SA ministers to earn R2.68m per year, excluding homes and VIP protection
