On Tuesday , the Compass of the Seventh Art will head to the French city of Cannes, where the activities of the most prestigious film festival in its 79th edition will open.
Over the course of 12 days, the famous "croisette" walkway transforms into a beehive of elite stars, filmmakers and critics, amid a global passion to monitor films competing for the Palme d'Or, the icon that sets the trajectory of film success each year.
Park Chan-wook and Demi Moore. Artistic leadership with a global touch
This year's jury will feature a strong Asian presence headed by renowned South Korean director Park Chan-wook, who and a host of filmmakers will choose the best film from a list of divergent directorial visions.
Demi Moore is one of the brightest names on the jury, bringing a combination of deep cinematic experience and Hollywood charm to the panel's deliberations behind closed doors.
Honoring Legends: Peter Jackson and Barbra Streisand
In a tradition that celebrates cinematic history, the festival will award the Honorary Palme d'Or at the opening ceremony to New Zealand director Peter Jackson, in recognition of his immortal imprint on the cinema of epics and fantasy. The festival will also later celebrate the legend Barbra Streisand, giving her a similar honour in recognition of her extraordinary career that combined singing, acting and directing, and the current edition will serve as a bridge between the giants of the past and the ambitions of the future.
Grand Competition
Despite the relative absence of major Hollywood studios from the official scene, the official competition program is full of heavy names, with American director James Gray returning with Scarlett Johansson's "Paper Tiger," while Poland's Pavel Pawlikowski presents his black-and-white historical film "Motherland," featuring Thomas Mann with the participation of Sandra Holler.
From France, director Arthur Harari is stirring controversy with his film "L'Inconnu," which stars Léa Seydoux in a fantasy story about body swaps.
Asian Cinema. Overpowering presence and different experiences
Asian cinema is dominating this cycle, with Korean director Na Hong-jin making his sci-fi film "Hope" and Japan's Ryosuke Hamagochi making his French-language debut with Virginie Evera's Tout à coup.
Japanese teacher Hirokazu Kori-eda is not absent from the scene, presenting Sheep in the Box, a philosophical drama that blends human loss and artificial intelligence.
The return of "Minotaur" and the presence of Rami Malek
Russian director Andrei Zvyajintsev makes an emotional return to Cannes with "Minotaur," his first work after recovering from a severe health crisis, to insightfully observe the crises of rural Russian society.
All eyes are on Rami Malek in Ira Sacks' "The Man I Love," as he portrays the complex human role of an actor facing illness in 1980s New York, a work that viewers see as a fierce contender for the upcoming awards season.
TV drama invades Croatia
Away from the cinema screens, the festival is a remarkable presence for the makers of "The White Lotus", as the crew chose the French Walk to shoot scenes from the fourth season.
This presence reflects the growing intersection between cinema and high-quality television dramas, and underscores Cannes' position as a global center of gravity not only for films, but for all that is unique in the world of image and entertainment.