Screen goddess Catherine Deneuve adorns Cannes Festival poster

The official poster for the Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled. In elegant black and white, it features the French actress Catherine Deneuve on a film shoot in 1968. Her daughter, Chiara Mastroianni, has been chosen to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 76th edition which runs from May 16-27.

The official poster 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival features French actress Catherine Deneuve in 1968 on the set of the film "La Chamade". © Photo Jack Garofalo Paris Match Scoop / Graphic design Hartland Villa

Deneuve stands on Pampelonne beach, near Saint-Tropez, running hands through her signature golden locks, in a pensive stance. 

Created by Hartland Villa, the poster is based on a photo by Jack Garofalo on the set of “La Chamade”, directed by Alain Cavalier and adapted from the novel by Françoise Sagan.

In the film she plays Lucile, who leads a worldly and superficial life. Michel Piccoli and Roger van Hool also star in the 1968 feature.

"For more than 60 years, the biggest French star has never stopped filming, reinventing herself, taking a chance on experimental or first films. (...) Deneuve embodies in her own way the kind of cinema that the festival wants to defend: arthouse films but also quality popular films", the festival said in a statement.

Italy has pride of place

Deneuve has a very long history with the Cannes Film festival. In 1964, she was one of the stars in Jacques Demy’s “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”, which won the Palme d’Or.

She was vice-president of the jury with Clint Eastwood in 1994 and received a Palme d'honneur in 2005, three years before a special prize for her entire career.

Meanwhile, Mastroianni, daughter of Deneuve and the Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, has been chosen to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the event. She succeeds Virginie Efira who officiated last year.

French actress Catherine Deneuve (R) poses with her daughter, actress Chiara Mastroianni (L) after receiving the Lumiere Award from Polish-French director Roman Polanski, during the Eighth edition of the Lumiere Film Festival, on October 14, 2016 in Lyon. JEFF PACHOUD / AFP

A regular at Cannes and a key figure in French auteur cinema, Mastroianni won the Un Certain regard interpretation prize for her role in "Chambre 212" by Christophe Honoré in 2019, 11 years after having been part of the jury of the feature films.

The official selection of the festival was announced last week, giving pride of place to Italian cinema with three films in competition, "Towards a radiant future" by Nanni Moretti, "The kidnapping" by Marco Bellocchio and "The chimera" by Alice Rohrwacher .

• Swedish director Ruben Östlund to head Cannes festival jury

With five weeks to go, organisers are expected to add to the list of films in competition, as well as reveal the composition of the jury, which will be headed by the Swedish director Ruben Östlund winner of the 2022 Palme d'Or for his film "Triangle of Sadness".

Facing the elements

Earlier this week, organisers announced that the closing film on 27 May will be animation feature "Elemental", directed by Peter Sohn.

The new animation from Pixar is set in Element City where residents made from fire, air and water live together.

It recounts the friendship between Flam, an intrepid and lively young woman with a strong character, and Flack, a sentimental and amusing boy, rather a follower at heart, in a city where the four elements coexist.

Pixar has presented three of its films at Cannes, "Là-Haut", "Vice-Versa" and "Soul" in past editions.

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux said the film encourages viewers to think about our lives in such a powerful way.

Fashion on the big screen

In other Cannes festival news, French luxury brand Saint Laurent said last week that it was creating a film production company that would work with celebrated directors such as Pedro Almodovar, David Cronenberg and Paolo Sorrentino.

Its inaugural movie is the short film "Strange Way of Life", Almodovar's "queer Western" starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, that is premiering at the Festival.

"I want to work with all the great talents of cinema that have inspired me over the years and offer them space," Saint Laurent's creative director Anthony Vaccarello said in a statement.

Part of French conglomerate Kering, Saint Laurent says it is the first luxury brand to fully finance films.

Vaccarello, who took over as the label's designer in 2016, will oversee costumes for the company's films.

Kering sponsors Women In Motion at the Cannes festival, which gives out an award highlighting female filmmakers. This year's winner is Michelle Yeoh, fresh from her Oscar for best actress for "Everything Everywhere All at Once".