CANNES: A long-awaited biopic of the notorious New York mafia boss John Gotti starring John Travolta is slated to premiere at Cannes, the film festival said Tuesday.
The movie — which is being shown at a “private presentation” on May 15 — traces the epic rise and fall of the Gambino crime clan, one of America’s most powerful mafia gangs in the 1980s.
The film is very much a family affair, featuring Travolta’s wife Kelly Preston as Gotti’s wife Victoria, and his daughter Ella Bleu as Gotti’s daughter Angel Gotti.
“We’re hoping to use Cannes as our launching pad,” the film’s marketing and distribution chief Dennis Rice told the Hollywood Reporter.
The project first took root in 2011 when John Gotti Jr. signed a deal with a little-known producer to make a film about his father.
But soon after Travolta agreed to play the lead role, the movie ran into obstacles, triggering a seemingly endless exodus of directors.
Shooting finally began two years ago under the direction of Kevin Connolly of “Entourage” fame.
But the highly anticipated planned release in December 2017 was canceled at the last minute.
However, this time producers are confident that it will at last hit the screen, with indie distributor Vertical Entertainment having announced the US release for June 15.
John Travolta starrer on New York mafia boss John Gotti gets Cannes premiere
John Travolta starrer on New York mafia boss John Gotti gets Cannes premiere
Berlinale responds to backlash over Gaza-related comments
The Berlin International Film Festival has issued a statement after what organisers described as a growing “media storm” linked to comments about the war in Gaza and the broader role of politics in cinema.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle released a lengthy note late Saturday following criticism directed at several high-profile guests. The controversy began during the opening day press conference when jury president Wim Wenders was asked about the conflict in Gaza. He responded: “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics,” a remark that sparked swift backlash online.
Indian author Arundhati Roy later withdrew from the festival, reportedly angered by the remarks.
Other prominent figures, including Michelle Yeoh and Neil Patrick Harris, also faced online criticism after responding cautiously to questions about politics. Harris stated that he was interested in “doing things that were ‘apolitical,’” a comment that further fuelled debate.
In her statement, Tuttle defended the festival and its participants, stressing the importance of artistic freedom. “People have called for free speech at the Berlinale. Free speech is happening at the Berlinale. But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them. They are criticised if they do not answer. They are criticised if they answer and we do not like what they say. They are criticised if they cannot compress complex thoughts into a brief sound bite when a microphone is placed in front of them when they thought they were speaking about something else,” she said.
She added: “It is hard to see the Berlinale and so many hundreds of filmmakers and people who work on this festival distilled into something we do not always recognise in the online and media discourse… It is a large, complex festival.”
“Artists are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose… nor should they be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to,” Tuttle said.
