Cannes Releases Dual Posters for First Time in History

Claude Lelouch‘s 1966 romantic drama "A Man and a Woman," starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant, is the inspiration behind the official posters for this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which were revealed Monday ahead of the fest’s 78th edition.

For the first time in Cannes’ history, the pic, which won the Palme d’Or that year, has spurred two official posters, both showing the film’s iconic embrace scene between the protagonists on a deserted beach: one with Aimee’s face shown and one with Trintignant’s.

"A Man and a Woman" centered on Anne and Jean-Louis, a widow and a widower who find each other but who must tread carefully as they are haunted by their tragic past loves. 

After its Palme d’Or triumph, the pic earned the Best Foreign Film and Screenplay Oscars, while Aimee (Best Actress) and Lelouch (Best Director) were nominated.

“It was 60 years ago. In 1965, two damaged beings played by Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant met, charmed each other, resisted, and finally twirled under Claude Lelouch’s incandescent camera,” the festival wrote in a release revealing the covers. “The Palme d’or in Cannes in 1966, the two Oscars in Hollywood in 1967 and the dozens of awards around the world pale in comparison to this grandiose moment of tenderness, simplicity and beauty.”

The festival added: “During times that seem to want to separate, compartmentalize or subjugate, the Festival de Cannes wants to (re)unite; to bring bodies, hearts and souls closer together; to encourage freedom and portray movement in order to perpetuate it; to embody the whirlwind of life to celebrate it, again and again.

“This man and this woman who both won awards in Cannes — Best Actor, Best Actress — are no more. These two posters also pay homage. Magnificent heroes of delicacy and seduction, Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant forever illuminate the film of our lives, like these two posters, whose colors express the intensity of a passionate love that triumphs over despair. This light no longer comes from the heavens, today troubled on all sides by dark clouds; it emerges from the radiant fusion of two beings who reconcile us with life.”

Lelouch’s latest work, "Finalement", debuted at last year’s Venice Film Festival where he received the fest’s Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award.