Kurosawa: ‘Seeing Clint Eastwood up close’ made Cannes

CANNES, France: The Cannes film festival celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.

AFP asked actors and directors who made their names at the festival to recount their highs and lows at the event.

Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s first experience was in 1999.

“As it was the ( Directors’) Fortnight and not the competition, things were a little more relaxed. I remember I was not overly dazzled – on the contrary, I had rather a good time,” he said.

“It was the first time I had seen the Mediterranean Sea, the first time I had been to the south of France. Everything I did was a first for me so in that sense yes, I was impressed.”

But the director’s most “unforgettable” memory came four years later when his film Bright Future was selected for competition.

“In the same competition, “there was a Clint Eastwood film, Mystic River. I didn’t get to meet him directly, but when we got to the red carpet, I saw Clint Eastwood go up the steps. There he was before me. Just then I didn’t look at him as would a director but as a fan.”

Canadian actress Monique Mercure, who won best actress at Cannes in 1977 for her role in J. A. Martin Photographer, knew she had arrived in another world when she showed up to her first press interview on the beach.

The female “journalist arrived topless to interview me. It was absolutely incredible,” she said.— AFP