All hail the glorious Ruth E. Carter!

by Cláudio Alves

With her latest victory, costume designer Ruth E. Carter became the first Black woman to win multiple Academy Awards. Breaking barriers and setting Oscar records isn't new to Carter, mind you. In 1992, she became the first African-American nominated in the category, and later was its first Black winner, thanks to 2018's Black Panther. Having won again for the sequel, Wakanda Forever, she's also the only person to earn multiple Costume Design Oscars for the same franchise. Considering she's dedicated so much of her career to the representation of Black history on screen, it feels correct that Carter's name should forever have a place in the history books… 

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125 days until the Oscars...

It's 125 days until the Oscars and when we do countdowns at TFE we like to play number association. What do you think of when you hear the number "125"?  I personally think of 125th street in Manhattan since I have lived in Harlem for 16 years. The most famous attraction of 125th street might well be The Apollo Theater but curiously searching for articles or a list of movie scenes set there comes up a big blank. How is there not a big article about this already? There's not even a Wikipedia section for "references in film/tv".

The only things I could remember with the internet refusing to help (other than various comedy/concert films shot there) was the Emmy-winning recent documentary The Apollo (2019), a major Emmy submission from The Marvelous Mrs Maisel ("A Jewish Girl Walks Into the Apollo") and Denzel Washington giving good speech in Malcolm X (1992)...

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Cannes Closing Ceremony *Live Blog*

by Nathaniel R

7:57 We begin with the awards already in progress. (It's always difficult to find a link that works here in the US. Hence the delay) The jury has arrived with their always amusing individual strut ins. The actors and actresses (Song Kang Ho, Tahar Rahim, Maggie Gyllenhaal, etc...) are always relaxed and practiced at this but the directors often look vaguely mortified that they have to display themselves -- have you ever tried walking while everyone is staring at you or you're aware a camera is on. It's disconcerting! Brazil's brilliant Kleber Mendonça Filho (Aquarius, Bacurau) is visibly uncomfortable but Spike Lee, a "star" director, in a suit of many colors, is an old pro at being in the spotlight. He addresses the crowd but since this is a French live feed you can't actually hear the English being spoken because the translators are always speaking over the English. We'll do our best to understand...

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Cannes Diary #09: Some unexpected fireworks in Cannes

TFE has been proud to bring you double-sized Cannes coverage this year for the first time, direct from Cannes itself, as well as companion screening suggestions at home. 

by Elisa Giudici

July, 14th: Bastille Day! Let me be honest with you, I totally forgot the holiday was today (time becomes an endless flow/blur during Festivals) but in the morning every hotel, resturant and administrative building was covered by a lot (a lot) of French flags. Happy to report that inbetween two screenings, I was able to see the magnificent fireworks exhibition on the sea with a spectacular view from the press room.

Even happier to report that there were fireworks in the Competition screenings, too...

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74th Cannes: Red Carpet Opening Night

by Nathaniel R

Who gets your vote as Best Dressed at Cannes today? More photos are after the jump...

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