After the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the Cannes Film Festival for the first time since World War II in 2020, this year’s 74th edition is going forward with an in-person event beginning on July 6.
Over the years, there have been more than a few memorable and downright weird moments featuring celeb shocks, scandals, social unrest, and wardrobe malfunctions.
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The Cannes winner for best kiss goes to Ryan Gosling. The Canadian actor planted a big kiss on the lips of his “Drive” director Nicolas Winding Refn during a 2011 photocall for the film.
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Leave it to Lindsay Lohan to bring the drama to Cannes. An arrest warrant was issued for the actress after she failed to show up for a scheduled court hearing in a drunk-driving case. Instead, the “Mean Girls” star was spotted partying it up on the French Riviera, claiming her passport had been stolen. Her legal team later posted her $100,000 bail to stop her from being arrested upon her return to the U.S.
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We have sultry French actress Brigitte Bardot, the unofficial poster girl of the Cannes Film Festival, to thank for introducing everyone – including Kirk Douglas – to the bikini. "I've never seen one of those before," he famously remarked while posing on the beach with the starlet.
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Wawawewa! Sacha Baron Cohen certainly made an entrance as his alter ego Borat. In a neon “mankini,” Baron let it allll hang out…despite the fact that “Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” wasn’t even playing the festival.
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Until 1954, Cannes awarded a Grand Prix to directors. Established in 1954, the first Palme d’Or went to Delbert Mann for “Marty”, before the award reverted back to the Grand Prix for two decades. In 1975 it was re-established and has become a symbol of the festival, presented to the director of the best feature film in competition.
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Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” was awarded the coveted Palme d’Or in 2004 by a festival jury presided over by Quentin Tarantino to become the first -- and thus far only -- documentary feature to take home the top prize.
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Talk about an entrance! Dropping a duvet-like cover at the top of the famed steps of the Palais, Madonna unveiled her soon-to-be iconic Jean-Paul Gaultier cone bra to the masses at a screening of the out-of-competition documentary “In Bed With Madonna”.
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Tensions were reportedly high between “Universal Soldier” stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren ahead of the action film’s Cannes premiere. Wanting to capitalize on the attention, the two actors staged a fight on the red carpet in order to generate some publicity for the movie.
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Cannes can be a killjoy. The festival made headlines for all the wrong reasons when an overzealous security guard kicked attendees out of the “Carol” premiere for breaking the female dress code policy that banned women from wearing pants and flat shoes to premieres. Three years later, a “no selfies” policy was enacted after the festival’s artistic director Thierry Frémaux called them “trivial” and “grotesque.”
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Cannes crowds are not afraid to show their displeasure at a film with some hearty booing. But the self-indulgent “Brown Bunny” -- written, directed, and starring Vincent Gallo -- features a notorious un-simulated oral sex scene with Chloe Sevigny -- was called "the worst film ever shown in the history of Cannes" by film critic Roger Ebert.
That criticism started a feud with Gallo, who in return, called the legendary critic a "fat pig with the physique of a slave trader." Ebert responded: "Although I am fat, one day I will be thin, but Mr. Gallo will still have been the director of 'The Brown Bunny'."
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In 2018, 82 women, including Cate Blanchett, Kristen Stewart, Salma Hayek, Jane Fonda, and directors Agnes Varda, Ava DuVernay and Patty Jenkins, walked the carpet arm-in-arm in a silent protest over the festival’s treatment of women, which includes banning women who are in pants and flat shoes and the treatment of mothers working the festival. Stopping halfway up the stairs, Blanchett and Varda delivered a powerful speech about the state of the film industry and festival. Stewart’s protest, however, didn’t stop there: the actress later defiantly removed her Louboutin stilettos and proceeded up the famed staircase barefoot.
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After spending a summer filming “To Catch A Thief” on the Croisette in 1954, Grace Kelly had no desire to return the following year. It’s a good thing she did: the actress was introduced to Prince Rainier III of Monaco at Cannes, kicking off their fairy-tale romance. They tied the knot the following year and Kelly never made another film.
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The 1996 festival gave Canadian director David Cronenberg a special prize for “originality, for daring and for audacity" for his autoerotic thriller “Crash”, which not only divided audiences but members of a jury headed by Francis Ford Coppola. Cronenberg was booed as he walked to the stage to accept his award.
