79th Cannes Opens With 12-Day Slate, Honors Peter Jackson With Palme d’Or

11 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · May 12

Cannes opened Tuesday on the French Riviera with French period comedy “The Electric Kiss” and an honorary Palme d’Or for “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson.
The 79th festival runs 12 days through May 23, when the Palme d’Or will be awarded by a nine-member jury led by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook.
22 films are competing for the top prize, with directors including Pedro Almodóvar, James Gray, Na Hong-jin, Pawel Pawlikowski and Ryusuke Hamaguchi unveiling new work.
Hollywood studio fare is notably scarce this year; artistic director Thierry Frémaux said the business is “reshaping,” while costs and fears of a poor reception kept many big titles away.
Cannes has increasingly served as an Oscar launchpad instead, with Neon backing the past six Palme winners and attached to more than a quarter of this year’s competition slate.

Is Cannes' new role as an Oscar launchpad compromising its mission to celebrate pure cinematic art?

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With 'The White Lotus' filming on-site, will the series expose or just glamorize the festival's elite culture?