Programme flush with exciting talent but only three of 18 films competing for Palme d’Or have female directors

He plays Jesus Christ in ‘Mary Magdalene’, in an echo of his own childhood as part of a cult religion. But the eccentric actor says his unconventional family kept him grounded

Donald Clarke predicts 2019’s Best Picture nominees. He was nearly half right this year

Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan’ wins Palme d’Or to gasps in the auditorium

It looks like a three-horse race led by Todd Haynes’s ‘Carol’, starring Cate Blanchett, and László Nemes’s ‘Son of Saul’. Could Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s stunningly beautiful ‘The Assassin’ sneak through to win?

For nearly two decades, French actor Romain Duris has been charming audiences – and critics – in a wide variety of films, ranging from New French Extremism to ditzy romance. And he look set to do it again in new ‘retro’ romcom Populaire

Onscreen he’s a force of nature but on a couch the French actor is a good deal more cuddly