'ON THE ROAD' HITS THE BIG SCREEN AFTER 55 YEARS

Brazilian director Walter Salles and the cast of his new movie "On The Road" attended a press conference for the film at the Cannes Film Festival today (23 May 2012).

The road movie is showing in-competition at the festival and is based on the infamous novel of the same name by Beat Generation writer, Jack Kerouac.

It stars British actor Sam Riley and U.S. stars Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst, who were joined at the press conference by fellow actors Viggo Mortensen, Tom Sturridge and Danny Morgan

"On The Road" follows a group of friends who travel across America in the late 1940s and is based on Kerouac's own experiences.

Salles' adaptation is the first film production of the classic 1957 novel, which everyone from Marlon Brando to Jean-Luc-Godard has circled over the last six decades.

Salles said he covered nearly 100,000 kilometers (more than 62,000 miles) making the film, as well as spending five years researching an as-yet-unreleased documentary.

"I retraced the route of 'On The Road' by interviewing the characters of the book who were alive, the poets from that unique generation that completely altered the face of not only north American culture, but culture in general, and also we also interviewed people from David Byrne to Wim Wenders who were very influenced by the writings of not only Kerouac but the Beat Generation in general," he explained.

In order for the actors to get into character, Salles had them live together in Montreal for a month prior to shooting - something Riley described as "boot camp."

Many of the characters in the book live hedonistic lifestyles, which meant "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart was required to appear partially nude in many scenes.

But, the sex scenes and nudity didn't phase her.

"I love scaring myself. I think to watch genuine experience on screen is just so much more interesting than seeing, you can see the tape holding up the paste-ies, you know. I wanted to do it - the reason I want to do the job is because you read something and you're provoked on some level and it's just taking that further and being able to live it and I always want to get as close to the experience as I possibly can."

"On The Road" has its world premiere at the festival Wednesday night.

The Cannes Film Festival draws to a close on Sunday 27 May, when the winner of the Palme d'Or is announced.

AP Entertainment

Cannes, France, 23 May 2012

1. Wide shot Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund entering press conference room

2. Medium of Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst and Sam Riley posing for photographers

3. Wide shot "On The Road" cast

4. Close up Viggo Mortensen

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5. Trailer clip: "On The Road"

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Cannes, France, 23 May 2012

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Walter Salles, director - on research for the film:

"What I proposed was to do a documentary in search of the possible film, and for five years intermittently I retraced the route of 'On The Road' by interviewing the characters of the book who were alive, the poets from that unique generation that completely altered the face of not only north American culture, but culture in general, and also we also interviewed people from David Byrne to Wim Wenders who were very influenced by the writings of not only Kerouac but the Beat Generation in general."

7. Wide shot press conference

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Garrett Hedlund, actor - on meeting the son of Neal Cassady (the man his character is based on):

"It was really important for me. The trip that Walter and I took to San Francisco to meet with him was very beneficial because I went with a notepad full of questions and you have Neal Cassady's son there for 5 hours to rap and to ask the questions and sort of towards the end of it he said something about his father and he's doing this and I say (does an impression of Neal Cassady) 'hey, yeah John,' and he's like 'that's very good.'"

9. Cutaway photographer

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Riley, actor - on how he got into character:

"There wasn't really one thing, it was, as Walter said, it grew over the course of four weeks in the boot camp. He also had things to say about Jack, did John Cassady. I don't know if there was one thing really - we smoked the same cigarettes."

(Reporter: "That smelled funny?")

Riley: "No, no, not at all."

11. Cutaway journalists

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Kirsten Dunst, actress - on whether she met Carolyn Cassady (the woman her character is based on):

"I haven't met Carolyn yet in person, I missed the opportunity sadly. You know, I think she was trying to live a normal life and kind of got caught up in what they were doing and suffered for it but was always, you know, I think someone who was very strong, very smart and could have done a lot had she have followed another path. Her book is actually really, really great and that is kind of what I based my choices on in the film."

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13. Trailer clip: "On The Road"

AP Entertainment

Cannes, France, 23 May 2012

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Kristen Stewart, actress - on doing partially nude scenes:

"Obviously everyone who does scenes like that, the first thing you say is, 'Oh I felt so safe, Walter put me in an environment that was very informed by the natural story.' But I love pushing, I love scaring myself. I think to watch genuine experience on screen is just so much more interesting than seeing, you can see the tape holding up the paste-ies, you know. I wanted to do it - the reason I want to do the job is because you read something and you're provoked on some level and it's just taking that further and being able to live it and I always want to get as close to the experience as I possibly can."

