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It has come to my attention that "La Reine Margot" was screened last Sunday as part of the Cannes Classics. The screening was attended by Vincent, writer Danièle Thompson, Thomas Langmann, whose father Claude Berri had produced the film, and several members of the technical team. Daniel Auteuil, who plays the role of Henry of Navarre, was unable to attend the screening, held by its role as a juror at the festival and director Patrice Chéreau was also absent for health reasons. No word on why Isabelle Adjani did not attend. The only photo I could find from this Cannes event is this somewhat blurry picture of Vincent.

Check out the Cannes photo gallery for photos of Vincent attending the premiere of "Un Cheateau En Italie" on Monday evening (also accompanied by his sister-in-law Virginie Besson") and the premiere of HBO's Liberace film, "Behind the Candelabra" last night.

There were many famous movie stars today lining the red carpet at Cannes to attend the premiere of the Coen Brothers' latest film, "Inside Llewyn Davis." There was septuagenarian Jane Fonda, the beautiful Nicole Kidman with handsome hubby, Keith Urban, man-of-the-hour Justin Timberlake with his latest squeeze, Jessica Biel, "Shame" actress Carey Mulligan, the lovely Kirsten Dunst, John Goodman wearing a God-awful toupee, jury president Steven Spielberg and yes, Vincent Perez! In the top photo, he graciously signs autographs. I'm curious as to why Vincent appears so somber in these photos. Missing is that charming smile he flashes especially at gala events. And I'm not feeling Karine's leather jacket matched with an evening gown nor her hairstyle. What do you think? The first two photos show the couple with Daniele Thompson, Daniel Auteuil and his artist wife, Aude Ambroggi. I love Daniel! Favorite films? Two with Juliette Binoche - "The Widow of St.-Pierre" and Michael Haneke's "Caché".  Plus I recommend "Girl on the Bridge" and "Lucie Aubrac".

Cannes News: Most years Vincent has made an appearance at Cannes, not because his films are always screened, but simply because he lives in France, has many friends in the industry and receives invitations to attend film premieres. This month we might catch him in his Armani tuxedo on the red carpet, but the only confirmation of his presence in the south of France so far is his participation in the "Festival of Silence", begun in 2010. This event, scheduled for May 21, offers celebrities a spiritual interlude from the hustle and bustle of Cannes at the Abbey of of Lérins, on the island of Saint-Honorat, ten minutes from the sea and they can relax, share, and meditate at will. It is the oldest monastic community in Europe still in operation.

As part of the Cannes Classics, LA REINE MARGOT will have a screening. Twenty years have passed since Patrice Chéreau directed the film, which he presented at Cannes the following year. Now Chéreau will return to the Croisette, in the company of his cast, which may or may not include Vincent. For the 20th anniversary of the film’s release, Pathé beautifully restored the film.

Variety just reported from Cannes that Oscar-nominated Winona Ryder has been replaced in the upcoming production of THE PRICE OF DESIRE, a romantic period drama based on the life of architect Eileen Gray. All sources had indicated filming was to begin this month but obviously, that was not true. No filming schedule has yet to be disclosed. Shannyn Sosamon, an unfamiliar name, but definitely a look-alike for Ms. Ryder, will now play Gray, which should lighten up the financial budget.

Vincent has been cast as the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier and Alanis Morissette will play Gray's lover Marisa Damia. EG Film Productions Limited, Lightstream Pictures and Saga Film will produce the film with Mary McGuckian directing. A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to help restore Gray's French villa, where some of the film will be shot. Entertainment One is set to distribute the film in France and Canada.

Chinese actress-director Zhao Wei and Vincent were guests of honor at the opening of the 3rd Chinese Film Festival on May 13 at the Gaumont Champs-Elysées Marignan. The festival, jointly chaired by Jérôme Seydoux, co-chairman of Pathé group, and Yin Fu, director of the China Cultural Centre in Paris, runs from May 13 to June 19. Besides a photocall, a press conference was held at the Hotel Meurice, which included Vincent and Ms. Wei, as well as actress Bingyan Yan and director Zhang Yang.  As a special ambassador, Vincent said, "Film festivals are good platforms to nurture the French curiosity and interest in Chinese film and culture." Be sure to check out the photo gallery.

