Latest news with #PalmedOr
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
The six ways Cannes will shape the year in movies
CANNES, France — It was a Cannes Film Festival that began on May 13 with Robert De Niro calling Donald Trump 'America's philistine president' — electrifying the European press at the Opening Ceremonies as the actor criticized Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center and proposed tariff on foreign-made films. And it was one that ended Saturday with the Palme d'Or going to the Iranian dissident director Jafar Panahi for his political thriller 'It Was Just an Accident.' Praising the pick, Cannes jury president Juliette Binoche said the film 'springs from a feeling of resistance, survival, which is absolutely necessary today.'
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, first Arab and African director to win Cannes Palme d'Or, dies aged 95
Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, the first Arab and African director to win the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival, has died aged 91, his family said Friday. The film-maker was awarded the prize in 1975 for Chronicle of the Years of Fire, a historical drama about the Algerian war of independence. His children said he passed away at his home in Algiers. Hamina – who was the oldest living recipient of the Palme d'Or – competed four times in the festival. His 1967 film The Winds of the Aurès won the best first work award. The struggle for Algeria's independence was at the heart of Chronicle of the Years of Fire, which in six chapters from 1939 to 1954 tells the story of a nation through its people, culminating in the uprising against French colonisation. Born on 26 February 1934 in M'Sila in the mountainous Aurès region of north-east Algeria, Hamina was the son of modest peasants from the high plains. He attended agricultural school, then studied in the southern French town of Antibes, just along the Mediterranean coast from Cannes, where he met his future wife. The couple had four sons together. During the Algerian war, his father was kidnapped, tortured and killed by the French army. He was called up to the French army in 1958 but deserted to join the Algerian resistance in Tunis. He learned film-making through an internship working on Tunisian newsreels before venturing into short films.
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Cannes-winning filmmaker Panahi backs Iran truckers' strike
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi backed week-long nationwide strikes by truckers Wednesday as a 'loud call' to the authorities, after arriving home from his triumph at the Cannes film festival. Truck drivers across Iran were striking for a seventh day on Wednesday in a stoppage rare in its length and magnitude, seeking better conditions in a sector crucial for the economy in the Islamic Republic. After starting last week in the southwestern port city of Bandar Abbas, the strike action has spread across the country, according to reports by monitoring groups on social media and Persian-language media based outside Iran. The truck drivers are protesting a rise in insurance premiums, poor road security, high fuel prices and low freight rates, according to union statements cited by these media. 'They are fed up. They have no choice but to go strike,' Panahi wrote on Instagram, having returned to Iran on Monday after winning the Palme d'Or for his latest film 'It Was Just an Accident.' 'When thieves and illiterate people are put in charge, the result is this terrible situation: corruption and mismanagement in everything, from the economy and culture to the environment and politics,' added Panahi. The acclaimed director was long banned from filmmaking and unable to leave Iran, having also spent time in prison due to his political stances. 'This strike is a loud call to the government saying: 'Enough! Stop all this oppression and plunder',' he said. Persian-language television channels based outside Iran, including Iran International and Manoto, which are critical of the government, said the strike was continuing Wednesday, broadcasting images of deserted roads sent from inside Iran. Tankers carrying fuel from the major refinery in Abadan in western Iran have now joined the strike, Manoto said. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the images. The same outlets also indicated that there have been strikes in other sectors in Iran, notably by bakers who are angered by early morning power cuts when they are baking bread.
Asharq Al-Awsat
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran Summons French Diplomat Over Praise of Palme d'Or-Winning Film
Iran has summoned France's representative in protest after the French foreign minister praised a prize-winning Iranian film as 'a gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression.' Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had praised 'It Was Just an Accident' after it won the prestigious Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival. The Iranian film centers on a man who abducts his suspected captor after being tortured in prison. Iran's Foreign Ministry said the French charge d'affaires was summoned over the minister's 'interventionist, irresponsible and instigative allegations,' the state-run IRNA news agency reported. 'Spare us Iranians the lectures. You have no moral authority whatsoever,' Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on 'X,' citing France's approach to Israel's ongoing war in Gaza. France last week threatened 'concrete action' against Israel if the country didn't halt the offensive in Gaza and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid, but the statement was mostly dismissed as empty threats. Immediately following the award's announcement, the Iranian state news agency had announced a more muted celebration of the award, crediting the country's film industry for winning a second Palme d'Or after Abbas Kiarostami's 1997 drama, 'Taste of Cherry.' In Iran, film productions need to receive script approval from the government to shoot in public. Dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi refuses to do that, knowing they won't allow him to make the films he wants to, and 'It Was Just an Accident' was filmed without cooperation. Iranian state TV called the film a mixture of 'lie and smearing' as well as an 'underground' film produced without required permits in Iran. State TV also chastised Panahi for not mentioning the plight of the Palestinians in his acceptance speech. The film follows a man named Vahid, played by Vahid Mobasser, who believes he sees his former captor, who tortured him in prison and ruined his life. He abducts him, takes him to the desert and begins to bury him in the ground. But to satisfy pangs of doubt, Vahid decides to confirm his suspicion by bringing the man, locked in his van, to other former prisoners for identification. In a strange and emotional journey, they are all forced to grapple with revenge and forgiveness. Panahi drew on the experiences from his own imprisonment, as well as the stories of detainees around him. Other state media were more critical of the win. The Mizan news agency, an arm of the country's judiciary, reported on the win as part of the 'Political Cannes Film Festival,' suggesting that the prize was given to Panahi because of his political leanings. Pro-reform media outlets and activists praised Panahi. 