Could the Cannes Film Festival prize winners -- to be announced Sunday, May 22, by jury president George Miller -- give the movie world a first taste of what to expect from the 2017 Oscars? As the biggest names in the business take to the Cannes red carpet, the French festival could flag up the films and names to remember ahead of next year's Academy Awards.
It's extremely rare to see a movie to win both the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Oscar for Best Picture. In fact, only one movie in the history of cinema has managed to do the double, and that dates back to 1955, with "Marty," directed by Delbert Mann.
However, Cannes's top prize-winner isn't always so far removed from the American jury's tastes. Since the creation of both awards, several movies and performances have won acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. "A Man and a Woman" by Claude Lelouch, "The Tin Drum" by Volker Schlöndorff, "Pelle the Conqueror" by Bille August and, more recently, "Love" by Michael Haneke are all Palme d'Or winners that went on to bag the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Shirley Booth ("Come Back, Little Sheba"), Simone Signoret ("Room at the Top"), Sophia Loren ("Two Women"), Sally Field ("Norma Rae") and Holly Hunter ("The Piano") are among the closed circle of actresses crowned with awards at the French and Hollywood ceremonies for the same role. This feat was also achieved by actors Jean Dujardin ("The Artist"), Christoph Waltz ("Inglourious Basterds"), William Hurt ("Kiss of the Spider Woman") and Jon Voight ("Coming Home").
Decreasing doubles
Although it's now much less common for pictures or specific performances to win awards at both ceremonies, Cannes and the Academy continue to move in the same direction.
The Palme d'Or and other Cannes prizes can often signal the movies and actors in line for Oscar nominations the following year. "The Tree of Life" by Terrence Malick," "The Pianist" by Roman Polanksi and "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino were all nominated for the Best Picture Oscar following a victory at Cannes. Palme d'Or winners "The White Ribbon" by Michael Haneke and "The Class" by Laurent Cantet went on to receive nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
After being named Best Actress at Cannes for her role in "Carol," Rooney Mara was subsequently nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. The same thing had already happened to Penelope Cruz, for her performance in "Volver," as well as Javier Bardem ("Biutiful") and Bruce Dern ("Nebraska").
This year's contenders
The 2016 Cannes crop could contain several potential Oscar nominees, especially with such a strong presence of American productions in this year's official selection. Sean Penn's "The Last Face" -- and its stars, Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem -- could stand out both in Cannes and Los Angeles, as could Kristen Stewart ("Personal Shopper"), Adam Driver ("Paterson"), Joel Edgerton and Michael Shannon -- both starring in "Loving" -- or Elle Fanning, for her performance in "The Neon Demon."
A host of foreign directors popular on both sides of the Atlantic could bag Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film, including Pedro Almodovar, the Dardenne brothers, Xavier Dolan, Paul Verhoeven, Nicolas Winding Refn and Asghar Farhadi. France could also see some of its homegrown stars, who've branched out into Hollywood over the last few years, land in the Oscars lineup. Marion Cotillard, for example, stars in two movies at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
