- Title: Jeff Nichols presents latest film 'Loving' at Cannes festival
- Date: 16th May 2016
- Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 16, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CAST AND CREW FOR 'LOVING' ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE AS PEOPLE TAKE PHOTOS PEOPLE TAKING PHOTOS ACTRESS RUTH NEGGA, DIRECTOR JEFF NICHOLS AND ACTOR JOEL EDGERTON AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, JOEL EDGERTON, SAYING: "It was very particularly un-Hollywood in the sense that, for example, at certain moments, to me a lesser screenwriter or someone really drawn into the patina of Hollywood might have rearranged the truth in order to make it more Hollywood. 'Let's have them high-fiving each other in the courtroom' and having a party to celebrate themselves. There was something just very simple about the truth that allowed us to have a very nice guideline to find our way into the story, for me anyway." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDER WAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, JEFF NICHOLS, SAYING: "I think what people forget when they're so heated in their debates are the people at the centre of these things. And when I looked at the story, it seemed very very obvious to me that we needed to just talk about the people. The court case is fascinating, how these lawyers brought this case to the Supreme Court could make a movie in itself. I did not want to make that movie, I did not want to make a courtroom drama, I wanted to make a movie about to people in love. And fortunately, Richard and Mildred provide the most perfect version of that story. I truly believe this is one of the most pure love stories in American history." NEGGA, NICHOLS AND EDGERTON AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS, RUTH NEGGA, SAYING: "The great thing about this film is that it humanises us, I think that it just shows the world, like Jeff said, these aren't just broad political kind of ideas, they are about individuals and humans and that can only lead to a broader discussion about being kind to each other I think, essentially." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDER WAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS, RUTH NEGGA, SAYING: "Even though I didn't know I'd got the part, I lived with Mildred for two years and watched Nancy's documentaries daily and I just felt like, I don't know, it was like being with a friend for two years and I felt deeply in love with Mildred and Richard and their story and I think we all just wanted to do them justice. And the great thing about Jeff is that it just feels very free when you act for him because you just know that he will finely calibrate everything so you don't need to do any of that you can just get on with doing your job." NEWS CONFERENCE UNDER WAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, JEFF NICHOLS, SAYING: "Hopefully it makes people think about the fact that the people who are at the centre of these debates, and people that matter, people whose lives are affected by these decisions, and you can sit in your armchair, at home and espouse all these opinions, but they actually affect people. And this is all we want to do. This is why being in a festival like this is important, having a company like Focus releasing this film, I just want people to see it, people need to talk about this stuff." VARIOUS OF CAST AND CREW SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AT END OF NEWS CONFERENCE NEGGA TALKING TO MAN / CAST AND CREW SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS
- Embargoed: 31st May 2016 18:57
- Keywords: Cannes Film Festival Loving Jeff Nichols
- Location: CANNES, FRANCE AND UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: CANNES, FRANCE AND UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: France
- Topics: Film
- Reuters ID: LVA0014I24OR1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A story about banned inter-racial marriage might have been a golden opportunity for a tense courtroom drama, but U.S. director Jeff Nichols opted for a heartwarming love film now vying for the top Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Nichols, who won critical acclaim for high-anxiety dramas like "Take Shelter" and "Midnight Special", defies expectations in "Loving" by focusing on the power of love against all odds rather than clobbering viewers with racial politics.
His film is based on the true story of a white man and a black woman from Virginia who get married in Washington D.C. in 1958. When they return home, they are first jailed then banished because inter-racial marriage is prohibited in Virginia at a time when racial segregation remains common in America. They relocate to Washington but struggle to adapt to city life.
Lawyers take their cause to the U.S. Supreme Court, which rules in 1967 that interracial marriage is unconstitutional, a historic civil rights decision that ends all race-based limits on marriage in the United States.
"It was very un-Hollywood in the sense that at certain moments, someone really drawn into the patina of Hollywood might have rearranged the truth in order to make it more Hollywood," Australian actor Joel Edgerton, who plays Richard Loving, told a news conference on Monday (May 16).
"There was something so simple about the truth that allowed us ... a very nice guideline to find our way into the story."
For Nichols it was a conscious decision not build the story around the court battle.
"I think what people forget when they're so heated in their debates are the people at the centre of these things. And when I looked at the story, it seemed very very obvious to me that we needed to just talk about the people. The court case is fascinating, how these lawyers brought this case to the Supreme Court could make a movie in itself. I did not want to make that movie, I did not want to make a courtroom drama, I wanted to make a movie about to people in love. And fortunately, Richard and Mildred provide the most perfect version of that story. I truly believe this is one of the most pure love stories in American history."
Edgerton pairs up with Ethiopia-born Irish actress Ruth Negga playing Mildred Loving. Her subtle performance has triggered speculation in Cannes that Negga could be up for an Academy Award.
"The great thing about this film is that it humanises us, I think that it just shows the world, like Jeff said, these aren't just broad political kind of ideas, they are about individuals and humans and that can only lead to a broader discussion about being kind to each other I think, essentially," said Negga.
Though the film deals with a historical case of institutional racism, Nichols said he hoped it would be a catalyst for debate amongst those who watch it.
"Hopefully it makes people think about the fact that the people who are at the centre of these debates, and people that matter, people whose lives are affected by these decisions, and you can sit in your armchair, at home and espouse all these opinions, but they actually affect people. And this is all we want to do. This is why being in a festival like this is important, having a company like Focus releasing this film, I just want people to see it, people need to talk about this stuff," he told reporters. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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