3 h. ago Iranian director Jafar Panahi wins Palme d’Or at Cannes for It Was Just an Accident

Panahi, long censored and previously imprisoned in his home country, took top prize as Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent also honouredThe dissident Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi has won the top prize at the Cannes film festival for his drama It Was Just an Accident, inspired by his stints of imprisonment at the hands of the Iranian government.The film was the first made by the director after a ban on film-making was lifted – although he has continued to direct despite being expressly forbidden to do so. In 2011, a year after his first arrest, a copy of his drama This Is Not a Film was snuck into Cannes on a USB stick hidden in a cake. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Natalie Portman flashes her abs in a bikini next to a mystery man as she takes a dip in the south of France

The Star Wars veteran was with a mystery man, who was wearing a wedding band, at hotel Eden Roc during the Cannes Film Festival. Natalie recently premiered Arco at Cannes.

Politics

4 d. ago A Simple Accident review – Jafar Panahi takes us on a nightmare trip into a land of bribes and brutality

Cannes film festival An unfortunate encounter with a dog sets off a chain of surreal, grotesque events that expose the corruption and tyranny at the heart of IranJafar Panahi is the veteran Iranian auteur and democracy campaigner who continues to get arrested and imprisoned, to endure film-making bans and defy the law, finding loopholes through which his movies can be made and shown abroad. And the Iranian authorities, tensely and hypocritically aware of world scrutiny and indeed the soft-power prestige still to be accrued from Panahi’s eminence, appear (almost) to tolerate it.Now Panahi has come to Cannes with what might be his most emotionally explicit film yet: a film about state violence and revenge, about the pain of tyranny that co-exists with ostensible everyday normality. There are macabre stabs of satire, black comedy and horror-farce, and the movie almost looks like an Iranian dissident tribute to Weekend at Bernie’s or even Hitchcock’s The Trouble With Harry. Continue rea...

Politics

4 d. ago ‘I think of those I left behind in prison’: Iran’s Jafar Panahi on life as a banned film

He’s been jailed, gone on hunger strike and been forced to sell his house for bail. In his first newspaper interview for 15 years, the great director explains why every film is worth the consequencesIn February 2023 Jafar Panahi walked free from Iran’s Evin prison after nearly seven months behind bars. Friends and supporters had gathered to greet him, but the moment of release felt bittersweet and he struggled to adjust back to civilian life afterwards. In the weeks that followed he developed a habit. He’d drive his car back and forth on the road that paralleled the high prison walls, pining for those who were still inside. “These people had become my people,” he says. “I thought, ‘How could I go and leave them behind?’”Panahi makes humane, heartfelt pictures about life in Iran. He refers to these as “social films”, although this definition cuts no ice with the Iranian government, which has ruled them to be “propaganda against the system” and therefore hazardous, offensive material....

Events

9 d. ago Actor banned from Cannes red carpet after accusations of rape

Theo Navarro-Mussy has a secondary role as a police officer in the film Dossier 137 by Dominik Moll which is to premiere on ThursdayThe Cannes film festival said it had banned an actor in a prominent French film from the red carpet on Thursday because of sexual assault allegations against him.Theo Navarro-Mussy has a secondary role as a police officer in the film Dossier 137 by Dominik Moll which is to premiere on Thursday in the festival’s main competition. According to French magazine Télérama, which broke the news, Navarro-Mussy was accused of rape by three former partners in 2018, 2019, and 2020, but the case was dropped last month for lack of evidence. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago JENNI MURRAY: I feel terribly depressed whenever I see a talented woman stepping out with her breasts on show

Three cheers for the organisers of the Cannes Film Festival which kicked off this week. They have imposed a ban on nudity on the red carpet.

