Thirty-five years after Ridley Scott’s movie premiered at Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 1991, Thelma & Louise are back as heroines on the official poster of the 79th Festival de Cannes.
“These two unforgettable fighters turned the tables and shattered a few gender stereotypes, both societal and cinematic; they embodied absolute freedom and unwavering friendship; they showed the way to emancipation when it becomes vital,” Cannes said.
“Remembering this today means celebrating the road already covered, without overlooking what still remains ahead.
“Themes that were groundbreaking in 1991 run through Thelma & Louise and still resonate powerfully today.
“To embody them, the Festival de Cannes has chosen this black-and-white still from the set of a colourful film that celebrates life and the timeless struggles for the freedom to be oneself.”
In 1977, already in Competition in Cannes with his very first film, The Duellists, Ridley Scott won the Jury Prize for Best Debut Film.
In 1991, for his seventh movie – written by newcomer Callie Khouri (1992 Oscar and Golden Globes), produced by Mimi Polk Gitlin and lensed by Adrian Biddle BSC – the British filmmaker “chose to overturn the conventions of the road movie, a male film genre, to shoot a female version, telling the story of a breathless epic that turns into a one-way escape – reclaiming ownership of their bodies and desires came at a heavy price for the two heroines”.
More information on the poster is available on the Cannes Film Festival website.