15. Medium of Kristen Stewart signing autographs at end of press conference

'ON THE ROAD' HAS CANNES WORLD PREMIERE

Brazilian director Walter Salles was joined by Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund and Sam Riley at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of their in-competition film, "On The Road," on Wednesday night (23 MAY.)

Also on the red carpet were their fellow co-stars Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Sturridge and Danny Morgan.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Jack Kerouac and follows a group of friends who travel across America in the late 1940s.

The novel and film are based on Kerouac's own experiences.

Salles' adaptation is the first film production of the classic 1957 novel, which everyone from Marlon Brando to Jean-Luc-Godard has circled over the last six decades.

Other stars who walked the red carpet included Stewart's "Twilight" co-star and boyfriend, actor Robert Pattinson, as did Cannes jury member Ewan McGregor and actress and model Milla Jovovich.

The Cannes Film Festival draws to a close on Sunday (27 MAY), when the winner of the Palme d'Or is announced.

AP Entertainment

Cannes, France, 23 May 2012

1. Wide shot red carpet

2. Medium shot actor Robert Pattinson on red carpet

3. Close up Robert Pattinson posing for photographers

4. Cutaway photographers

5. Medium of Ewan McGregor and wife on red carpet

6. Cutaway photographers

7. Medium of actress/model Milla Jovovich

8. Cutaway photographers

9. Medium of Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, and Tom Sturridge, pull out to wide of cast

10. Medium of (right to left) Danny Morgan, Tom Sturridge, Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, director Walter Salles, Garrett Hedlund

11. Cutaway photographers

12. Medium of Kristen Stewart walking on red carpet

13. Cutaway photographers

14. Medium of (right to left) Tom Sturridge, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Danny Morgan, pan to Viggo Mortensen, Garrett Hedlund, director Walter Salles, Kirsten Dunst

15. Pan up Kristen Stewart's dress on red carpet

16. Wide of cast and director on top of stirs

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17. Trailer clip: "On The Road"

'ON THE ROAD' HITS THE SCREEN AFTER NEARLY SIX DECADES

"Twilight" star Kristen Stewart teams up with British actor Sam Riley and Garrett Hudlund in new movie "On The Road."

The three young actors play the central love triangle in Brazilian director Walter Salles' adaptation of Jack Kerouac's Beat Generation novel.

"On The Road," the tale of wannabe writer (and Kerouac surrogate) Sal Paradise and his friend Dean Moriarty crisscrossing the United States in search of freedom and the elusive "it," was published in 1957.

Salles' adaptation is the first film production of the classic novel, which everyone from Marlon Brando to Jean-Luc-Godard has circled over the last six decades.

Salles covered nearly 100,000 kilometers (more than 62,000 miles) making the film, as well as spending five years researching an as-yet-unreleased documentary.

The director may have put a lot of effort into researching Kerouac and the people his characters are based on - but so did the actors.

Salles had the cast live together in Montreal for four weeks and during that time Stewart, Riley and Hedlund crammed in as much information as they could about the writer and his pals.

"We were allowed to know things about the characters. They suddenly became human. They are kind of like superheroes in the book, and they are in reality too it is just that you can only make 'On the Road' once and you can't ignore the history of it. There is the novel, there is the scroll and there is what actually happened. They all found their way into the film somehow because Walter loves and has so much respect and so much integrity that he couldn't ignore certain truths that we found out in the boot camp," explains Stewart.

While the boot camp was intense, Riley stresses that it wasn't as exhausting as it sounds:

"It sounds quite daunting, that boot camp. I thought it was going to be press ups whilst reciting poetry and sit ups listening to jazz music or something. But it was kind of like beatnik school or something. We had experts, biographers, come in and talk to us. We had the son of Neil Cassidy, who is Garret's character's son in real life and we watched documentaries from that time and about music from that time and things."

The experience also meant the actors got to bond before the cameras started rolling.

According to Riley, Salles is luckily the trio got along.

"It could have been a disaster, we could have all hated each other before we even started shooting anything but Walter managed to pick like minded people even though we were from all across the globe."

"On the Road," which premiered last week at the Cannes Film Festival, has been a long time coming.

Salles, who made the Che Guevara road movie "The Motorcycle Diaries," has been involved since 2004.

He finally got the go-ahead, with Francis Ford Coppola's son Roman Coppola producing, to shoot a film whose fourth main character is the American landscape - though Salles and his cast had to travel far and wide to recreate the 1940s U.S. setting.

The movie was shot in Canada, Chile and Mexico as well as the United States.

