With a following of millions on social media, actress Sunny Leone fought her way into Bollywood after starting out in adult films and appearing in India's reality show "Big Boss". She talks to Eve Jackson about her police corruption film "Kennedy", which is premiering in the Midnight Screening section. Also on the programme: Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche's gastronomy movie "Pot au feu", filmed with Michelin-star dishes made by top chef Pierre Gagnaire.
With a record number of African films premiering at this year's Cannes Film Festival, we also chat to Congolese Belgian musician Baloji about his first feature film "Omen".We then bring you a special report about Cannes' exclusive parties, and we hear tributes to legendary rock 'n' roll singer Tina Turner, who appeared in Cannes back in 1975 with Ken Russell's film "Tommy".
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With a record number of African films premiering at this year's Cannes Film Festival, we also chat to Congolese Belgian musician Baloji about his first feature film "Omen".We then bring you a special report about Cannes' exclusive parties, and we hear tributes to legendary rock 'n' roll singer Tina Turner, who appeared in Cannes back in 1975 with Ken Russell's film "Tommy".
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:27 Hello from the Cannes Film Festival. I'm here with Bollywood actress Sunny Leone.
00:32 Hey guys, I am here for the very first time at the Cannes Film Festival and my film is being premiered here.
00:39 It's called Kennedy and my character's name is Charlie.
00:42 With a following of millions on social media, Sunny Leone fought her way into Bollywood
00:47 after starting out in adult films and appearing in India's reality show Big Boss.
00:53 Her police corruption movie Kennedy is premiering in the midnight screening section.
00:58 [Music]
01:16 So you've been documenting your time so far here in Cannes. What's been your most memorable moment so far?
01:22 I think the most memorable moment has been seeing the film in the magazine.
01:29 What they give out to everybody to see which films are going to be here.
01:33 I think just being here, it represents so much more to me than just a film that's being represented here.
01:43 It has so much weight for me emotionally.
01:46 You play Charlie in the film. It's called Kennedy and it is a police noir.
01:51 It's about a former policeman who's become a hitman and he's seeking redemption.
01:57 Yes, he is seeking redemption and then he meets me.
02:02 [Music]
02:16 You have this really incredible laugh in the film that apparently is really important for your role.
02:22 Can you just do it for us?
02:23 [Laughter]
02:26 Oh my gosh. I think that when we meet people in life, we might know someone like this who hides behind smiles,
02:34 who hides behind a laugh.
02:37 That is something that Charlie does. She hides behind this laugh where she's really going through so much emotionally.
02:47 As an actress, you've defied expectations. You started off as an adult film star.
02:51 Then you were in one of India's biggest reality TV shows, Big Boss.
02:56 Then you moved on to making Bollywood films.
02:58 The Indian film industry has got a reputation for being quite conservative.
03:02 Was it hard to find a place?
03:04 Finding my place, yeah, took a little while.
03:07 It took a lot of persistence and working through a lot of hate or political groups or fanatic groups
03:15 or people that just want to see you crash and burn.
03:19 That is the hardest part because you have to continue on with a smile on your face.
03:26 I have chosen my career path. I made those decisions.
03:31 I am not ashamed of those choices that I made.
03:35 That's why this film means so much more.
03:38 Because after you go through all the crazy and all these people who want to tear you down and watch you burn,
03:45 and then all of a sudden Anurag Sir calls me and says, "Our film, the film we made has been selected for Cannes.
03:53 You're in disbelief." And I cried for two days straight.
03:57 I saw that you're preparing a biopic on your life.
04:00 So yes, I have a biopic that I've shot two seasons of.
04:05 And those are all my stories that got made into this biopic.
04:10 And then there's also a docu that was also made.
04:14 Thank you so much.
04:16 Next to a film starring Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche that's cooking up a stall.
04:22 The Pot-au-Feu is filmmaker Tran Anhang's love letter to French food
04:29 with Juliette Binoche and Cannes favorite Benoit Maguire.
04:33 And the film is about a French woman who is in love with a French man.
04:37 The Pot-au-Feu is filmmaker Tran Anhang's love letter to French food
04:42 with Juliette Binoche and Cannes favorite Benoit Maguire playing a couple in 19th century France.
04:48 It's really a feast for the eyes because top chef Pierre Gagné prepared all of the dishes
04:54 and apparently they had to be prized away from the actors in between takes.
04:59 A Michelin-starred chef gets his first taste of cinema.
05:03 For the first one, the dishes will be one of pigeon biscuits, one of quail.
05:08 French chef Pierre Gagné was both an actor and consultant for the latest film,
05:12 paying tribute to French gastronomy.
05:15 Even at Cannes, he's never far from the kitchen
05:18 and has a good idea why cinema is so fascinated by food.
05:22 Sight is the first approach to food and then after we taste.
05:29 There's a pleasure of the eyes, but new film The Pot-au-Feu also engages our other senses.
05:35 The dishes simmer, crackle and steam.
05:41 Recipes that stir up romantic feelings.
05:45 It's still a love story, above all a love story.
05:52 This alchemy between the sense and the subject, the way they come together,
05:56 it makes the film delicious.