The DVD of UN PRINCE (PRESQUE) CHARMANT will become available in Region 2 on May 15. The romantic comedy, starring Vincent and Vahina Giocante, opened in theaters back in January. Penned by Luc Besson, the film received mediocre reviews and failed to succeed at the box office with criticism aimed mainly at the unimaginative script.

The Franco-German Commission decided during its meeting on April 8th in Paris to fund four promising coproductions, including Vincent's upcoming film project, ALONE IN BERLIN, based on the bestseller "Every Man Dies Alone" by Hans Fallada. The film, which will be directed by Vincent, obtained 120,000 euros for X Filme Creative Pool (60%) and 70,000 euros for Master Movies in Paris (20%). Great Britain is a coproducer at 20%. I'm sure this financing is an answer to some prayers and perhaps filming will begin this year.

Over the past week, Vincent's 20-year-old stepdaughter, Roxane Depardieu, has been spotted strolling along the streets of New York with her famous and controversial father. Gerard is in town working on a film about Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Note that Roxane is addicted to her cell phone. Nasty habit. I want to scream - Live in the moment and be present! And despite the fact that she grew up in a home of fashionistas, it looks like she favors her father's grunge style. I was hoping Roxane would be focused on her education at this time and not just doodling around like so many other celebrity children. These days it seems to be a curse to be born to someone famous.

Here is an update on Vincent's next film project with production beginning next month in Belgium.  THE PRICE OF DESIRE, a film about the Irish avant garde architect, Eileen Gray, stars Winona Ryder in the title role and Vincent as her fellow architect Le Corbusier. The film will be directed by Mary McGuckian and it has just been announced that Irish couturier Peter O'Brien is the lead costume designer. The Dubliner has been enlisted to produce the wardrobe for the cast. Though he has been involved in stage productions, this will be his first project for the silver screen.

Filming will take place at E1027 where painstaking renovations are almost complete. A bit strange to name a house in a code! Apparently, it stands for a numeric code for the joint initials of Eileen Gray and her lover, Jean Badovici. The villa overlooks the Mediterranean at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. Badovici had kept E1027 after his and Gray's split in 1932 and to Gray's astonishment and anger, invited Le Corbusier, by then a regular visitor, to decorate its walls with murals in his characteristic, crude, Picasso-esque style - which he customarily executed while nude. While others have interpreted this as an act of envy and covetousness, Gray called it vandalism.  Apparently, in 1949 Le Corbusier went on to publish photographs of the murals without accrediting the house to Gray, thus providing the tenuous crux of the film's plot. One question - will we see Vincent butt naked again???

Vincent appears to take pleasure in his multi-trips to Russia over the past year. He was in Moscow once again on the evening of March 6th trying his hand as a chef at a master culinary class given at a restaurant called Steak. Several of his friends were also in attendance, such as Bolshoi dancer, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, who he has photographed for his exhibitions, and actress Anastasia Zavorotnyuk. Several years ago, Vincent starred in "Apocalypse Code" with Anastasia so they were happy to see each other again. They talked about children, new projects, and remembered funny episodes from the shooting. The climax of the evening came when Vincent prepared a special chocolate dessert, which was successful, and the invited were able to enjoy a truly fragrant treat. The event continued with singing and dancing and this photo gallery will attest to a fun evening.

During his stay in the Russian capital, Vincent was interviewed and asked to give his thoughts about cooking. "I cook, but not often. Frankly, my wife is an excellent cook, and does it so well that I cannot compete with her. But I can cook Italian food, for example, or red meat. But I especially love healthy food. They say that men are better cooks, but there is nothing more delicious than old family recipes prepared by a grandmother. This is common for both Europe and Russia. By the way, Russian cuisine is quite diverse. I recently visited Vladivostok and tried scallops that were cooked beautifully. I'm still in love with raw and smoked fish,  prepared in Russia and, of course, dumplings."

And on the subject of the opposite sex, Vincent expounded, "I have always loved women. I grew up surrounded by women, and I'm closer to them than to men. Female presence balances me. In general, women are the foundation of balanced families. The most important thing for men is to respect women, and show no violence against them. It is painful for me when a woman is suffering."

