The organisers of the Cannes Film Festival have announced that its final film this year will be the French social comedy The Specials, by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, the directors behind Untouchable, which was recently remade in English as The Upside.
The Specials stars Vincent Kassel and Reda Kateb as teachers of youngsters with autism – who are played by non-professional actors. The festival programmers say the film “acutely evokes social and contemporary issues, where the collective world is once again at the heart of everything.”
In making the announcement, the organisers have explained that the Festival will no longer end with the “Closing film” but the “Last Screening,” which will take place on the evening of the Closing Ceremony. In a statement, they said, “By renaming the closing film the ‘Last Screening’, the Festival de Cannes wishes to reconnect with its tradition of final great screenings,” references such films as ET, Thelma & Louise and last year’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.
In a further reference to classic film, they note that the French translation of “Last Screening” is « Dernière séance », which is the French title of Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show.
The Festival has also added an appearance of Sylvester Stallone to the programme. He’ll be previewing footage from the upcoming sequel Rambo V – Last Blood, as well as screening a restoration of his Rambo – First Blood film.