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Awarded jurors at Cannes Film Festival: Marcel Pagnol, Leïla Slimani, and more.

In the current year, the Cannes Film Festival's 78th edition will witness Leïla Slimani, a distinguished author, on its jury. Since its inception, literary figures have been invited to the Croisette to add prestige to the event. For authors less familiar with the glamour of cinema, the...

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In 2023, author Leila Slimani accepts a position on the jury for the 78th Cannes Film Festival, an...
In 2023, author Leila Slimani accepts a position on the jury for the 78th Cannes Film Festival, an annual event known for boosting its prestige by inviting literary figures. Regardless of their familiarity with the world of cinema, these novelists readily accept the invitation.

Awarded jurors at Cannes Film Festival: Marcel Pagnol, Leïla Slimani, and more.

Cannes Film Festival Gets a Dose of Marcel Pagnol 🎬

Brace yourselves, cinema lovers! On the 17th of May, we're welcomed back to the romantic Croisette with the animated revamp of none other than Marcel Pagnol. Marcel and Monsieur Pagnol, by Sylvain Chomet, will be a delightful addition to this year's festival, courtesy of exclusive festival selector Thierry Frémaux, who's always partial to a touch of nostalgia.

Since it first made its mark, the illustrious Cannes Film Festival has been a stage for literature's finest. A whopping 70 years ago, in 1955, the legendary Marcel Pagnol, the shining star of his time in both writing and filmmaking, shared the spotlight with Brigitte Bardot, Eddie Constantine, and Olivia de Havilland, presiding over the jury. He'd go on to serve on the jury twice more in 1957 and 1966, with writers gracing his company more often than the latest Hollywood starlets in the festival's earlier days.

While the writerly influences have faded slightly over the years, the Cannes Film Festival remains luminous with the presence of authors, lending an air of cultural reverence. Sociologist Gisele Sapiro, author of What is a Global Author? (Seuil, 2024), muses that writers, through their criticism and membership in consecration bodies like the Cannes jury, have boosted cinema's reputation as a bona fide artform.

Writers Take Center Stage in 2023

This year, acclaimed author Leila Slimani will join Juliette Binoche as part of the jury, evaluating the 21 films competing for the festival's top honors. Slimani may bump into the 2017 Nobel laureate in literature, Kazuo Ishiguro, whose adaptation, Pale Light on the Hills, is in the mix, or possibly Fatima Daas, whose novel The Last Little One inspired Hafsia Herzi's film. Cannes Premiere will welcome the best-selling Nicolas Mathieu, with his book Connemara informing Alex Lutz's film, and Olivier Guez's The Disappearance of Josef Mengele, brought to life on screen by Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov.

Though the search results are shy on the details, Marcel Pagnol himself won't be in attendance, as he, unfortunately, passed away in 1974. However, there is a film in the works for 2025, Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol (A Magnificent Life), which promises to shine a light on his life and early influences that molded him into the legendary storyteller we know today.

Bonus Facts- Get ready for a wave of Marcel-mania in 2025 when the Cannes Film Festival celebrates the 50th anniversary of his passing and the 130th anniversary of his birth. Expect a heavenly lineup of his films, such as Merlusse, at Cannes Classics.

There you have it, folks! The Cannes Film Festival is nothing short of a literary treasure trove, and this year is no exception. Prepare yourselves for a mesmerizing journey through the world of film, spiced with the wisdom of renowned authors. Long live the art of storytelling! 🙌🎉🌟🎥🍿

  1. Marcel Pagnol will be brought back to the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 through an animated revamp called Marcel and Monsieur Pagnol by Sylvain Chomet.
  2. The Cannes Film Festival, in its 70 years of existence, has always had a strong connection with literature, with Marcel Pagnol serving on its jury in 1955, 1957, and 1966.
  3. This year, writers are taking center stage at the festival, with acclaimed author Leila Slimani joining Juliette Binoche as part of the jury.
  4. In 2025, the Cannes Film Festival will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Marcel Pagnol's passing and the 130th anniversary of his birth, with a lineup of his films like Merlusse at Cannes Classics.

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