♪ >> welcome to live from paris. world news and analysis from "france 24." these are the world news headlines. the cannes film festival opens. we'll bring you a run through of the films and analysis of this year's jury headed by spike lee. the most, how can i put it, female friendly jury ever. in the news, a political rival of alexander lukashenko jailed for fraud, a verdict described

as insane by an exiled opposition leader. in business, oil prices briefly spiking this tuesday to a near 70 peak after the opec -- near 7 year peak after the opec entrepreneur meeting. the opec plus meeting. all of that discussed, live from paris. thank you for being with us. our first destination, yes, cannes, ,and the famous film festival. olivia is there for us. we can join her live. olivia, i will say great to see you when you are there. great to see you.

covid caused the cancellation of last year. how is covid marking this year's event? olivia: it is true, there are a lot of health and safety measures here. there are a lot of controls at the door. we have to show health passports, a qr code or a piece of paper to show your status but has not slowed down proceedings. they did kick off with the musical film "annette" that comes from a french director that centers on an opera singer and a standup comedian. this is a musical but you can banish aany associations with broadway. it is much darker than that. a lot of the dialogue is actually sung which is funny and

touching at times. the music is written by the l.a. group sparks. they came up with the idea for the story. an interesting examination of what it is to be successful, what it is to be in a relationship with an artist. >> sounds really fascinating. sounds like you are having a great time. tell us more about the films there. what do you think is tipped to win the palm d'or? >> it is too early to say but it is an interesting choice for the opening film. he has an interesting history with this festival. he presented "lovers on the bri dge" in 1991, which was well received. and a movie in 2012, after a few patchy years in his career. he is someone who is more interested in the ordinary world or realisma, which makes it a kind of divisive sort of cinema. he is uncompromising.

and adam driver said he was such a fan of french cinema that he would have done everything to work with him. he didn't know this film had singing when he signed up to work with him. told that to us in an interview shown in our special daily show "encore in cannes" which you can cah every evening at 10:15. >> can i ask you one more question? you are near the red carpet. you look down on the dollars it is happening. have you seen anybody famous? excite us. olivia: of course the even -- th is evening the proceedings kicked off with spike lee dressed in a pink suit. we saw the french actor and maggie gyllenhaal as well. and jodie foster is also here. she's being honored with an honorary palm. she first came to this festival at 13 with the film "taxi d

river." >> looking forward to find out what spike lee -- in that pink suit. olivia, thank you for being with us. fantastic stuff. the cannes film festival back after being canceled last year. great to see you let's now talk about spike lee. president of the jury at cannes. let's take a look at his credentials. >> ina baseball cap and round glasses, spike lee needs no introduction. >> i have done this before. >> br-- born in atlanta, his mother a teacher and his father a jazz musician. he says his mission is to hold a mirror up to america, often focused on the african-american experience. his biopic on malcolm x

propelled him to superstardom. >> when you say homage to spike lee, it is not just spike lee, you are paying homage to all the people in front of and behind the camera that made these films possible. lee branched out directing music videos for pop and hip-hop stars. after film,, his passion is basketball. he directed a documentary on kobe bryant. >> big game for the lakers. big game for their opponent, the san antonio spurs. >> show time. >> 9in 200106, "inside man" became his biggest hit. then he took the jury prize "black klansman."

during his production, young woman was murdered in charlottesville while attending in anti-racism protests. spike lee chose to dedicate his film to her. >> i lcalled susan, the mother f heather. i wanted her permission. can i include the footage that shows your daughter being murdered and she gave me her blessing. >> as the coronavirus pandemic gathered pace, spike lee pay tribute to new york's health care workers. while his film went to a netflix release. now the director is to add another accolade to his resume, awarding the palm d'or at the cannes closing ceremony on july 17th. >> spike lee, president of the jury at cannes. my favorite film of his "do the right thing." i urge you to get that one take

a look at it. stay with us throughout the week for our coverage from the cannes film festival. let's head to the news. the man who should've run against belarus is leader last year has been jailed. the exile opposition leader has called the verdict insane. she said it was aimed at silencing victor -- he was recognized as a candidate who could have beaten the president alexander schinkel who is referred to as europe's last dictator. his reelection for his sixth term flash has been widely condemned as rigged. >> want to belarus's leading opposition figure sentenced to 14 years in prison. he is the latest political opponent of longtime president alexander lukashenko to be jailed or forced into exile. his lawyer says he will fight the charges inside belarus and at the united nations.

