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| View of the Palais de Festival 2012 Credit: Festival de Cannes |
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| View of the Palais de Festival 2011 |
One month from today I will wing my way to the French Riviera and my 13th Cannes Film Festival. Although the festival doesn't begin until May 15-26, I will spend some time at my place in Nice before venturing down the road to Cannes and the biggest and most prestigious film festival in the world. It has been said that 80 percent of the world's wealth is in Cannes during the 11 days of the festival. Judging by the number of yachts in the Cannes harbor and marina, and the overwhelming number of Rolls', Bentley's, Ferrari's, Lamborghini's and any other fine automobile you can name, I would venture to say it's not far from the truth. It's fairly easy to get rundown by a Rolls' or Bentley. Trying to board one of the yachts is not so easy and getting invited to a party aboard one of them is even harder.
This year because of my enthusiasm for past festivals, a number of people I have met are making the trek this year. I think the festival owes me for my PR work. My Cannes friend and sidekick for the past three years, Yolonda Brinkley (YRB International Exposure) is also upping her visibility at this years festival with her 4th Beyond Borders: Diversity In Cannes Filmmaker Symposium and her 1st Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase and Awards (check out her web site, www.diversityincannes.com). Last year during the festival an article in the UK Guardian mentioned her Diversity in Cannes Symposium because of the number of women on the panel and why so few women filmmakers were not being featured in the overall festival. Yolonda also received a 2012 European Diversity Award nomination.
This is looking to be a pretty big festival this year with Australian director Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby"opening the festival (starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan and the musical score by Jay-Z that also features a song by Beyonce, all of whom are expected to walk the famous red carpeted stairs). You can view the movie trailer on the Video Bar in my blog.
Just announced a few minutes ago via Festival de Cannes - Page Officiele that French actress Audrey Tautou will host the opening and closing ceremonies. Last year was my first time actually attending the opening ceremony. Steven Spielberg is President of the Festival Jury this year. Remember in 2011 when Robert De Niro was President of the Jury people were mistaking me for "Madame De Niro," to my delight.
As in the past, I will be blogging here during the Festival trying to keep everyone abreast of all the happenings and fun that I am sure I will be getting into this year. Stay tuned.
See you at Nikki Beach at the 66th Annual Cannes International Film Festival May 15-25 2013
Scenes from 65th Festival de Cannes 2012
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| Cast of Madagascar 3, Jada Pinkett Smith, Ben Stiller Jessica Chastain and Chris Rock Credit: Festival de Cannes |
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| Cast and Director of Madagascar 3, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock Ben Stiller, Martin Short, Jessica Chastain Credit: Festival de Cannes |
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| Director and Cast of Beast of the Southern Wild, Quvenzhane Wallis Credit: Festival de Cannes |
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| Cast of The Paperboy, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, Zack Efron, David Oyelowo, Macy Gray and Director Lee Daniels Credit: Festival de Cannes |
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| Cast of Red Tails, Cuba Gooding, David Oyelowo and Director George Lucas and Mellody Hopkins Credit: Festival de Cannes |
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| Cast of The PaperBoy, Macy Gray, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, Zack Efron and Director Lee Daniels Credit: Festival de Cannes |
