Waxing Eloquent About South Asians In Cannes 2022
The world’s most prestigious film festival is just around the corner. The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to take place from May 17th to 28th, 2022, and the presence of South Asians in key roles, be it the jury or the selection of films is definitely something that the world is talking about.
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Indian actor, producer, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, Deepika Padukone will be at the Cannes Film Festival not as a L’Oreal ambassador but as a member of the jury. The panel for the festival was unveiled on Tuesday and it will be headed by French actor Vincent Lindon, who won Best Actor at Cannes in 2015. With over 30 feature films to her credit, she made her Hollywood debut as the female lead in “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage,” co-starring with Vin Diesel. She is also the principal of Ka Productions, the production company behind “Chhapaak” and “‘83,” in which she also starred, as well as the upcoming film “The Intern.” Credits include “Gehraiyaan” and “Padmaavat,” as well as the award-winning and critically acclaimed film “Piku.”
In 2015, she set up The Live Love Laugh Foundation, whose programs and initiatives aim to destigmatize mental illness and raise awareness about the importance of mental health. In 2018, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
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The year 2022 is proving to be the year the Pakistani entertainment industry earns international recognition for its talent. Arooj Aftab shook the nation by winning Pakistan’s first Grammy and now Saim Sadiq’s “Joyland” has made it to the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival, known to include experimental cinema and works by newcomers.
“Joyland” is a story of sexual revolution. A happy joint family yearns for the birth of a baby boy to keep the lineage alive in what is a traditional patriarchal community. As life often has a way of springing surprises, the family’s youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre group and falls in love with a transsexual starlet, who is ruthlessly ambitious. “Joyland” stars Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Sohail Sameer, Salman Peerzada, and Sania Saeed.
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Shaunak Sen’s deeply moving documentary “All That Breathes” will premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival playing under special screenings. In January, the 90-minute long film won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.
“All That Breathes” follows siblings Mohammad Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, who have devoted their lives to rescuing and treating injured birds, especially the Black Kites. Working out of their derelict basement in Wazirabad, the Delhi brothers become the central focus of the film and their story zooms out to document a larger snapshot of the city, where the air is toxic and the ground is on a slow burn of social turmoil. The documentary talks about climate change and how humans should adapt to it.
It is Sen’s second directorial after the acclaimed 2016 “Cities of Sleep,” which was about the homeless scouting for places to sleep in the capital.
Originally called the International Film Festival, the Festival de Cannes has shared its name with the city it helped make famous since 2002. Every year, the exclusive event hosts screenings for filmmakers, actors, critics, and industry insiders. Top honors at the festival, the Palme d’Or, are given out by a special jury of internationally recognized filmmakers and critics. And the Film du Marché, an associated film market that was started in conjunction with the festival, is the biggest film industry event every year.
