the plane was owned by a mexican company, and families of the mexican crew and passengers gathered in vain for more information. translation: they do not have any data right now. they are just like us, waiting for more information about what happened. earlier, the cuban president visited the crash site, and promised a full investigation. for now, though, the emphasis is on supporting the victims‘ families, and praying that the survivors, just three of them out of 110 people, pull through. cuba has experienced air disasters in the past, but none this bad for decades. the questions are already being raised about the reliability of the rest of its air fleet, much of which dates to the soviet era. for a new president who only recently took over power from raul castro, this represents his first real test as leader. will grant, bbc news. for a new president who only recently took over power from raul castro, this represents his first real test as leader. will grant, bbc news. stop cardinals act as advisers to the pope. until the age of 80 are eligible to help elect his successoi’. eligible to help elect his successor. let's take a look at the

weather prospects for the afternoon and days england and wales seeing the lion's share of the sunshine today. cloudy in scotland and northern ireland. a bit of rain from some of us. in northern ireland tonight, turning more widespread, heavier. heavy rain in north—west scotland. elsewhere in scotland, mainly dry will stop england and wales, too. misty cloud in eastern england. list as we start the day tomorrow. back to north sea coasts where it may linger during the day tomorrow. northern ireland sees the rain retreating westwards. still happy in north—west scotland. southern parts of england, midlands and wales, the chance for a shower and wales, the chance for a shower and a thunderstorm developing. away from that, someone and sunny spells. easterly flow coming to the uk this week. north sea coasts cooler than elsewhere. much of the uk will get to see some warm, sunny elsewhere. much of the uk will get to see some warm, sunny spells. most of us dry, but the chance for a

shower or thunderstorm in parts of it when and wales. this is bbc news — our latest headlines: the royal family has thanked the public after thousands of people lined the streets of windsor to celebrate the marriage of prince harry and meghan markle. the biggest overhaul of rail timetables for decades began today, affecting half a million passengers. some commuters have complained of delays to their services. china has promised to buy more from america, in a joint statement issued by the two countries in an attempt to avert a trade war. the cuban president miguel diaz—canel has visited three survivors of a plane crash outside havana and met relatives of the 110 people who died. now on bbc news its time for talking movies. cannes kicks off with its opening

night film which was a kidnapping thriller called everybody does, which played more like a family drama. that in spain, it told of the injury contentions that the rot within an extended family following the kidnapping of one of their own. directed by acclaimed iranian film maker, it start to the biggest in spanish cinema. the married couple harry had and penelope cruz. we have worked together at you times. it's not something we plan on doing every two years. that will be once in a while if we feel it is right. like in this case. the couple was asked what having an iranian film maker, an outsider, brought to this spanish for making endeavour. apart from his talents, which we all know is a huge talent, it is the enormous amount of tough work and dedication he put in.

you forget he is an iranian director that doesn't speak spanish, directing a spanish film in spanish. it is very gratifying to see it in the cinema. you can see someone from a different country to a different piece of work. what's important is people. beautiful to look at, it was seen as overly melodramatic. everybody knows opened a festival that seems somewhat subdued. despite the 0scar—winning farhadi's glowing record, everybody knows was onlyjudged a middling success. beautiful to look at, it was seen as overly melodramatic. everybody knows opened a festival that seemed somewhat subdued. there was more anxiety than magic in the leadup to cannes. the number of big—name stars was down this year, it seemed the festival

was vainly pushing back against the digital world. selfies were banned from the red carpet, streaming giant netflix abandoned cannes because of a festival ruling stipulating they also had to show theirfilms in french cinemas. but on the plus side there were new faces in the competition, a big asian presence and a jury panel headed by cate blanchett, which, with its five women and four men something the festival in general was seeming to lack. across the board in the entertainment industry, there has been a push for gender equality. and this year the cannes film festival was under pressure to respond. it came up with a few initiatives but with only three female directors in the main competition, are things really changing? emma jones reports. 82 women standing on an all—female red carpet at cannes. it seems crowded, but the 82 represent the number of women chosen for competition in the festival's 71—year history — and 1688 men have climbed those famous red steps in the same period. we demand that our workplaces are diverse and equitable. it's not much better this year. there may be a female—majorityjury, led by cate blanchett,

