Michael Douglas, Natalie Portman: stars back in France for Deauville Film Festival
The 50th edition of the event in Normandy will show 100 films and welcome many of Hollywood’s biggest stars
Natalie Portman and Michael Douglas are among those to be invited to the 50th event, set to take place in Normandy this September
Tinseltown / Paul Smith, Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock
Francis Ford Coppola, Natalie Portman and Michael Douglas are among the film stars expected to descend on Normandy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Deauville Film Festival next month.
It comes after last year's edition was deprived of many of its biggest stars as a result of the writers’ strike in the US.
The Deauville Festival du Cinéma Américain has taken place in the Normandy town for the last five decades, and seeks to celebrate future cinema stars as well as established names.
‘We see ourselves as the haven for independent American cinema, the pioneers,” said Jérôme Lasserre, the festival's long-time programmer, to AFP. “Jessica Chastain, Ryan Gosling and Xavier Nolan were not very well known when they first came here.”
‘What we will leave for our children’
A who’s who of some of the industry’s biggest actors are expected to attend this year’s event, which will take place from September 6 to 15.
The guest of honour will be Michael Douglas, while legendary director Francis Ford Coppola - father of another accomplished director, Sofia Coppola - will present his latest film, Megapolis, at the event.
“The main theme this year is what we will leave to our children,” said Mr Lasserre. “The most important thing is to honour the directors without whom there would be no cinema.”
Prizes and stars
Prizes are also set to be given to Natalie Portman (known for V for Vendetta and Black Swan) Michelle Williams (known for Manchester By The Sea and The Fabelmans.), as well as James Gray (director of Ad Astra), and documentarian Frederick Wiseman (who directed the four-hour-long ‘observational film’ Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros, which came out in 2023).
Other invitees reportedly include Daisy Ridley; and Sebastian Stan, who is set to receive the Nouvel Hollywood Award.
In total, there will be 100 films, 170 screenings, and 70 film crews participating in the event, which will take place at the Casino Barrière (red carpet and screenings), the Centre International de Deauville (CID) and Le Morny cinema.
Eight of the 14 films submitted to the competition are their director’s debut.
Among the notable films showing will be Anora by Sean Baker, which won the Palme d'Or at the 204 Cannes Film Festival; Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope, Michel Hazanavicius’s La plus précieuse des marchandises, as well as Tim Burton’s much-anticipated Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
