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The 21st Cannes Film festival began like any other, on May 10th, 1968. The opening film was a freshly restored version of Gone with the Wind,  hosted by  Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco.

Cannes was light on mega-stars this year but made up for it with diversity and the use of the red carpet for protests. Hair and showing everything were the main fashion topics.

Festival guest Truman Capote, still riding high on the success of In Cold Blood, enjoys the luxurious comfort of the Carlton Hotel in the company of his friend, Geraldine Chaplin, who plays the part of a dedicated hotel maid. Chaplin is in Cannes with director Carlos Saura's Peppermint Frappé - a movie that will soon be part of the festival history, not for being shown, but for not being shown.

HFPA Grantee   California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) is a nationally ranked comprehensive university dedicated to affordable higher education and career success after graduation.  With 109 degreed programs and an enrollment of 40,000 diverse students – more than half of whom are the first in their family to pursue a college degree – the university is a major force in the intellectual and cultural life of the region, state and nation, as well as a catalyst for economic and social mobility.

Things have (thankfully) finally been stirring on the Croisette after a rather lukewarm start to the festival here with a couple of high profile movies hitting the big screen of the Grand Theatre Lumière. One is by perennial controversial Danish director Lars Von Trier (Antichrist, Melancholia) just back from a years-long time-out for bad behavior.

As we pass the Cannes mid-way point the only clear trend is: hair is making a statement. And men are predictable though sometimes surprising.

Spanish-born German actor and Golden Globe nominee Daniel Brühl told HFPA journalist Jenny Cooney how he played a little trick on Quentin Tarantino in his audition for Inglorious Basterds:  “By the end of the audition, Quentin said ah, that was alright, but it’s a shame that I cannot see you acting in French when you are flirting with the girl.   And I said that’s not a problem, I can translate it right away.

At 77, with a career that started in the early 60s and gave him two Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actor in 1971 and 1973 for his role in Marcus Welby MD, and four other nominations in 1972, 1984, 1985 and 2004, James Brolin could be enjoying the memories of the past instead of thinking on the challenges of the future. But the father of three, including actor Josh Brolin, and husband of Cecil B.

Fashion is fun and fantasy, and some of the fantasy is that many of the looks we embrace hold a different standard for men and women. Not only ageism, warmth, but comfort too.

Before the whole festival imploded under the pressure of a growing number of filmmakers and artists, several films were screened to mixed reactions. Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby received mostly glowing reviews, around the theme of 'he's back to the vein of Repulsion'.