On the eve of a Cannes Film Festival world premiere, it would be understandable, and so easily forgiven, if you encountered the cast, filmmaker and creative collaborators behind a competition entry and found them to be nervous, on edge or maybe a little jittery. Not Lynne Ramsay and her team from Die, My Love.
The emotions radiating on Friday at sunset from the beloved Cannes auteur, her roster of producers and stars including Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, LaKeith Stanfield and Sissy Spacek are best described as calm, cool and confident on what proved to be one of those picture perfect evenings on the French Riviera. Even a light mist vanished in time for cocktail hour atop La Terrasse by Albane at the J.W. Marriott during an exclusive filmmaker dinner in honor of Die, My Love sponsored by Longines and presented by The Hollywood Reporter.
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Die, My Love? Not so fast. One could also say the love was alive and flowing as the collaborators, many of whom hadn’t seen each other since production wrapped, hugged and caught up on the terrace before sitting down for a mouth-watering summer dinner prepared by Argentine chef Mauro Colagreco, who owns and operates the three Michelin starred Mirazur in Menton, France. It featured starters of artichoke with shavings of bottarga and aged parmesan cheese and marinated tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella, followed by main course choices of John Dory or a beef steak, both served with green asparagus and green pea purée. For dessert: Rum Baba with eggnog and toffee caramel or strawberries with creamy white chocolate and elderflower.
Prior to courses hitting the table, THR co-editor-in-chief Maer Roshan and Longines Mattias Breschan offered brief yet heartfelt toasts to the Die My Love team. Roshan went first, offering how “thrilled” he was to be in attendance (alongside publisher Lori O’Connor, awards guru Scott Feinberg and PMC’s senior vp operations and finance Jerry Ruiz) before expressing “our deepest gratitude” to the creative team. He also noted a determination in the room for the film to land a distributor ahead of Saturday’s world premiere at the Grand Lumiére.
Roshan also shouted out the producers on the Cannes title, which includes Lawrence and her Excellent Cadaver partner Justine Ciarrocchi (a pair that was last in Cannes for their documentary Bread and Roses), Andrea Calderwood, Black Label Media’s Molly Smith, Thad and Trent Luckinbill and Bruce Franklin (an executive producer). Lawrence was quick to shout and make sure one more iconic name got attention: Martin Scorsese. (The Cannes debut of Die, My Love marks a moment for Black Label Media, last here for the critically acclaimed Sicario from Denis Villeneuve.)
Roshan introduced Breschan, CEO of Longines which enjoys a long-term partnership with Lawrence (who was sporting a Longines DolceVita timepiece). “Because we are from the time business, time matters, so for us it’s really an honor and pleasure being here,” he said. “It’s really amazing to have this private moment to meet here on a very, very emotional occasion.”
Breschan then leaned on one of Longines’ most prominent slogans —“elegance is an attitude” —to explain what he saw being reflected during cocktail hour as the team caught up and posed for photographs at the event, expertly curated by “queen of Cannes” Danielle Pelland and her Brilliant Consulting. “I could see that you define elegance how I see elegance,” he praised. (A fitting compliment in the presence of Lawrence, who was praised in Longines advertisements for being the embodiment of that with her “natural elegance and style.”)
In Die, My Love, Ramsay cast the Oscar winner to play a new mother experiencing postpartum depression as she struggles to maintain a grip on reality. Ramsay, who directed from a script she co-wrote with Enda Walsh and Alice Birch, is back in Cannes after standout showings in previous years for her debut Ratcatcher, We Need to Talk About Kevin starring Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller, and You Were Never Really Here starring Joaquin Phoenix.
And she seemed to be soaking in the early moments of her return to the French Riviera. While she revealed they were still cutting the film in a race to finish in time for the world premiere, the stress didn’t show. But pre-premiere compliments were definitely present. (Also present: Rick Yorn, Cooke Maroney, Jennifer Metcalf, Bron Heussenstamm, Chris Donnelly, Grace Clisshold, Nick Frankel, Rachel Hampton, Tim Grimes, film’s editor Toni Froschammer, Josie Redmond, Sarah Schweitzman, Kasmere Trice, Josh Varney, Stefania Arrivabene, Andrea Calderwood, Temitayo Bandele, Weiman Seid, Courtney Kivowitz, Huy Nguyenand Daniel Angeles.)
“It’s pretty astonishing to have this entire group assembled,” Ciarrocchi said in addressing the dinner guests. “Every movie is an odyssey. This one took so much blood, sweat, care and spirit. To reunite in Cannes is overwhelming. I think I can speak on behalf of everybody in this room by saying that working with Lynne Ramsay is easily one of the greatest privileges of our career thus far.”
