Alexander Payne's Nebraska is a black-and-white film starring Bruce Dern as a cantankerous old man who naively thinks he's won a million dollars from a magazine sweepstakes. His son, played by Will Forte, reluctantly agrees to escort him on a road trip from Billings, Mont., to Lincoln, Neb.
Several of the big winners at the Cannes Film Festival sat down for The Hollywood Reporter’s video cameras to give exclusive interviews about their films and their experiences at the fest.
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Among them was the talent behind Palme d’Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Color: director Abdellatif Kechiche and stars Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux.
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“Abdel is always improvising,” Exarchopoulos told THR of her director. “There is no real schedule; he’s not (just) sitting there getting his shot ready. If you are sleeping during a break, he will shoot it.”
Meanwhile, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi — who directed best actress winner Berenice Bejo in The Past — sat down to discuss what it meant for him to win an Oscar for A Separation and his experience shooting The Past in France.
Bruce Dern, best actor winner for Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, joined his co-stars Will Forte and June Squibb to talk about their warm reception at Cannes as well as what it was like working with Payne.
Also taking time out to talk to THR was Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner Hany Abu-Assad, director of Omar, who explained why he wanted to make a film about three Palestinian childhood friends. The Israeli-born director also added, “As filmmakers, we witness our history. I don’t want to take the responsibility of changing minds, but my job is to let the audience in an entertaining way live in a very difficult situation.”
Ryan Coogler, writer-director of Fruitvale Station, winner of best first film in the Un Certain Regard sidebar, and his stars Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer and Michael B. Jordan spoke to THR about how they identified with the characters in the film.
