For Cannes 2024, Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman and acclaimed director Oliver Stone have unveiled their respective documentaries. The 77th Cannes Film Festival began on May 14, 2024, and will conclude on May 25. Rahman is the producer of Rohit Gupta’s latest feature, Headhunting to Beatboxing. It explores Nagaland’s Naga tribe, a community once plagued by violence and turmoil, and the tribe’s revival and transformations via music. Meanwhile, Stone and co-director Rob Wilson’s documentary Lula is about Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The film covers the president’s rise, fall, and return to power.
A.R. Rahman’s production Headhunting to Beatboxing at Cannes 2024
Variety reported that A.R. Rahman unveiled Rohit Gupta’s Headhunting to Beatboxing as one of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival documentaries. The documentary covers the transformation of the Naga tribe in India’s northeastern state of Nagaland. The film also chronicles how the state, known for its violent history, has revived through a musical journey, highlighting the healing power of music.
Rahman told the outlet that he “was blown away” by the story after his first visit to the region during the annual Hornbill Festival. The festival celebrates the cultures of all ethnic groups in Nagaland. The music composer talked about hearing their stories “for years” and “decades.”
But, A.R. Rahman claimed it was “like a dreamland for me” to witness the sudden “transformation of young people taking to music.” He recalled seeing them “all out in the streets” thinking, “‘Oh, my God, this exists and nobody knows about it.'” Rahman then contacted Rohit Gupta to collaborate on the project and unveiled it at Cannes 2024. Gupta is the creator of the Netflix documentary series The Creative Indians.
Rahman produced Headhunting to Beatboxing through his company, ARR Immersive Entertainment company, per The Telegraph. Executive producers for the project include Abu Metha, Rohit Gupta, Theja Meru, Adam J. Greig, Sheila Houlahan, and Rohhit Daas.
Oliver Stone and Rob Rilson co-directed the documentary Lula
According to the Cannes Film Festival website, Oliver Stone and Rob Wilson’s documentary Lula narrates the story of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The film chronicles the leader’s rocky political career—his rise and then fall when sent to prison for 19 months and his ultimate comeback. Four-time Oscar-winning director Stone aims to “sheds new light on the charismatic politician in a series of unfiltered interviews.”
The description for the documentary states that Lula “reveals the inside story of ‘Operation Car Wash’ with the hacker and the Snowden Files journalist whose reporting led to Lula’s release from prison. Timely and compelling, the film is a cautionary tale of the increasing danger lawfare poses to democracies around the world and an examination of one of the great political comeback stories of our time.”
Oliver Stone spoke to Variety about his Cannes 2024 documentary. He used the term “lawfare” to draw comparisons between the Brazilian president and Donald Trump. Reportedly, Trump is now facing a criminal trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. Stone said, “The charges on both sides of the Trump-Biden election are pretty wild — that Biden is corrupt and Trump is corrupt.” Additionally, the acclaimed director called this “lawfare,” claiming it was a “new form of warfare.” He believes this is something “they’re using against Trump.”
A.R. Rahman and Rohit Gupta’s Headhunting to Beatboxing and Oliver Stone and Rob Wilson’s Lula are among the Cannes 2024 documentaries.
