George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing, starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton, got its Cannes Film Festival audience out of its seats.
The film, screening out of competition at the 75th Cannes festival, was rewarded with a standing ovation of six minutes. Following the ovation, Miller took the microphone and said tonight marked the first time anyone has seen the film and his first screening with an audience: “It’s very moving,” he added.
Three Thousand Years of Longing is Miller’s return to the Palais, having debuted his last film, Mad Max: Fury Road, at the festival. The audience included CAA’s Bryn Lourd and Casey Affleck.
While the movie was warmly received, it was prior to the premiere and out on the red carpet in front of the Palais, that the most talked-about moment of the evening occurred. A woman, screaming and wearing body paint in the colors of the Ukrainian flag along with “stop raping us” written across her abdomen, was stopped by security after it appeared she took off her clothes. She also appeared to have blood-red paint over her lower back and legs, with the word “scum” written on her lower back. Security quickly covered her in a jacket and escorted her off the carpet.
Three Thousand Years of Longing is about an academic, content with life, who encounters a genie offering her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. Their conversation, in a hotel room in Istanbul where the scholar of mythology attends a conference, leads her to make a wish that surprises them both.
Beyond the out-of-competition program in Cannes, the festival this year features 21 titles competing for the Palme d’Or. The jury deciding the 2022 winner is led by French actor Vincent Lindon, co-star of 2021 Cannes Palme d’Or winner Titane, as president. Joining him on the jury are actress-director Rebecca Hall (The Town), Danish-born Bollywood star Deepika Padukone (Chennai Express), Sweden’s Noomi Rapace (Lamb) and Italian actress-director Jasmine Trinca (The Gunman), as well as directors Asghar Farhadi (A Hero), Ladj Ly (Les Misérables), Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter) and Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World).
Source: Hollywood
