For the first time in 18 years, the management of the Cannes International Film Festival in France decided to honor an African filmmaker, Malian Souleymane Cissé, and the 76th edition of the largest film festivals in the world honors Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, winner of the Oscar for Best Actress in 2023, and the famous American star Harrison Ford will also receive a special honor.

The management of the 76th edition of the festival, which is held in the town of "Cannes", about 150 kilometers from Paris, announced its official selection of films, which included about 32 films as a first stage containing the best group that the festival's viewing committees saw as fit, and despite the presence of Turkish, French and Italian films, Hollywood production dominated the selections in terms of number.

The small town of Cannes is expected to become one of the busiest places in the world from May 16 to May 27, as the 76th edition of the world's oldest and most famous film festival, according to the International Federation of Producers, ends.

Not only do screens at Cannes showcase the filmmakers' ability to portray beauty on the big screen, but each year they are full of issues that occupy the world's elite filmmakers trying to communicate issues through film, and Cannes guests eagerly await Killers of the Flower Moon, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Asteroid City.

Tri-top

The American septuagenarian director Martin Scorsese returns to present his film "Moon Flower Killers" after "The Irish Man" produced by the network "Netflix" and achieved great success, and although it stars Robert De Niro, Scorsese's favorite actor, the new film also includes Leonardo DiCaprio, to meet the greatest old Hollywood and its most prominent stars since the seventies until recently with its present and prominent star DiCaprio.

Despite the weakness of the years, Scorsese re-discusses his favorite case of the power equation that brought together the parties of major gangs and the parties of American policymaking, as the film "Moon Flower Killers" revolves around the mysterious murder of members of the Osage tribe (indigenous people) in the United States in the twenties of the last century, leading to the death of a senior FBI official.

From Turkey comes director Nuri Bilgi Ceylan, one of the directors favored by the festival and always presented by choosing their works to be shown on its screens.

Ceylan's new film is "About Dry Grasses", and discusses a very simple and clear issue, but digs deep into its details, as a young man hopes to be hired in Istanbul after spending his compulsory service period in a small village as stipulated by the rules, and after a long wait he loses all hope of escaping the dismal life in the village, and in the heart of despair he finds his colleague Nurai, who illuminates his mind and makes him decide to stay in the village.

Also from the United States, the Cannes Film Festival viewing panels chose Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, which talks about the discovery and observation of a small asteroid in space and how that observation is disrupted by global events that seem so big compared to the description of an asteroid that could destroy the world.

Syrians in the UK

Renowned British director Ken Loach introduces a cosmic concern that meets directly with the Syrian concern in The Old Oak, and revolves around the future of the last remaining café in a village in northeast England, where people leave the land due to the closure of mines, and sell homes cheaply, making the village an ideal location for Syrian refugees.

In the same case, Senegalese's concern is reflected in the Italian-Belgian funded film Io Capitano by Matteo Garrot, which tells the story of two young men who leave Dakar for Europe.

Also on the list is James McGnold's Indiana Jones and the Face of Destiny, starring Harrison Ford.

American director Todd Haynes presents his film "May December," about a romantic relationship between a couple that is severely tested 20 years later, when an actress arrives to make a documentary about their past.

Honorees

Malaysia's Michelle Yeoh will receive a special honor from the 76th Festival de Cannes, receiving the 2023 Women In Motion award, which won the Oscar for her role in "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once."

The award was established in 2015 to draw attention to the creativity and contribution of women to the world of culture and the arts, and former honorees include Viola Davis, Jane Fonda, Gina Davis, Susan Sarandon, Isabel Hubert, Patty Jenkins, Jung Lee and Salma Hayek.

The "Directors' Fortnight" program – one of the most prominent programs of the upcoming film festival – honors Malian Souleymane Cissé, and the great African director receives his award shield at the opening ceremony after a career spanning more than 50 years, and his work was exhibited at Cannes 6 times, and in 1987 he won the Jury Prize at the festival for the film "Yelen".

Members of the board of directors of the French Directors Guild signed a letter explaining to Cisse the reasons for awarding him the prize, including "a blend of poetry, politics, social criticism and mythology, both rooted in the multicultural society of your country, Mali, and open to the world in its diversity."

The prize has been awarded in previous editions to Martin Scorsese, Jane Campion and Clint Eastwood.

The old star Harrison Ford announced his tribute that will accompany the screening of the film "Indiana Jones and the Face of the Moon," while the festival offers a review of his career and a special celebration of the actor best known for his role as Indiana Jones in the various parts of the series known as its hero.