>> [speaking foreign language] >> he w arrested in june, 2020, accused of taking bribes and money laundering while head of a bank, two months before a presidential election in which he was seen as the front runner. several opposition figures were arrested before the vote. in august, lukashenko claimed victory in his sixth term as president, sparking the biggest protests in belarus's modern history. the opposition claims the vote was rigged. western powers using sanctions, targeting the government and companies to call fofr a-- for an end to authoritarian measures. >> we would like to guarantee the possibility of the population in belarus to choose

free and fair elections what they want for their own future. >> authorities in belarus have not been subdued by foreign pressure, continuing to clamp down on dissent. grounding a ryan passenger flight in may to detain and opposition journalists on board. the u.n. says more than 35,000 people have been detained this year for protesting and some have been tortured. >> staying with belarus, president lukashenko's threatened to stop the transit of european goods through his country to russia and china. this is his retaliation for the e.u. sanctions post -- impose less month after he forced a passenger flight to land to arrest o your list on board. jailed immediately after his arrest on may 23rd. the e.u. has condemned the whole incident as state-sponsored

hijacking and called for the immediate release of the journalists. an ally of lukashenko's opponent, in exile. spain is moving to titan laws against -- tighten the law against rape. consent will be required for the sex act. the measure comes in the wake of the gang rape of an 18-year-old by five men at a bull running festival in pamplona in 2016. the shocking ordeal was filmed by one of the rapists. it was taken by the judges as being consent. >> [speaking spanish]

>> changing the law governing rape in spain. next, more controversy for bolsonaro. it's alleged brazil's president was involved in a scheme, known as the [speaking portuguese] involves hiring jose associates as employees and receiving the cut of their salaries back from them. bolsonaro's family is also implicated in the investigation. >> the pressure is piling on bolsonaro. the brazilian president took office in january 2019 vowing to free the country from the yoke of corruption. now he's been accused of running a kickback scheme.

the allegations were made by a leading brazilian website which published a series of reports and recordings accusing the far-right leader of presiding over a scheme in which he took a cut of his staff's wages during his time as a lawmaker in the lower house of congress between 1991 and 2018. state prosecutors have also pressed charges against bolsonaro's and his son over his participation in a similar record scheme when he was a lawmaker. the revelations have been rejected by bolsonaro's lawyer as being based on untruthful and nonexistent facts. but they have already sparked renewed calls for the 66-year-old's impeachment who is facing mounting anger over his response to the coronavirus crisis which has killed 525,000 brazilians. huge crowds took to the streets in cities across the country last weekend to call for his removal. among allegations that members of his government has saw to --

sought to profit from vaccines. he has denied any wrongdoing. he's seeing a steep decline in his population since the beginning -- hi populs populariy since the beginning of the pandemic. >> and we will be watching the implications of that story as it develops in brazil. u.s. oil prices briefly spiking this tuesday to a 7 year peak, after the opec plus group failed to agree on lifting output. this fuels concerned about inflation. the prices fell sharply soon after as traders mulled the longer-term applications. several factors appeared to have lessened appetite for risk. more analysis to come later in the program. stay with us. we're going to the cannes film

festival next. ♪ >> [speaking french] >> he is back on the red carpet for the third time. adam driver has become a fixture on the french riviera, and he is kicking off this festival starring in the opening film alongside marianne coutiouard.

it comes from occult french director with music from sparks. we talked to adam driver for this edition of "encore in cannes." >> adam driver, hello. you star in a film that is ening the film festival, "annette." you are a regular at cannes. you were here last time for "don't die" and "black klansmen" before that. after the extraordinary year we have been through, how does it feel to be at cannes again? adam: it's, i mean, i want to say good, but i do not feel like it is a good enough for. it feels great -- not a good enough word. this festival has always been my

favorite one and, even before i came here, i looked to it as, you kno=w, a place where great movies are. to be the opening film, one that took seven years of us putting it together, clearly i have not thought about it and what it means. i'm just kind of going with it. >> it has changed me. it's obvious. what she sees in me... mmm. that's a little more puzzling. >> your character henry has a complex relationship with the audience. as a comedian he needs their laughter, he needs their applause. i wonder how much you identify with that. how -- is the public perception of your work to you, ,how important is it?

