2015 Cannes Film Festival
The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen were the Co-Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate vote, they were joined by seven other jurors to form the customary nine-juror panel. French actor Lambert Wilson was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies. The Official Selection of films for the 2015 festival, including the line-up for the Main Competition, was announced on 16 April 2015.
Official poster of the 68th Cannes Film Festival featuring a photo of Ingrid Bergman by David Seymour | |
| Opening film | Standing Tall |
|---|---|
| Closing film | Ice and the Sky |
| Location | Cannes, France |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Awards | Palme d'Or: Dheepan |
| Hosted by | Lambert Wilson |
| No. of films | 19 (In Competition) 19 (Un Certain Regard) 9 (Short Film) |
| Festival date | 13 – 24 May 2015 |
| Website | www |
The Palme d'Or was awarded to the French film Dheepan directed by Jacques Audiard. On winning the award Audiard said "To receive a prize from the Coen brothers is something pretty exceptional. I'm very touched". French film director Agnès Varda was presented with the Honorary Palme d'Or at the festival's closing ceremony. She is also the first female filmmaker to ever receive the award.
The festival poster featured Hollywood star and Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, photographed by David Seymour. The poster was chosen to pay tribute to Bergman for her contributions to films and who also served as the Jury President at 1973 Cannes Film Festival. As part of the tribute to Bergman, the Swedish documentary Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words was screened in the Cannes Classics section.
Standing Tall, directed by Emmanuelle Bercot, was the festival's opening film. This was the second opening film in the festival's history to have been directed by a woman, after A Man in Love by Diane Kurys which opened the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Ice and the Sky, directed by Luc Jacquet, was the festival's closing film. Both the opening and closing films were selected for the strength and importance of their messages—Standing Tall for the way its themes respond to the Charlie Hebdo shootings and Ice and the Sky for its concern for the future of the planet.
At the festival, director Thierry Frémaux asked celebrities to abstain from taking selfies on the red carpet. While he did not have the powers to ban the pictures from the red carpet altogether, Thierry Fremaux urged celebrities to resist the temptation.