Since last week have been impatiently waiting for the unveil of this edition visual identity and finally today the suspense ended with a pleasant surprise and a very-unpleasant shocker. Sigh.Let's start with the great news as none other than beautiful Claudia Cardinale is this year's cinema icon that graces the poster and the photo designers selected is a fantastic picture from an unknown photographer that only adds some mystery to the photography. As in last year poster a color filter is applied and this year the filter is red that enhance the gold letters. So is a "hot" combination of red and gold for a milestone anniversary.
From above writings you can tell that I like the poster as yes, I do love Claudia Cardinale from all her movies I saw in my youth. See, along with Monica Vitti, Virna Lisi, Gina Lollobrigida and Sofia Loren, Cardinale belongs to a group of 60's Italian Cinema beauties that gave some outstanding performances in several films by very well-known master filmmakers. My huge problem, and very-unpleasant news, is the use of photoshop to slim Cardinale. Check the original black and white photo.
As some of you know, my background is advertising and yes, I know about the use of photoshop to enhance visuals and getting to the point, approve to erase the hair between arm and face plus the reduction of her skirt in a couple of places BUT what was unnecessary is to slim her waist and her legs as NONE of those elements, if left them as the original, would have interfere with the number 70 or the letters in Cannes design. So, the later is unacceptable as does not represent the actress and reinforces the negativity around women curves and photoshop. Shame, sigh.
There is a lot of controversy and one article that gives a clue about what's happening is the one that claims to have contacted Cannes authorities to be told to contact the advertising agency, which in turn told reporters to contact Cannes authorities! Gosh, seems no one will assume responsibility as probably there most be hundreds (or thousands) of print material already printed with "slim" Claudia and to change them means lost of thousands of money. (LOL) It is my experience that the person from the Client (the festival) who approved the work is in trouble BUT as always happens, it is the advertising agency the one that will be blamed (lol) and perhaps even fired.
Check the following photo published by Le Huffington Post in a article here; it shows all points where photo was manipulated.
Well, enough of the bad and lets proceed with the positive. The following is a cut and paste of the official press release.
Full of joy, freedom and daring, just like Claudia Cardinale dancing on its official poster, the 70th Festival de Cannes (17-28 May) promises a celebration in passionate red and sparkling gold.
She dances, she laughs, she lives! Who better to symbolize the next Festival than Claudia Cardinale, the image of an adventurous actress, independent woman and social activist? Throughout the 12-days festival, the spirit of openness and welcome will infuse the Croisette – as it does every year – with pictures of a world that dares to look itself in the mirror, to stand proud and to speak out.
"I am honoured and proud to be flying the flag for the 70th Festival de Cannes," says Claudia Cardinale, "and delighted with this choice of photo. It’s the image I myself have of the Festival, of an event that illuminates everything around. That dance on the rooftops of Rome was back in 1959. No one remembers the photographer’s name… I’ve also forgotten it. But this photo reminds me of my origins, and of a time when I never dreamed of climbing the steps of the world’s most famous cinema hall. Happy anniversary!"
With Monica Bellucci as Mistress of Ceremonies and Pedro Almodóvar as the President of the Jury, the Festival de Cannes will kick off on Wednesday 17 May.
The last ends the press release. Now, what I find nice are the colorful -with a degrade that goes from hot to cold or from cold to hot- this year signatures; check the following examples to see if you agree.
To check the news at festival official site go here and what follows are the credits for the original photography, the advertising agency plus the visual identity creator and the vertical poster.
Credits
Bronx (Paris). Photo: Claudia Cardinale © Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/Getty Images
Bronx agency (Paris) / www.bronx.fr designed the poster for the 70th Festival de Cannes.
The visual identity was created by Philippe Savoir (Filifox) / www.filifox.com.
