Nicole Kidman

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Top actresses turned up to chat with us at the HFPA, about their latest projects, wearing a range of clothing that covered what designers are showing on the runways.

The Beguiled, which premiered in Cannes last month earned Golden Globe-winning director Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, 2004) a Best Director award on the Croisette. That was only the second time the accolade had gone to a woman in the festivals’ 70-year history (the first, in case you’re wondering, was Jane Campion).

Could 2017 go down as the year of the women despite men taking all of the top awards at the Cannes Film Festival, bar one? The Palme d’Or went to Ruben Östlund, for the Swedish satire The Square. The runner-up Grand Prix went to festival favorite 120 Beats per Minute, by French director Robin Campillo, and Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev was awarded the Jury Prize for his drama Loveless.

Cannes 70 is in the books and this year’s Palmarés included a Special Prize for Nicole Kidman, to go with her 11 Golden Globe nominations, three Globe wins and all her other accolades. It was almost inevitable given that the undisputed queen of the Croisette appeared  in a record four films: John Cameron Mitchell’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties, Sophia Coppola’s The Beguiled, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake 2: China Girl.

“Strange” (sounds better in French: bizarre) is the first label that comes to mind after watching How to Talk to Girls at Parties, from John Cameron Mitchell, which is an official selection (out of competition) of the 2017 Cannes Film Fest. This romantic tale, which tries to mix the subcultures of punk and aliens in a sci-fi milieu, was one of the toughest press screening to get into (It took place at a small venue, Salle Bazin).

It was a somber start for day seven in Cannes as the Festival, like the rest of the world, awoke to the tragic news coming from Manchester. An official statement from the Festival read: “This is yet another attack on culture, youth and joyfulness, on our freedom, generosity and tolerance, all things that the Festival and those who make it possible –the artists, professionals and spectators– hold dear.

Yes! Nicole Cannes! Nicole Kidman has already been celebrated here as an icon of style, and is a critical and box office winner. She is due at Cannes this year in four projects: The Beguiled, The Killing of Sacred Deer, the sophomore season of Top of the Lake and the comedy, How to Talk to Girls at Parties.

As an adoptive mother, Nicole Kidman felt a special connection with Sue Brierley, whom she plays in the Golden Globes nominated Lion, which tells the story of an Indian child, Saroo Brierley (played by Sunny Pawar), who gets lost in the country’s vast train system and is unable to return to his family. He ends up being adopted by an Australian couple, Sue and her husband, John Brierley (played by David Wenham).

A boy from a remote village finds himself, by accident, alone and lost in the streets of Calcutta – and, from there, in a comfortable home in Tasmania, adopted by loving Australian parents. In Lion, the cinematic version of this real life story, Nicole Kidman plays Sue Brierley, the boy’s devoted adoptive mother – and her first Australian character in a long while.