Kering: full steam ahead for the Cannes Film Festival

By

Dominique Muret

Published
May 12, 2015

Kering is heavily investing in film… and the Cannes Film Festival. The luxury French group, which signed a five-year partnership with the Cannes International Film Festival allowing its brands (apart from jewellery) to also become partners of the festival, at the end of March announced the launch of "Women in Motion", a programme "aimed at promoting the contribution of women to film" through a series of conferences and two awards.

Just a few days before the start of the festival 68th edition, taking place 13 to 24 May, Kering unveiled the names of the participants of the very first edition of "Women in Motion". The inaugural conference, which will be held on 14 May, will be led by Italian-American actress and director Isabella Rossellini and French producer Claudie Ossard.

These two figures have chosen to discuss the theme of "the representation but also the discrimination of women in film, both on-screen and behind the camera," the group said in a press release.

Among the other participants expected to attend: French actress Isabelle Huppert, French screenwriter and producer Sylvie Pialat, American-Mexican actress, director and producer Salma Hayek (who is also the wife of Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault), French director and screenwriter Claire Denis, French director and screenwriter Rebecca Zlotowski, and the delegate general of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux.
 
Another initiative, this time promoted by the Kering group's flagship brand, Gucci: the world premiere screening on 17 May of the restored version of Luchino Visconti's cult film Rocco and His Brothers (1960), in the Cannes Classics category.

The Italian label participated in the digital restoration of this masterpiece in the framework of a ten-year partnership with The Film Foundation of Martin Scorsese. "Gucci has invested several millions of dollars in this foundation to preserve cult and innovative films, ten of which have been restored to this day," said the brand in a press release.

"Cinema is a strong cultural force and a source of creative inspiration which transcends eras and frontiers. Ten years ago, it was this idea that incited Gucci to commit to The Film Foundation to contribute to the preservation of cinematic treasures and ensure that they continue to inspire future generations," stated the label.

The 4K digital restoration of Rocco and His Brothers was done by Cineteca di Bologna at the L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with Titanus, TF1 and The Film Foundation.