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Attending the premiere of then-husband Bruce Willis’ “The Fifth Element”, Demi Moore came to the rescue of his co-star Milla Jovovich when she suffered a wardrobe malfunction on the red carpet. When her barely-there chainmail John Galliano gown came undone, Moore proffered the sewing kit pilfered from her hotel room, quickly sewing Jovovich back into her gown while Willis, co-star Chris Tucker, and director Luc Besson blocked the near nip-slip from the cameras. “I will always cherish Demi Moore for her quick thinking and nimble fingers!” the actress later told THR.
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British starlet Simone Silva, 26, caused a stir when she posed topless with Robert Mitchum during a photoshoot on the beach. Named “Miss Festival” that year, Silva took off her top and cupped her bare breasts in her hands, inciting a scramble by photogs to get the best shot. Several photographers were injured in the fracas, reportedly leaving two with broken limbs. A defiant Silva was nevertheless asked to leave Cannes by festival organizers.
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The inaugural Cannes Film Festival was set to take place in 1939, but Hitler’s invasion of Poland put an end to the glitz and glamour. The opening-night feature, “The Hunchback Of Notre Dame” was screened before the fest was officially cancelled. The first full festival wouldn’t take place for another seven years, making 1946 the official beginning of Cannes.
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The festival was adamant they would proceed with an in-person event in 2020 amid the global health crisis until organizers finally pulled the plug in April after French President Emmanuel Macron extended the country's lockdown, banning all public events until mid-July. It was the first time the festival hasn't been held post-WWII.
In July 2020, Cannes announced its slate of would-be selections that would go on to play at other film festivals including TIFF and bear the coveted palm emblem of a Sélection Officielle.
The festival later held a special edition with COVID safety precautions in October to honour the year's selections.
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Someone thought it was a good idea to have the actors in “24 Hour Party People” (but not the film’s star, Steve Coogan, pictured on the left) throw faux dead pigeons – complete with real feathers and scaly claws – onto diners at the Majestic Beach restaurant. They were quickly ejected from the Majestic after diners were unimpressed. However, they did win over Joel and Ethan Coen who were reportedly “amused” by the bizarre stunt.
It wasn’t the first time birds played a part at Cannes. In 1963, Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren released 1000 pigeons ahead of the premiere of “The Birds”.
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Paris was in the middle of social unrest during the 1968 festival when students rioted and strikes spread throughout the country. Following two days of sit-ins, protests, and press conferences held by top directors, including Roman Polanski, Louis Malle, Francois Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard, the festival came to an early close with only 11 of the 28 films in competition screened.
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The 1989 jury, led by German director Wim Wenders, picked a surprise winner for the Palme d’Or: Steven Soderbergh’s indie “sex, lies and videotape”. At age 26, Soderbergh (who is still the youngest winner of the prize) won over favourite Spike Lee for “Do The Right Thing”. His win prompted Lee to threaten Wenders, declaring, "Somewhere I've a Louisville Slugger with Wim Wenders' name on it". While it didn’t please Lee, the win was a big boost for indie films in the US and distributor Miramax.
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“Bee Movie”, the animated film in which a human woman falls in love with a bee voiced by Jerry Seinfeld, has reached online cult status, but in 2007, the cartoon had Cannes a-buzz with an epic stunt. Seinfeld, then-53, dressed in a fluffy bee costume and black tights, zip-lined from the roof of the famous Carlton Hotel over the heads of people and landed on a pier. Never say Cannes isn’t a classy affair.
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New Zealand film director Jane Campion became the first -- and so far, only -- woman to win the prestigious Palme d’Or for her 1993 film “The Piano” starring Sam Neill, Harvey Keitel, and Holly Hunter, who also received the festival's Best Actress award.
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Director Federico Fellini’s masterpiece was condemned by the Catholic Church for its frank treatment of sex, homosexuality, loose morals, and blasphemy. But Cannes jury members didn’t care: It was awarded the Palme d’Or anyway.
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In Cannes promoting “Kung Fu Panda”, Jack Black accidentally let it slip that his co-star Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were expecting twins. The news had the Croisette buzzing and Jolie was left to confirm the baby news.