The seventy-ninth Cannes Film Festival opened not with a bang but with a hush: a three-hour, almost wordless film about a family learning to grieve. What followed over the next ten days was the most argued-over festival in living memory, with standing ovations and walkouts often greeting the same film.

What happened

The most talked-about title was not the eventual Palme d'Or winner but Synthesis, a documentary built entirely from AI-generated footage of historical events.

“Cinema has always constructed reality. We are simply being honest about the construction for the first time.”

Why it matters

In the end the jury rewarded a quiet portrait of three generations of women in Marseille. It was the least controversial choice available, and perhaps the right one.

Key facts

• The seventy-ninth Cannes Film Festival opened not with a bang but with a hush: a three-hour, almost wordless film about a family learning to grieve.

• The most talked-about title was not the eventual Palme d'Or winner but Synthesis, a documentary built entirely from AI-generated footage of historical events.