Trump biopic ‘The Appren­tice’ fails to win awards at Cannes Film Fes­ti­val

The Appren­tice film did not win a sin­gle award at the Cannes Film Fes­ti­val on Sat­ur­day after los­ing out on its sin­gle nom­i­na­tion.
This biopic of Don­ald Trump has received push­back from his cam­paign, as it sent a cease and desist let­ter to the film­mak­ers to pre­vent them from dis­trib­ut­ing it. Trump is in the mid­dle of a pres­i­den­tial cam­paign for November’s elec­tion.

Mar­tin Dono­van, from left, Maria Bakalo­va, direc­tor Ali Abbasi, and Sebas­t­ian Stan pose for pho­tog­ra­phers at the pho­to call for the film ‘The Appren­tice’ at the 77th inter­na­tion­al film fes­ti­val, Cannes, south­ern France, Tues­day, May 21, 2024. (Pho­to by Daniel Cole/Invision/AP)

Direc­tor Ali Abbasi pre­miered the film dur­ing the French fes­ti­val ear­li­er in the week. This was Abbasi’s sec­ond time receiv­ing a Palme d’Or nom­i­na­tion dur­ing his career. How­ev­er, the award went to Ano­ra, a com­e­dy about an exot­ic dancer.
Actor Sebas­t­ian Stan was cast as Trump with Maria Bakalo­va play­ing his late wife Ivana. Her 1990 divorce depo­si­tion inspired a scene of sex­u­al assault in the film. Trump’s first wife would go on to deny that she was ever raped by Trump in a “lit­er­al or crim­i­nal sense.” The two were mar­ried for 15 years and shared three chil­dren and ten grand­chil­dren before she died in 2022.
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It remains to be seen if the film will nab any oth­er nom­i­na­tions or even air in the U.S. as mem­bers of Trump’s team have threat­ened to sue its film­mak­ers for defama­tion.
This year marked the 77th annu­al Cannes Film Fes­ti­val. Awards are decid­ed by a new jury every year, and this time fea­tured direc­tor Gre­ta Ger­wig, and actress Lily Glad­stone among oth­er inter­na­tion­al film­mak­ers.

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