It is unusually quiet here in Cannes, although everyone is expecting it to get rowdy and noisy later tonight, when a “high octane midnight screening” event of the original ‘The Fast and the Furious’ is slated to take place. But for me, this first day on the ground has been all about a soulful Mexican film, ‘Ashes’ by Diego Luna. Yes, that Diego Luna!
Ever since I arrived at Nice airport earlier today, everyone I speak to keeps talking about how quiet the festival is this year. I mean, yeah, it has been easier for me to secure tickets to every film I wish to watch, which is a first, but it’s not like you can hear the crickets on the Croisette. There are still loads of people lining up — “queueing” if you’re English — for last minute places inside the screening rooms and massive crowds await the stars on the red carpets. They are mostly French stars, as it should be at a French film festival, but also because, famously, the American have stayed away this year.
Which is also not completely true. We, the media, like to make generalizations and I heard myself make one earlier today with a group of friends. “There aren’t many Arab films this year,” I declared, and was quickly corrected. There are, in fact, 11 titles from the diaspora in Cannes and 7 of those are under 60 minutes.
But back to the Americans, and their ghosting the festival rumors. You see, the Americans (Hollywood, big studios) are here, I can vouch for that, perhaps not world premiering a Tom Cruise film by dropping him from the sky, or marching tanks down the Croisette as in 2014, but bigwigs like filmmaker Ron Howard — stay tuned for a grand piece on his latest doc Avedon by yours truly — and the cast of the original The Fast and the Furious are here. Or rather, in Howard’s case, they will be here in the coming days.
Michelle Rodriguez, Meadow Walker, Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster, Neal H Moritz pose for photographers in Cannes
Tonight, according to the Cannes press release “to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a franchise that has conquered the globe and has left an indelible mark on cinema history, the Grand Théâtre Lumière will resonate with the unmistakable roar of engines on Wednesday, May 13 at 11.45pm,” with some of the cast in attendance. Hard to believe it’s been 25 years. “On June 22, 2001, Universal Pictures released The Fast and the Furious, a high-octane thriller set amid the street-racing culture of Los Angeles. The film—produced by Neal H. Mortiz, directed by Rob Cohen, and starring Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner, Jordana Brewster as Mia and Michelle Rodriguez as Letty—would become a cinema-changing global sensation.” Yup, a quarter of a century, and 11 films later, we’re back here, where it started. And earlier this year, Universal announced that a thrilling new chapter—Fast Forever—will race into theaters March 17, 2028. So, gentlemen, and women, start your engines.
The Midnight Screening will be attended by stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, producer Neal H. Mortiz, and Meadow Walker, the daughter of the film’s late star Paul Walker.
Diego Luna, Adriana Paz, Anna Diaz and Gael García Bernal at the world premiere of ‘Ashes’ in Cannes
But I started my Cannes Film Festival with a more thoughtful film, Diego Luna’s directorial venture Ashes (Ceniza en la boca) starring Anna Diaz and Adriana Paz. Apart from running into my favorite people from the Doha Film Institute at the screening, since both Luna and his co-producing partner Gael García Bernal were supposed to be at the DFI’s annual Qumra event before the US attack on Iran sparked a regional war which took the industry meetup online for this edition, I loved the vibe around the film. It was heartwarming to see Ashes embraced with so much care and solidarity, with loads of Spanish speakers from all over the globe clapping clamorously at the end of the screening. And Luna’s treatment of the story felt like an ocean washing over me, a deep wave which arrived unexpected and grabbed hold of me.
Ashes is inspired by the novel Eating Ashes by Mexican author Brenda Navarro and tells the story of Lucila and her brother Diego, who move to Madrid from Mexico to follow their mom. Lucila is played by a phenomenal young actress, Anna Diaz, who fills the screen despite her lithe frame and quiet demeanor in real life. Her mother is played by actress Adriana Paz, well known to international audiences for her recent role in Emilia Perez and Paz also starred with Bernal and Luna in Carlos Cuarón’s 2009 film Rudo y Cursi, where she played the wife of Luna’s character. But back to Ashes. The novel tackles the idea of “Ulysses syndrome” a particular psychological ailment that affects immigrants. Because of the way people migrate in the 21st century, pushed by violent and unsafe conditions in their own home countries, they carry with them toxic levels of stress, and in the film, this stress brings about disastrous circumstances. Yet in the very same instance the barely held-together precarious life balance breaks for Lucila, that is also when she finds the most answers and discovers the real reasons her mom left those children — her and Diego — years before. Ashes is a fascinating watch, shot beautifully and carried by a cast of acting heavyweights, with a cool voice in filmmaking at its helm.
The beautiful, chic DJ’s at Meta House inside the Hotel Barrière Le Majestic
I then dropped by Meta House inside the Hotel Barrière Le Majestic, which was cool and blue and filled with influencers. Yes, this year Meta is an Official Partner of the Festival de Cannes and, for the duration of the festival, Meta House will be home to the Palme d'Or, the award given to the best film at the end of it all, made up of 19 delicately sculpted leaflets in 18-carat ethical yellow gold, set on a hand-cut rock crystal cushion, crafted and designed by Chopard's high jewellery artisans.
The full range of Ray-Ban glasses featuring Meta AI features, from Live Translation to real-time capture and sharing, were also on display and I had to photograph them. Throughout the festival, influencer Reece Feldman will be among the first to wear Ray-Ban Meta as a reporter on the Cannes carpet and will be exclusively interviewing arriving talent. More influencers from all over the world are in Cannes, also covering the festival on social media platforms from the Meta family, like Instagram, Threads, and Reels. Wait, what happened to Facebook?
So there you have it, a first dispatch on the greatest film festival in the world. Where I’m probably booking more tickets for the films I wish to see because no one is really here to watch cinema, opting instead to drink rosé, attend parties and post cool pictures on social media.
All images used with permission.