Hot off the press: Seen and heard in Cannes

CANNES, France (AP) ? Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

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JOHANSSON MOVING BEHIND THE CAMERA

Scarlett Johansson will make her directorial debut with an adaptation of Truman Capote's first novel, "Summer Crossing."

A publicist for the "Avengers" actress confirmed Thursday that Johansson will direct the long-lost book. "Summer Crossing" wasn't published until 2005, after the manuscript was recovered.

Financing for the film was assembled in Cannes. Capote's novel is about a 17-year-old debutant who, during a summer alone in 1945 New York, strikes up a romance with a Jewish valet parking attendant.

Johansson next appears in the independent film, "Don Juan," in which she co-stars with writer-director Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

? Jake Coyle, Twitter: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

BRAFF NOT JUST DEPENDING ON KICKSTARTER

Zach Braff isn't just counting on the $2.7 million he raised on the crowd-funding platform Kickstarter to make his follow-up movie to "Garden State." Worldwide Entertainment has stepped in at Cannes as a financier for that film, "Wish I Was Here."

It's not uncommon for a film to find additional foreign investors at Cannes, but Braff has come under considerable criticism for relying on fans to bankroll his second directorial effort.

In one of the most high-profile Kickstarter campaigns, the "Scrubs" actor lobbied his fans to contribute money. The film's 38,000-plus backers earn various levels of rewards, from a copy of the script to a part in the film.

On his Kickstarter page, Braff denied that he was doing anything to undermine the spirit of crowd-funding. He said the additional funds would allow him to make the film as designed, within a budget of $5-6 million.

"I'm sorry for the hoopla," he wrote. "I'm sorry if your friends think you've been duped. But you haven't been. This is real. Crowd-sourcing films is here to stay."

Braff follows Rob Thomas' popular Kickstarter campaign to bring the cult TV show "Veronica Mars" back as a film. That project, too, had outside investment from Warner Bros.

? Jake Coyle, Twitter: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

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LUHRMANN: JAY-Z KEY TO 'GATSBY'

Not everyone is a fan of the hip-hop flavored soundtrack of "The Great Gatsby," but director Baz Luhrmann says using modern music was essential to capturing the spirit of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel.

"We wanted the film to feel like how it would have felt to read the novel in 1925," the director told reporters at the Cannes Film Festival, where the movie provided opening-night screen fireworks and red-carpet glamor.

"Fitzgerald put music front and center in his novel. He took African-American street music called jazz and he put it right as a star in the book. People said, 'Why are you doing that? It's a fad, it'll be gone next week.' And he said, because I want this book to feel right here, right now."

Luckily for Luhrmann, "Gatsby" star Leonardo DiCaprio introduced him to Jay-Z, and the superstar agreed to help score the film. Two of Jay-Z's own tracks ? "$100 Bill" and the Grammy-winning jam "No Church in the Wild" ? feature on the soundtrack, and he elicited contributions from the wife Beyonce, Emeli Sande and Lana Del Rey.

Luhrmann also used the soundtrack to counter criticism of the absence of African-American speaking characters in the movie ? as in Fitzgerald's book.

"Jay said that music is a star in the film so I think there is a great African-American presence in this film and I am very, very grateful for it," he said.

?Jill Lawless, Twitter: http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

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CANNES: WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

The French Riviera is a magnet for gamblers, so it's no surprise that odds makers are speculating furiously about who will win prizes from the Cannes Film Festival jury headed by Steven Spielberg.

Journalist and Cannes betting expert Neil Young ranks "Grisgris," by Chadian filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, the early favorite for the Palme d'Or prize at 5-1. That is followed by "The Past," from Iran's Asghar Farhadi ? who won an Academy Award for "A Separation" ? at 11-2 and U.S. director James Gray's 1920s New York story "The Immigrant" at 13-2.

Other front runners are "Like Father, Like Son" from Korean director Kore-eda Hirokazu; Arnaud Desplechin's "Jimmy P," with Benicio del Toro as a traumatized Native American war veteran; and Alexander Payne's road movie "Nebraska."

But none of those films has even screened yet, and the odds are sure to change often before the prizes are handed out May 26.

?Jill Lawless, Twitter: http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

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MOORE EXPRESSES ADMIRATION FOR JOLIE

Add Julianne Moore to those who are commending Angelina Jolie for her decision to reveal her choice to have a double mastectomy.

"I'm impressed with her and I'm impressed with her announcement, particularly because I feel there are so many women who are facing the same kind of choice, and it's a way to kind of validate and have solidarity with women who are having the same issue," Moore said in an interview from Cannes.

"It's obviously a really, really complicated (decision), and so I think her decision to go public about something like that can only help other women."

Jolie announced this week that she had both breasts removed recently because she had a very high chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Jolie has since had reconstructive surgery. Jolie's mother had breast cancer and died of ovarian cancer, while her grandmother suffered from ovarian cancer.

?Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Twitter: http://Twitter.com/nekesamumbi

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CUISINE GETS A STARRING ROLE AT CANNES:

The chefs who prepared the dinner for the Cannes Film Festival's opening gala were as starry as the guests.

Anne Sophie Pic, who is a three-star Michelin chef, and Bruno Oger, who has two, collaborated for the four-course meal after the festival's opening night film of "The Great Gatsby" on Wednesday night.

Guests were treated to a menu that included King crab with shrimp and sea bass with rhubarb and celery. Select media were given a preview Tuesday.

Pic and Oger will join other chefs during the festival at the Electrolux Agora Pavillion to ensure that VIPs get top cuisine.

?Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Twitter: http://Twitter.com/nekesamumbi

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hot-off-press-seen-heard-cannes-145337466.html

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