As part of the Cannes Film Festival programme, a tradition of screening iconic films titled Cannes Classics, which began in 2004, will this year include a selection of 13 features during the event, May 16-27 in Cannes, France. Restored films by Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Agnes Varda and Sergio Leone are among the directors whose films Cannes has chosen to show at the 2012 festival, some of whom will be in attendance along with actors and special guests.The classic films to be screened include: ‘Once Upon a Time in America’, directed by Leone and restored by Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, to be shown in a longer version. The four-hour epic depicts crime in New York in the first half of the 20th century. Robert De Niro, Jennifer Connelly and Elizabeth McGovern will attend the screening; ‘Tess’ directed by Polanski, who will attend the screening with the star Nastassja Kinski; ‘Jaws’ directed by Spielberg, will be shown as part of Universal Pictures’ 100th year celebration; ‘The Ring’ one of Alfred Hitchcock’s nine surviving silent films, has been restored and will be screened; ‘Cleo From 5 to 7’, one of Varda’s films, will return to Cannes 50 years later, after being chosen for restoration by the Paris-based CNC French Film Archives. Short films and documentaries will also be screened, including ‘Woody Allen: A Documentary’.
