Riley Keough on Carving Her Own Path in Hollywood and Her Directorial Debut ‘War Pony’ Premiering in Cannes

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticCANNES — The awards show for the 75th anniversary Cannes Film Festival is underway, bringing 12 days of competition between 21 international features to a close. “Benedetta” star Virginie Efira is hosting, while several directors can be spotted in the audience waiting to receive their awards, including Claire Denis (“Stars at Noon”), Park Chan-wook (“Decision to Leave”) and Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (“Tori & Lokita”).Guillaume Canet presented best actress honors to Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, who plays the reporter who risks her own life to catch a serial killer in “Holy Spider.” The tense true-crime thriller exposes the crimes and aftermath of a man who targeted prostitutes, and that portion of society which accepted his religious justifications he claimed for cleaning the streets.

Ray Liotta’s death announcement shocked the film industry, with many actors and directors publicly sharing emotional messages remembering the star.It was announced that Liotta died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic at 67. He was on location filming the movie ‘Dangerous Waters’ and accompanied by his fiancee Jacy Nittolo.“We were deeply saddened to learn of Ray’s passing, it’s a tremendous loss and our heartfelt condolences go out to his family, fiancé Jacy and daughter Karsen,” producers of the film shared to The Hollywood Reporter.The actor was known for his iconic roles throughout his successful career in Hollywood, from playing Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989), to Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story (2019), Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move (2021) and Alan Taylor’s The Many Saints of Newark (2021).“He was so uniquely gifted, so adventurous, so courageous as an actor,” Martin Scorsese stated, sharing his experience working with him, “Playing Henry Hill in Goodfellas was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot.”“He absolutely amazed me, and I’ll always be proud of the work we did together on that picture,” the acclaimed director declared.“My heart goes out to his loved ones, and it aches for his loss, way too early.” Robert De Niro stated, “I was very saddened to learn of Ray’s passing.

“War Pony” wins Palm Dog AwardBrit the Silver Poodle, who stars in Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s indigenous drama “War Pony,” took home the coveted Palm Dog collar, according to the Hollywood Reporter.The Palm Collar is awarded to the best performance by a canine or group of canines during the festival. The award consists of a leather dog collar with the term “PALM DOG.”Steve Pond, in his review of “War Pony” wrote, “Set on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and co-written, co-produced and starring members of the Native American community, “War Pony” is unhurried, naturalistic and heartbreaking, taking its rhythms from the lives of characters in a situation where the lack of options can lead to desperation or to resignation.

Austin Butler has revealed he ‘put his life on hold for two years to prepare for the role of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic celebrating the music legend. The 30-year-old actor said he studied the late icon so intensely he ‘fell down a rabbit hole of obsession’ in order to unearth his ‘humanity’ for the big screen.

Like mother, like daughter! Kaia Gerber channeled her mom Cindy Crawford at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of Elvis on Wednesday, May 25.

Bobby Brown is looking back on his roller-coaster career.On A&E's two-night docuseries, , the 53-year-old singer reflects on his life in intimate detail — from his childhood in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and rise to stardom with New Edition to substance abuse and marriage with Whitney Houston to her death and the loss of two of his children. The docuseries also includes the first time Brown visits the gravesite of Houston and their daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, which he said was an «emotional» experience.Only ET premieres an exclusive first look from the docuseries, which contextualizes how Brown's «bad-boy» image came to be in Hollywood with archival footage.

Elvis Presley biopic.Set to be released in cinemas on June 24, Elvis charts the iconic musician’s career through his complicated relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).Butler, who plays Elvis, recalled in an interview with GQ UK how his body “started shutting down” after filming concluded in March 2021. He was later diagnosed with a virus that simulates appendicitis and spent a week bedridden.“The next day I woke up at four in the morning with excruciating pain, and I was rushed to hospital,” Butler said.

Committed to the role. Austin Butler found himself in a scary situation after he wrapped filming on Elvis last year.

CANNES, France -- South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation has often been depicted in film but rarely from the inside. The Cannes Film Festival entry “War Pony," though, sought to capture daily life on the reservation by relying on the perspectives of its Native American residents.The film was directed by the actor Riley Keough and her friend, Gina Gammell.

It’s a very big day for Riley Keough!

CANNES – It may seem obvious, but sometimes combining two compelling stories doesn’t lead to an overall more captivating film. That’s the primary takeaway from Gina Gammell and Riley Keough‘s somewhat messy “War Pony,” which debuted at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival this weekend.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticIf Larry Clark had ever found his way onto the Pine Ridge Reservation, he probably would have come away with a film like “War Pony,” which observes its young Native American characters hustling, skating and stealing drugs from otherwise distracted adults. Presenting such behavior without judgment, first-time directors Gina Gammell and Riley Keough developed this unvarnished portrait in collaboration with their actors, capturing something at once tragic and true about these kids, who are torn between Oglala Lakota traditions and the consumer culture around them.A few years older than the hero of Chloé Zhao’s recent “The Rider” — a movie this one can’t help but resemble, at least superficially — Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting) is like the slacker version of that American dreamer.

It is more than a bit ironic in a Cannes Film Festival where Baz Luhrman’s biopic Elvis is one of the most anticipated entries, that the subject of it, Elvis Presley turns out to have another direct connection this year’s fest. His granddaughter Riley Keough is making her directorial debut with the Un Certain Regard selection, War Pony having its World Premiere today. The film focuses on two young Native Americans coming of age and trying to get by in a story set on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. It is a location that has intrigued other filmmakers like Chloe Zhao (The Rider) in recent years, and now has caught the attention of Keough and her co-director Gina Gammell in order to tell an authentic and unique contemporary tale of Native American youth brought to life by an impressive group of first-time actors, mostly locals the directors cast in order to give this as fresh and real a feel as possible. They have succeeded.

K.J. Yossman When “War Pony” debuts in Cannes on May 21, it will represent the culmination of a project almost a decade in the making.

Naman Ramachandran “Le Musk,” the directorial debut of Oscar, BAFTA and Grammy winning Indian composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”), will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Market’s Cannes XR program.The 36-minute film is billed as a cinematic sensory experience incorporating virtual reality, with motion, music and scent integrated into the narrative. It follows heiress and musician Juliet Merdinian, who, 20 years since she was orphaned, seeks out the men who changed her destiny with one powerful memory — that of their scent.Rahman developed the story from an original idea by his wife Saira.

Elvis Presley biopic, showcasing lead star Austin Butler.Set to be released in cinemas on June 24, Elvis charts the iconic musician’s career through his complicated relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).A synopsis reads: “The story delves into the complex dynamic between Presley and Parker spanning 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America.”The clip shows Butler’s Elvis performing at the Louisiana Hayride at the start of his career in 1954, as his shaking hips cause pandemonium among the audience. You can check out the clip below.“Now I don’t know nothing about music,” Parker, played by Hanks, says in the clip.