CANNES,
May 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The 55th Cannes
Film Festival, world cinema's premier showcase and deal-making forum,
opened Wednesday, May 15, after the failure of a call by American Jews
to boycott the festival because of recent anti-Semitic attacks in
France and the rise of the far-right.
The
American Jewish Congress, a powerful lobby group, had taken out a
series of advertisements in Los Angeles comparing modern-day France to
the World War II-era Vichy regime, news agencies reported.
The
ads listed what it claimed were similarities between 1942 and 2002,
including the fire-bombing of synagogues and schools, and attacks on
Jews in French streets. Nevertheless, U.S. studio executives,
directors and stars have ignored the group's call to stay away from
Cannes, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
U.S.
Jewish director Woody Allen refused the boycott and praised France for
having overwhelmingly voted against a far-right candidate, Jean-Marie
Le Pen, in presidential elections this month.
"I
don't think a boycott is in order," he said. "I've never
felt that the French people in any way were anti-Semitic. I know a
number of French Jewish people who live in France who certainly do not
feel this way," he added.
Allen,
who was presenting his latest film, "Hollywood Ending",
which was to open the Cannes festival in a special out-of-competition
screening Wednesday, rejected the claim - also wielded by the Israeli
government - that a wave of recent incidents against Jews in France
constituted generalized anti-Semitism.
"I
think we ought to be very proud of France for the way they acquitted
themselves in the last election," Allen said.
Allen,
whose film "Hollywood Ending" officially opened the 12-day
event, led the celebrity parade up the famous red carpeted stairs.
He
was followed by fellow director David Lynch and star Sharon Stone, who
are both members of the jury that will from Thursday view the 22 films
in competition and award the festival's prestigious Palme d'Or prize
on May 26.
Headed
by David Lynch, known to be a leftist who criticizes Western
imperialism and famous for his surreal and disturbing movies, the jury
features five other directors in addition to actresses Sharon Stone
and Michelle Yeoh.
Among
the festival movies, two are focusing on the Middle East. The first
one is "Divine Intervention", by Palestinian director Elia
Suleiman, and it explores a love story disrupted by Israeli
checkpoints and oppression. "Kedma", by Israeli director
Amos Gitai, tells the story of Holocaust survivors arriving in
Palestine in 1948.
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