05:59 The romance between filmmakers and food is an eternal one.
06:03 From comedies like The Wing of the Fly with Louis de Funès,
06:06 to dramas like Babette's Feast and even cartoons like Ratatouille.
06:11 In La Grande Bouffe, exactly 50 years ago,
06:14 the orgy of gluttony filmed by Marco Ferreri sent shockwaves through Cannes.
06:19 It's a scandal, a scandal!
06:23 Food is universal and it's cinematic material, aesthetic material.
06:28 So everyone will use this cinematic tool in their own way to make people hungry, to excite them.
06:34 French gastronomy remains a timeless star at Cannes.
06:38 Enticing for jury's appetite.
06:42 A record number of African films are premiering at this year's Cannes Film Festival,
06:47 including two in the main competition and four in Un Certain Regard.
06:52 Congolese-Belgian musician Balogi is a force in the music world.
06:56 Now he's premiering his first feature film, Omen, in the world's most popular film festival.
07:02 René Lefort and Alison Sargent tell us more about this picturesque multicultural odyssey.
07:07 Balogi has a unique perspective and Cannes is eager to see it.
07:13 After the stage, short films and advertisements,
07:16 the artistic chameleon is back in the spotlight with his first ever feature, Augur or Omen.
07:21 It follows the homecoming of Kofi, considered by his family to be a sorcerer,
07:25 as he returns from Europe with his future wife Alice.
07:29 Augur is an ensemble film.
07:31 Kofi is the character that brings you into the story.
07:34 His and Alice's perspectives are interesting,
07:37 but they're particular because they're able to live in the same world.
07:41 The film is a bit like a movie,
07:43 but it's a bit more like a story.
07:45 It's a bit more like a film,
07:47 but it's a bit more like a story.
07:49 It's a bit more like a film,
07:51 but it's a bit more like a story.
07:53 It's a bit more like a film,
07:55 but it's a bit more like a story.
07:58 The characters are interesting,
08:00 but they're particular because they're able to leave,
08:03 which isn't the case for the others.
08:05 His sister and his mother, they have to stay.
08:08 Augur is both a social drama and a satire of the weight of tradition.
08:12 The Belgian Congolese director creates a psychedelic world and a maze of colours.
08:17 I have synesthesia,
08:19 this sensorial disease where I associate sounds with colours.
08:24 And so I worked on a sort of soundtrack for Augur,
08:28 and each character had their own colour.
08:32 When Belogi's not on film sets, he's on the stage,
08:36 inspired by a Cameroonian icon.
08:38 I returned to African music a little bit by accident
08:41 when I heard a sample of Manu Dibango.
08:44 His next tour is scheduled for 2024.
08:47 Away from the films and the festival
08:51 really is the place to be for celebrities and anyone who loves a party.
08:55 The buzz of the nightlife really is the stuff of legends.
08:59 Our reporter has been checking out Cannes by night.
09:02 As festival goers await the evening's red carpet procession,
09:07 Cannes kicks off another long night
09:09 with the mesmerising piano notes of Bachar Mar Khalife.
09:13 The French-Lebanese singer-songwriter
09:19 composed the soundtrack for Banel and Adama
09:22 from French-Senegalese director Ramata Toulay-Sy.
09:26 She told me her film was going to be shot in Senegal's Futa region.
09:31 She told me about the sand and the wind.
09:35 The film is a love story.
09:37 I imagined music that was fairly minimalist,
09:41 with piano, bass, and chords,
09:44 a little bit of percussion and vocals.
09:47 It was about reflecting all of the films.
09:51 We wanted to come listen and take a break from the films.
09:57 I'd already seen Bachar in concert,
09:59 so I jumped at the chance to see him again.
10:01 Making electronic beats with acoustic instruments is really magical.
10:05 Sunset beach walks are a perfect contrast
10:08 to the wild antics of the night.
10:11 Excitement as the party gets started,
10:15 though some are too exclusive to enter,
10:18 even for French cinema star Romain Duris.
10:21 Before a crowd that includes American actress Eva Longoria,
10:24 French reality star Nabila,
10:26 and Russian model Irina Shayk,
10:28 Nigerian rapper Burna Boy tears it up,
10:31 followed by French DJ Bob Sinclair.
10:37 In the words of Persian poet Omar Khayyam,
10:41 night is perhaps just the eyelid of the day,
10:44 and some will have trouble reopening for the morning's first film.
10:48 Just before we go, a tribute to a legendary rock and roll singer
10:53 who was simply the best.
10:54 Tina Turner has died aged 83.
10:57 She was here at the festival in 1975 with Ken Russell's film Tommy.
11:01 She also had a role in George Miller's Mad Max
11:04 and sang the theme tune for Golden Eye.
11:07 We'll leave you with some of the reactions to the sad news here in Cannes.
11:11 Thanks for watching. See you next time.
11:14 You're simply the best
11:16 Better than all the rest
11:22 Big worlds keep on turning
11:25 Crown Mary keeps on burning, yeah
11:28 Rolling, rolling, rolling on the river
11:32 I'm your private dancer
11:37 A dancer for money
11:39 Na-na-na-na-na-na-na
11:42 ♪ Na na ♪