Cannes Film Festival prepares to party

A festival worker places the official poster during preparations for the 75th international film festival in Cannes, southern France (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

After the 2020 Cannes Film Festival was cancelled by the pandemic and the 2021 edition scaled back — with even kisses banned on the red carpet — the lavish French Riviera cinema soiree is set to return with an event that promises to be something like normal.

Or at least Cannes’ very particular brand of normal, where for 12 days formal wear and film mingle in sun-dappled splendour, stopwatch-timed standing ovations stretch for minutes on end and director names like “Kore-eda” and “Denis” are spoken with hushed reverence.