adam: i don't have any answer to that. it is good if they like it, but at the same time, it is not really, or if they relate to it, but i do not think it is something i think about when we are making it, whether people will like it or not like it. i mean, except, but,, you mean i'm not trying to pretend that acceptance is not something that you look for, that validates you and gives you confidence, but i do not know that that is necessarily good thing. i have no answer for that. [chuckles] i think that is something that you think about, one of those things you think about for a long time and never come to an answer, which is a big category of things, but i don't know. i don't know.

♪ >> ♪ love each other so mauch ♪ >> it was a written as a commentary on hollywood but it was one element that the characters reflected more of what we feel is a modern -- toward celebrity, especially the way the adam's character, henry, is presented as kind of being anti-the traditional, happy comedian but being angry. that represents more of what is going on now in hollywood. an actor that also as a comedian. >> you're always dying. >> henry, over here! give us a smile.

>> ♪ give us a smile ♪ ♪ henry ♪ >> as well as starting the film, you have a co-producing credit. i wondered what it was that made you want to throw yourself in so wholeheartedly on that project. adam: i liked that part of it. it kind of forces you to think practically while something that is very abstract. somehow on a set the actors are very removed from having to exercise that part of it, and i kind of enjoying knowing the technical obstacles we're up against, of the,, you know, pigeons are migrating so you only have 15 minutes to get a shot. or you run out of money becaus

someone lost it in a bag. everybody else onset has to think about that and think practically and i kind of noticed that i do that anyway. it's a collaborative thing. so, i don't enjoy feeling that i am separate or removed from what a director is up against. if anything, i like to know so i can maybe help. it's a team sport. so, it just seems like a natural thing. i really enjoyed it. >> this director is a cult figure in france. i wonder what your perception of contemporary french cinema was before working with him. has it changed? adam: no. i still look at french films as progressive and theatrical and beautiful. all things -- they sound like platitudes. but ihe is one of the greatest

directors of all time. to work with him was an instant yes. just because i love his films. his actors seem to have incredible freedom. and then, working with him, i guess, i learned that is true, but there also is a managing of when to push that freedom, and went to, you know,, rely on heavy choreography. and i enjoy that part of it, ,too. there is no right way in doing something. it may, it's captured chaos. and he has a good way of knowing when to balance those two. almost simultaneously. and every time he seems to change the way he is working on the film within working on the film. you come in expecting something, and he has set it up to be complete a different. -- to be completely different.

♪ >> everything is going to be all right. ♪ >> i promise. olivia: you have also worked with people who were cited at references or heroes. spike lee, clint eastwood. when you were younger, who were the people who made you think, yes, i want to do that for a living? adam: director wise? scorsese was the top of the pyramid as far as his films and how he talked about them, as someone who was a huge inspiration to me. you're right. all those people you just listed were spike's movies. jim's movies. soderberg. i've been really lucky to work

with people that made me want to do it. >> and i believe you are not a fan of seeing yourself on screen. will that change for "annette"? >> n o. o. i have seen myself on screen before. i do not have a phobia about it. i just, it doesn't seem to be helpful. my responsibility i feel like when we were making it, and some people can wash themselves and it's -- watch themselves and they notice a habit or something that they want to do that they ddin't think was working that actually was. but for me, it is permanent, it is film. it's weird. you do some plain states will for a brief amount of time and that it lasts forever. when you watch it, i can't help but notice all the things that i want to change or i would have, i have no control over. so i try to set boundary over

what i can control and what i can't and not drive myself or anyone else crazy with what could have been. plus, i know from theater that you can do it a million times and always the last performance, you can do it for 7 shows a week for months, and the last performance is always the best. for whatever -- and i don't want to be responsible for cherry picking what the story is. that is the director's job. i was only responsible for showing up and saying the lines. and then, if there is any problems with it, it is their fault, not mine. olivia: adam driver, thank you for your time. adam: thank you very much.

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