'This victory is no accident — it is the result of a tireless dedication to exploring humanistic values and human rights,' said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who was also previously imprisoned at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison. Inmates at the prison include those with Western ties and political prisoners. Panahi, one of the leading international directors, was banned from traveling out of Iran in 2009 for attending the funeral of a student killed in anti-government protests, a judgment later extended to two decades. But even when placed under house arrest, Panahi kept making movies, many of which are among the most lauded of the century. He made 2011's 'This Is Not a Film' on an iPhone in his living room. 'Taxi' (2015) was clandestinely shot almost entirely within a car. Panahi was arrested in 2022 when he went to the Tehran prosecutor's office to inquire about the arrests of two other Iranian filmmakers. A judge later ruled that he must serve six years for an earlier sentence on charges of propagandizing against the government from 2011 that had never been enforced. In early 2023, Panahi went on a hunger strike and was released from Evin Prison. Panahi said he would not seek asylum in another country, despite the risks of additional imprisonment. 'It's simple. I'm unable to live here,' he said last week from the Cannes festival. 'I have no ability to adapt to a new country, a new culture. Some people have this ability, this strength. I don't.' On Monday, Panahi landed in Tehran to cheers and applause from fans.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Iran summons French diplomat over praise of Palme d'Or-winning film
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has summoned France's representative in protest after the French foreign minister praised a prize-winning Iranian film as 'a gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression.' Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had praised 'It Was Just an Accident' after it won the prestigious Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival. The Iranian film centers on a man who abducts his suspected captor after being tortured in prison. Iran's Foreign Ministry said the French charge d'affaires was summoned over the minister's 'interventionist, irresponsible and instigative allegations,' the state-run IRNA news agency reported. 'Spare us Iranians the lectures. You have no moral authority whatsoever,' Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on 'X,' citing France's approach to Israel's ongoing war in Gaza. France last week threatened 'concrete action' against Israel if the country didn't halt the offensive in Gaza and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid, but the statement was mostly dismissed as empty threats. Immediately following the award's announcement, the Iranian state news agency had announced a more muted celebration of the award, crediting the country's film industry for winning a second Palme d'Or after Abbas Kiarostami's 1997 drama, 'Taste of Cherry." In Iran, film productions need to receive script approval from the government to shoot in public. Dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi refuses to do that, knowing they won't allow him to make the films he wants to, and 'It Was Just an Accident' was filmed without cooperation. Iranian state TV called the film a mixture of 'lie and smearing' as well as an 'underground' film produced without required permits in Iran. State TV also chastised Panahi for not mentioning the plight of the Palestinians in his acceptance speech. The film follows a man named Vahid, played by Vahid Mobasser, who believes he sees his former captor, who tortured him in prison and ruined his life. He abducts him, takes him to the desert and begins to bury him in the ground. But to satisfy pangs of doubt, Vahid decides to confirm his suspicion by bringing the man, locked in his van, to other former prisoners for identification. In a strange and emotional journey, they are all forced to grapple with revenge and forgiveness. Panahi drew on the experiences from his own imprisonment as well as the stories of detainees around him. Other state media were more critical of the win. The Mizan news agency, an arm of the country's judiciary, reported on the win as part of the 'Political Cannes Film Festival,' suggesting that the prize was given to Panahi because of his political leanings. Pro-reform media outlets and activists praised Panahi. 'This victory is no accident — it is the result of a tireless dedication to exploring humanistic values and human rights,' said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who was also previously imprisoned at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison. Inmates at the prison include those with Western ties and political prisoners. Panahi, one of the leading international directors, was banned from traveling out of Iran in 2009 for attending the funeral of a student killed in anti-government protests, a judgment later extended to two decades. But even when placed under house arrest, Panahi kept making movies, many of which are among the most lauded of the century. He made 2011's 'This Is Not a Film' on an iPhone in his living room. 'Taxi' (2015) was clandestinely shot almost entirely within a car. Panahi was arrested in 2022 when he went to the Tehran prosecutor's office to inquire about the arrests of two other Iranian filmmakers. A judge later ruled that he must serve six years for an earlier sentence on charges of propagandizing against the government from 2011 that had never been enforced. In early 2023, Panahi went on a hunger strike and was released from Evin Prison. Panahi said he would not seek asylum in another country, despite the risks of additional imprisonment. 'It's simple. I'm unable to live here,' he said last week from the Cannes festival. 'I have no ability to adapt to a new country, a new culture. Some people have this ability, this strength. I don't.' On Monday, Panahi landed in Tehran to cheers and applause from fans. — Associated Press Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Jake Coyle in Cannes, France, contributed.
