Growing Old On The Croisette: Loach Leads Cannes Silver Foxes

Cannes, France, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th May, 2023 ) :While much talk at Cannes this year has been about the unprecedented seven women directors in competition, an impressive cavalcade of ageing maestros has charmed the French Riviera festival, with 86-year-old Ken Loach entering the race on Friday.

Loach could pick up a record third Palme d'Or if he wins the festival's top prize on Saturday with "The Old Oak" about a British pub struggling to survive and the tensions caused by the arrival of Syrian refugees.

He is the oldest director of the 21 in competition at the film festival -- but not by much.

Other silver foxes in the running include Marco Bellocchio, 83, Wim Wenders, 77, Nanni Moretti, 69, and comparative whippersnapper Aki Kaurismaki, 66.

Outside the main competition, there were also glitzy premieres for 80-year-old Martin Scorsese's American Indian epic "Killers of the Flower Moon", starring veteran screen legend Robert De Niro, 79.

Harrison Ford, 80, received an honorary Palme d'Or before the festival saw him reprise his role as Indiana Jones.

And at the opening ceremony, Michael Douglas, 78, was also given an honorary Palme.

Proving that it's never too late to return to the famed Croisette boulevard in Cannes, acclaimed 82-year-old Spanish filmmaker Victor Erice returned with his first film in 40 years, "Close Your Eyes".