but only three films by women are selected for the cannes main competition. protest, according to some of the most famous faces on the red carpet, is appropriate. it is a necessary step to take before the reconciliation of female and male. while the festival has acted upon the rise of the #metoo and #timesup movement by providing a sexual harrrassment helpline at cannes, the debate is shifting to the lack of female power in filmmaking. for the last six months women have been walking on red carpets from hollywood to the cannes film festival in protest of the state of the industry. however many argue that the time has now come for solid action to tackle the root causes of that inequality, otherwise another red carpet appearance is simply another photo opportunity for the media, and very little else. it's not a drill. leave no trace is a film showing

at the festival by debra granik, the maker of several successful independent films. she believes there is a definite momentum, rather than lipservice to change. you see more women entering the field in many different arenas, i see diversity happening, i see change, and it is happening like change always does — you don't always want the total destructive earthquake, but you want things to shift. and this change is going to be driven by women themselves. penelope cruz will star alongside an all—female star cast in spy thriller 355, produced byjessica chastain‘s freckle films. normally you don't see the women being the lead in very very cool, interesting characters. it is going to be great material, i really admire whatjessica is doing because she is taking action, you know, doing things that are going to contribute to a change. the film festival has also signed a pledge aimed at improving gender

parity in filmmaking categories. and apart from the main competition, other sections of the festival have a much higher presence of women filmmakers. these are small steps in an industry which has over the last year suffered a seismic shock, confronted by the reality of abuse and inequality. but as the now annual cannes women in motion events gathered to celebrate the success of wonder woman director pattyjenkins, the first woman to direct the superhero franchise, the feeling is finally of forward movement. thank you for being here... applause. the us presence at cannes this year was relatively limited. the biggest american enterprise was the premiere of the new star wars spin—off solo: a star wars story. as you can imagine,

it was surrounded by a lot of hype and excitement. tristan daley reports. there were elaborate promotions on display in cannes for this latest star wars film. everyone knew it was coming. what you think? roars. ah, what do you know. it follows a young han solo and the forming of his crew before the events of the original 1977 george lucas star wars picture. high—profile red carpet events like this are not foreign to cannes, but what was unusual this year was that solo: a star wars story was the only big budget hollywood picture to screen at the festival. usually there are other hollywood films shown. these movies are important to cannes — they bring the festival international attention and can put stars on the red carpet. solo was the one big hollywood blockbuster here,

and it basically sucked up all the oxygen, so much was focused on this one huge film. traditionally we have had a handful of big hollywood films here, and that has sort of spread it around so people don't get so much focus onjust one. here it was all solo, all star wars. not all went smoothly with the production of this star wars spin—off. after reported creative differences, the original codirectors were fired and replaced by ron howard. there were rumours of substantial reshoots. alden ehrenreich, who plays the young han solo, believes the behind—the—scenes drama added to the anticipation. part of the fun of a star wars movie is all the drama and the fandom and rumours and all that kind of stuff, and i think it only adds to the excitement of getting to go have that adventure. and festival—goers were pretty excited. are you guys star wars fans? on a scale of one to ten, ten. big fans, big fans. i am a huge star wars fan,

i have been for so many years, i would love to see how han solo became han solo. you have to remember the prequels contradicted lots from the original films... did the film live up to expectations? i asked bbc culture film critic nicholas barber for his verdict. the thing about the solo movie is they don't take it in a direction that you are not expecting — it really does say, fans of han solo, don't worry, we haven't messed with him, he is everything that you are expecting. i think some people will be slightly disappointed by that, i think i was slightly disappointed, ijust felt like there were no real surprises. if you want to see everything you are familiar with, done with younger les craggier faces, it delivers. does it do anything beyond that? i don't think it does. a new spike lee movie is an event, and this year cannes witnessed

the world premiere of lee's latest work, called blackkklansman. it's based on the true—life story of an african—american police officer who infiltrated the ku klux klan. spike lee on the red carpet with his cast. it's been more than 25 years since he last had a film in competition at the festival. blackkklansman, set in the early 1970s, tells the story of a black colorado springs police detective who in phonecalls infiltrates the local chapter of the kkk. god bless white america. a white police officer serves as his avatar or double and meets klan members in person. the film is based on a real police detective called ron stallworth. there was a lot at stake, and what he had to even do to get to that position, and i don't want to mimic, i didn't want to emulate, i just wanted to inhabit his spirit. become his friend,

let's get invited back. by infiltrating the ku klux klan, spike lee's protagonists bring an inside view of a hate group. some of its figures are cartoonishly drawn but that does not undercut their virulent racism. blackkklansman is a very political film designed to alert audiences to the presence of white racism in trump's america. america first. all: america first! our job as filmmakers, as storytellers, was to connect this period piece to present day. what is happening now did notjust pop up out of thin air. blackkklansman is a great return to form for spike lee — it was praised as his best film in years and one with significant commercial potential. for the first time in a while he has fashioned a very engaging film that looks set to really resonate with the zeitgeist.