Events

1 week ago The wildest Cannes Film Festival looks of all time as new nudity ban is enforced

The festival organizers instated their new dress code just one day before the affair kicked off

Culture

1 week ago Bella Hadid pushes the boundaries of Cannes Film Festival 'naked' new dress rule

Cannes Film Festival implemented a last minute dress code rule putting an end to celebrities showing up to the red carpet with risqué outfits, and long time attendee Bella Hadid didn't disappoint

Culture

1 week ago The wildest Cannes Film Festival looks of all time as new nudity ban comes into play

The festival organizers instated their new dress code just one day before the affair kicked off

Culture

1 week ago See the looks from Cannes' opening ceremony after the festival banned big dresses and nude looks

A day after it was revealed the Cannes Film Festival was banning nudity and “voluminous outfits” from its red carpets and beyond, long trains and massive dresses still captivated attention.

Events

1 week ago Bella Hadid shows off her new blonde hairstyle as she goes braless despite opting for a conservative black gown at Cannes' opening ceremony after festival placed a ban on risqué looks

The model, 28, showed off her eye-catching new blonde hairstyle as she slipped into an elegant black gown with a thigh-high split for the premiere of Leave One Day.

Culture

1 week ago Attenborough film shows seabed ‘devastation’ says MP in bottom trawling ban call

Climate leaders are set to meet in Nice, France, next month.

Culture

1 week ago Cannes Film Festival's most outrageous looks ever as 'naked' dresses banned

Cannes Film Festival has released some strict rules which those in attendance must follow, and sheer illusion dresses are just as frowned upon as huge bouncy gowns

Culture

1 week ago Cannes Film Festival bans 'naked' looks after Bella Hadid stunt as rules exposed

Cannes Film Festival has released a new set of rules for the 2025 event, which includes a ban on nude illusion dresses following Bella Hadid's knockout number last year

Culture

1 week ago Cannes Film Festival bans nudity on the red carpet ‘for decency reasons’ amid naked dress trend

Model Bella Hadid donned a completely sheer Saint Laurent dress to the 77th annual festival last year

Culture

1 week ago Halle Berry covers up in a dramatic sequinned tunic as she arrives for the Cannes Film Festival after organisers sensationally banned racy gowns from the ceremony

The actress, 58, opted for a black fringed tunic and loose-fitting trousers as she headed to the 2025 Jury Dinner, ahead of the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

Events

1 week ago The Marching Band review – tender French concert bromance gets out the trombones

Two strong leads in Pierre Lottin and Benjamin Lavernhe make this heart-on-sleeve but unsentimental class drama a triumph in a minor key French film-maker Emmanuel Courcol serves up a good-natured heartwarmer with some syrup, but also two watchable and robust lead performances. For British audiences, The Marching Band might call to mind Brassed Off, The Full Monty or Billy Elliot, movies from the heartland which dared to dream that showbusiness or cultural community adventures can somehow survive the wreckage of industrial capitalism.Benjamin Lavernhe plays Thibaut, a distinguished and sensitive orchestra conductor who collapses mid-rehearsal in Paris and is told he has leukaemia and needs a bone marrow transplant donor. Thibaut is adopted and this means tracking down his biological brother out in the boondocks: factory worker Jimmy, played by the formidable Pierre Lottin (recently seen in François Ozon’s When Autumn Falls), whose gift for deadpan comedy really only gets free rein a...

Culture

1 week ago Cannes Film Festival imposes new rule banning 'naked' dresses

Stars won’t be given red carpet access if they don’t abide by the rules

Culture

1 week ago Cannes Film Festival bans naked dresses and long trains from red carpet for 2025 event

Cannes Film Festival has banned three types of gowns from the red carpet in the name of ‘decency’ and efficiency — and it could play havoc with actors’ outfit plans

Culture

1 week ago Cannes Film Festival BANS risqué outfits from annual ceremony after years of provocative red carpet displays as organisers issue new guidelines for 'expected behaviour'

Over recent years the star-studded extravaganza has arguably won more attention for the outfits worn by its celebrity guests than the roster of feature films being screened on the Croisette.

Culture