POLITICS
Beyond the official competition, the French Riviera has been buzzing with A-listers this year including Tom Cruise, pop sensation Charli XCX and model Bella Hadid.
Beyond the champagne-filled beach parties, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as US President Donald Trump have been major talking-points.
US filmmaker Todd Haynes warned of the “barbaric US presidency”, while Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal admitted it was “scary” to speak out against President Donald Trump.
The Gaza war has been on the minds of some of the festival’s guests, with more than 900 cinema figures signing an open letter denouncing “genocide” in the Palestinian territory, according to organisers.
Cannes jury head Juliette 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 – were among the signatories.
But UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said the festival felt like a “bubble of indifference” when she visited it Friday.