Does Vincent regard himself as a happy man? He replied, "I am very happy in my family life as a husband and as a father, but as an artist and actor, there are still many projects that I want to realize, and when it doesn't happen, I cannot feel happy. We are creative people so each day starts with a dream."

Last week Vincent attended the Russian international film festival called "Spirit of Fire", which took place in Khanty-Mansiysk from February 22-28. FYI, Khanty-Mansyisk is an autonomous area located in the central part of Russia, in the centre of the West Siberian Plain. The area is Russia's main oil and gas region and is one of the world's largest oil-producing regions. Economically rich, the government of the region puts a lot of money into cultural life and cultural education of the youth, including sports. With Russia about to host the 2014 Olympics, this year's festival was devoted to physical culture and sports. Vincent was invited as a special guest to accept an award, introduce the screening of his film, "Tomorrow at Dawn" and exhibit 12 of his photographs from his Moscow Exhibition.

An opening press conference was held, attended by Vincent, Festival President Sergei Solovyov, Vice President Maria Zvereva and Chairman of the Selection Panel, Andrew Plakhov. The gal sitting next to our Swiss star is his translator. Vincent spoke about his pleasure working with Russian filmmakers. He said, " If it wasn't for Russian culture, I would never have become what I am now. When I was 15, I wanted to become an actor. My idols were Marlon Brando and James Dean. They both studied at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. I began to gather information about the studio and learned about Stanislavsky and bought his book. It was a shift in my consciousness! He completely changed my ideas about acting. I began to delve into the subject further and came to another key figure - Michael Chekhov. These two persons can be said to have fashioned me into the person I am today. I am struck by the characters of Russian literature. They are amazingly versatile and deep, including the villains whose actions go so far that they are amazing."

In the photos below, Vincent is accompanied by his translator as he walks the gauntlet of fans and paparazzi down a red carpet into the cultural center for the opening ceremony.  Note that the red carpet is barely seen through the snow!

During the opening ceremony, Vincent was recognized for his outstanding contribution to world cinema. In the photos below, Festival President Sergei Lolovyov presents an honorary Golden Taiga award.

Vincent was happy to bring along his photographs. He said, "When Maria Zvereva invited me to come, I immediately agreed. I already had an exhibition of my photographs in Moscow - pictures of artists of the Bolshoi Theatre. Now I will have the opportunity to present 12 photos of cinema artists."

During the festival, Vincent went to the recreation center, Urman-Berezovka, and donned a red snowsuit. He was invited to ride the hills and fly in a balloon. Thoroughly frozen after the snowmobile ride, Vincent returned to the lodge, lunching on a whitefish soup, homemade bread from the oven and cranberries and sugar. Before his departure from Khanty-Mansiysk, Vincent admitted. "It's such an inspirational city! I feel like I've seen a different world! " For more photos, visit the festival gallery.
 

In an interview during the festival, his latest film, "Un Prince (presque) charmant", was mentioned and Vincent was asked about playing a banker in a midlife crisis amid the crisis taking place in France." He replied, "It is trite to say, but cinema is the mirror of society. France is seeing a difficult time. The rich will not pay taxes. The left came to power. Strikes take place every week, but not only in France, it is also the case in Italy and Spain."

For previous news & photos, visit the following pages:

2013: January/February

2012: January/February, March/April, May/June, July, August, September/October, November, December

2011: January/February, March/April, May, June, July/August, September/October, November/December

2010: January/February, March/April, May, June-August, September, October/November, December

2009: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, November/December

2008: January-April, May-September, October-December

2007: January-March, April/May, June/July, September/October, November/December

2006: January-May, Summer, September/October, November/December

2005: January/February, March/April, May-August. September-December

2004: January/February, March/April, May ,  June , July/August , September , October , November , December  

2003: January , February , March , April , May , June , July , August , September , October , November/December

2002: January , February , March/April , May , Summer , September , October , November/December

2001: January/February ,  March/April, May/June, July/August,  September/October , November/December

2000:  January/February,  March , April , May , June , Summer , September , October , November , December

1999:  Summer, September/October, November/December