polish director pawel pawlikowski won an oscar in 2014 for his finely wrought drama ida, so there were high hopes when his latest film came to cannes this year. it is the story of a doomed romance set during the cold war era in europe. rebecca lawrence reports. pawlikowski's latest film, cold war, follows the passionate and tempestuous relationship of wiktor and zula, a pair of mismatched musicians played by tomasz kot and joanna kulig, whose on—off love affair spans several years and several countries, and was loosely based on the director's own parents. beginning in the late 1950s, postwar europe provide historical context for the film, but it is the compelling love story that is centre stage. i like complicated paradoxical characters, and i like them to exist in a historical time, where history is really palpable and it makes them, forces

them to make decisions, puts pressure on them. audiences here at cannes have loved the music and songs in the film, from a traditional polish folk ensemble that tours the eastern bloc, to the smokyjazz clubs of 1960s paris. music is central to the film. and for pawlikowski it is more thanjust incidental. it mirrors the trajectory of the narrative and the characters‘ emotions. #0ne, two, three o'clock, four o'clock rock. ..# there is a wonderful centrepiece to the film where the couple has just had a big blowout at a paris jazz club, and they have both had a lot to drink and then "rock around the clock" comes on and she just starts dancing, and the camera just whirls with her as she just completely lets it all out, and it is a tellingly symbolic choice of song, because you can feel that he is this jazzman and time is slightly passing him by, she wants to move with it and he can't quite go

with it, and it shows this push—pull dynamic between them. it is a brilliant choice and a brilliant scene. pawlikowski collaborated once more with ida cinematographer lukasz zal whose stunning retro black and white visuals on the film earned him an oscar nomination. in lukasz i had a great collaborator, who is just like, we were kind of symbiotic, like, how do we make it graphic all the time, how do you communicate through images rather than through words? ida, the black and white aesthetic kind of mirrored this very contained, precise protagonist, and in this case the palate of the black—and—white sort of shifts with the characters and darkens and intensifies the contrasts goes all, really chiaroscuro as the relationship breaks together and apart, and itjust shows how much you can still do with black—and—white. with its retro style earning

comparisons with the french and polish new wave, starry central performances and a thrilling soundtrack, cold war has been one of the standout hits here at cannes. it is an intoxicating combination that will surely captivate audiences beyond the croisette. 0ne much talked about film at cannes this year was being celebrated in the absence of its director. jafar panahi wasn't allowed to leave tehran to come to the festival. the director was banned from filmmaking for 15 years in iran in 2010, and given a six—year prison sentence. despite these onerous restrictions he has managed to make fourfilms illegally over the past few years. pa nahi's latest picture, three faces, was in competition at

cannes. it tells the story of panahi and an actress playing versions of themselves, travelling to a remote village to investigate the apparent suicide of a young girl. the story partly becomes an exploration of the village and the patriarchal attitudes of its men. panahi has shown remarkable resilience as a filmmaker, managing to defy a filmmaking ban imposed after it had been deemed he had engaged in activities that were against the country's national security. since the ban, he has made some well—received films, including taxi in 2015, which won the top prize at the berlin film festival. he has to work secretly come as a clandestine filmmaker, basically. also, he doesn't want to involve too many people in his project because, you know, working with a banned filmmaker could be considered, you know, a violation in iran.

it could lead anybody to be banned themselves. so that is why he says if there is a role he can play, he plays it himself. he does not claim to be a movie actor. panahi commands enormous respect in the international filmmaking community. his colleagues at cannes noted his absence, particularly his fellow iranian film—maker asghar farhadi, who directed the opening night film. translation: it's a very strange feeling for me to be able to be here whereas he cannot. that is something i have difficulty living with. it is wonderful he has continued his work in the face of such adversity. an empty seat was reserved for panahi at the three faces press conference and at the screening of his film. for his cast, the empty seat brought mixed emotions. it was a very bittersweet moment for me, because of course the success was there. but he was absent. and it's very sad for me to realise

that powerful people can take huge decisions, decisive decisions like that, in the life of other people. panahi's film was not embraced as a resounding success in cannes. it was liked, but it is a quiet, meandering and meditative work which left some critics unsatisfied. panahi was not the only competing filmmaker unable to come to cannes. kirill serebrennikov, the director of the russian film leto, focused on the music scene in leningrad in the 1980s. he is currently at being held under house arrest on charges of embezzlement of state funds, a charge that many of his colleagues see as politically motivated. 0ne slight consolation for the filmmakers barred from coming to cannes this year is that their enforced absence brought them and their films a lot of publicity. a veritable army of filmmakers comes to cannes every year, with their full—length

features or short films, hoping for success. what is it like to be a lesser—known filmmaker, having your film shown at the festival? well, to find out we followed yorgos zois from greece, whose short film third kind was screened at cannes. super excited we are going to cannes, we are landing in a few hours. my name is yorgos zois, i'm from greece. we are now on the beaches of cannes, for critics week, with my new short film, third kind. critics week is a section of the festival that focuses on discovering new talents. it is my greatjoy and honour to present my film now. third kind is a science fiction film. the main difference is that all props and settings are real. you know, after the syrian civil war there was a massive movement

of refugees coming into europe. there was an abandoned airport which was converted into a cmap. so one day, lastjune, it was evacuated. so i got permission and i went inside after the evacuation. it is a camp but there is not a single man there. all of their belongings are still there. clothes, books, even food. i decided to make a science fiction film that three archaeologists come from the future, and to this place, and try to realise what has happened. we are hoping to turn this short film into a feature film. we have a lot of appointments with us producers, big ones. i am very curious now, to see how this meeting is going to go. great.

so, here we are having lunch with the other directors who are competing in critics week. hello, i am yorgos zois, the director of third kind. we meet directors from all over the world. we have our common language, which is the films that premiere tonight. i am going to watch them. cheers, yamas! we wish you a wonderful screening. cheers! we are going to the premiere. you always have a strange feeling before your film, it is a film you have seen many times and now all these people will see it for the first time. we would like to thank the selection committee for giving us the chance to show this film. thank you. the premiere was one of the best

screening times i've had in my life, with all of my films. it was really cathartic, passionate. the feedback was really great. next after third kind is travelling around the world, for festival distribution. and i will make this film into a feature film. it is more possible than ever. now that i have been in cannes for seven days, i think i'm now ready to go back home. i'm feeling really relieved. and my next target is to have a vacation in greece. i'm sure that when i go back i will start again, writing and discovering new things. well, that brings a special cannes edition of talking movies to a close.

we hope you have enjoyed the show. you can always reach us online on the bbc, and you can find us on facebook as well. so for me, tom brook, and the rest of the talking movies production crew, here in the south of france, it's goodbye, as we leave you with some of the sights and sounds of this year's cannes film festival. england and wales seeing the lion's share of the sunshine today. cloudy skies in scotland and northern ireland. for some of us, rain. skies in scotland and northern ireland. forsome of us, rain. for northern ireland might, that will turn more widespread, heavier. heavy rain in north—west scotland. elsewhere in scotland, mainly dry will stop crossing when and wales, too. misty cloud in easterly winds. coolest as we start tomorrow. but should disappear back to some north sea coast were in mailing tomorrow. northern ireland sees rain retreating westwards. still rain in

north—west scotland. southern parts of england, later in the midlands and wales, the chance for a shower and wales, the chance for a shower and maybe a thunderstorm. away from that, warm and sunny ‘s health. easterly flow coming to the uk this week, keeping north sea coasts cooler than elsewhere. much of the uk will see warm, sunny spells. most of us dry, but the chance of a shower or thunderstorm in parts and went and wales. —— of england and wales. this is bbc news. the headlines at 5pm. the royal family thanks the public for their support of the royal wedding, after thousands lined the streets of windsor to see prince harry and meghan markle. the british designer who created meghan‘s dress has been talking about why she was chosen for thejob. she really, i think, is embracing women and what they do and the fact that i was a working mother, that i have worked for many different

houses and i absolutely love what i do, i think it was a very interesting story for her. in other news, the biggest overhaul of train timetables in decades, affecting half a million passengers. it started today, but there were some delays and cancellations. china's bid to avert a trade war with the us. beijing promises to buy more goods and services from america.