There may have been a lot of moving around, but Hedlund says he relished the experience.

"Every place you get it is like 'all right guys, let's go! Where are we going now?' And it was great because it was either a new country, a new town, new cities, so it is not like you're like 'I don't want to go there again, I'm just going to stay in tonight,' I was like 'I want to see this, I want to experience this, find new things, taste new foods, sip new drinks.' And yes we got to do that, which was incredible."

"On The Road" opened in France last week and is due for release in the U.S in the fall.

It hits U.K. cinemas on 21 September 2012.

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1. Trailer clip: "On the Road"

AP Entertainment

Cannes, France, 24 May 2012

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Riley actor - on director Walter Salles creating a boot camp for the actors:

"It sounds quite daunting, that boot camp. I thought it was going to be press ups whilst reciting poetry and sit ups listening to jazz music or something. But it was kind of like beatnik school or something. We had experts, biographers, come in and talk to us. We had the son of Neil Cassidy, who is Garret's character's son in real life and we watched documentaries from that time and about music from that time and things."

MK2

3. Trailer clip: "On The Road"

AP Entertainment

Cannes, France, 24 May 2012

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Riley actor - on the advantages of the boot camp:

"To fill our head with everything of that era and of these people and also for us to spend time with one another before shooting so that we could get to know one another a little bit. In the hope that then the chemistry would be good. It could have been a disaster, we could have all hated each other before we even started shooting anything but Walter managed to pick like minded people even though we were from all across the globe."

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Kristen Stewart, actress - on what they did at boot camp:

"We were allowed to know things about the characters. They suddenly became human. They are kind of like superheroes in the book, and they are in reality too it is just that you can only make 'On the Road' once and you can't ignore the history of it. There is the novel, there is the scroll and there is what actually happened. They all found their way into the film somehow because Walter loves and has so much respect and so much integrity that he couldn't ignore certain truths that we found out in the boot camp."

MK2

6. Trailer clip: "On The Road"

AP Entertainment

Cannes, France, 24 May 2012

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Garrett Hudlund, actor - on traveling to make the film:

"Every place you get it is like 'all right guys, let's go! Where are we going now?' And it was great because it was either a new country, a new town, new cities, so it is not like you're like 'I don't want to go there again, I'm just going to stay in tonight,' I was like 'I want to see this, I want to experience this, find new things, taste new foods, sip new drinks.' And yes we got to do that, which was incredible."

MK2

8. Trailer clip: "On The Road"

'ON THE ROAD' IN CANNES

Brazilian director Walter Salles and the cast of his new movie "On The Road" arrived for a photo-call Wednesday (23rd May 2012) ahead of a press conference for the film at the Cannes Film Festival.

"On The Road" is showing in-competition at the festival and is based on the novel of the same name by Jack Kerouac.

It stars British actor Sam Riley and U.S. stars Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst.

They were joined by fellow co-stars Viggo Mortensen, Tom Sturridge and Danny Morgan.

"On The Road" follows a group of friends who travel across America in the late 1940s.

The novel and film are based on Kerouac's own experiences.

The Cannes Film Festival draws to a close on Sunday 27 May, when the winner of the Palme d'Or is announced.

AP Entertainment

Cannes, France, 23 May 2012

1. Wide shot fans waiting for the arrival of the "On The Road" cast

2. Medium of actor Viggo Mortensen, director Walter Salles and actor Danny Morgan arriving

3. Medium of actor Garrett Hedlund arriving

4. Wide of Garrett Hedlund signing autographs, pan to Viggo Mortensen walking up stairs

5. Wide of Kirsten Dunst getting out of car, pan to Kristen Stewart arriving and walking up stairs

6. Wide, pull out, of steps

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7. Trailer clip: "On The Road"

SHOTLIST (including transcript):-

AP Entertainment

Cannes, France, 15th May 2012

1. Wide shot of The Palais

1. Mid shot of Festival de Cannes sign

2. Wide shot of the Pavilion

3. Wide shot of people walking

4. Close up of people walking

5. Close up the Carlton hotel

6. Pan down from "The Amazing Spider-Man" movie poster to "The Dictator" movie poster outside the Carlton hotel

7. Close up of Sacha Baron Cohen on "The Dictator" movie poster

8. Wide of the beach

9. Medium shot of man doing juggling tricks on the beach

10. Medium of Thierry Fremaux, Cannes Festival Director, talking to reporter

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Thierry Fremaux, Cannes Festival Director:

"To celebrate an anniversary is also an opportunity to make the atmosphere much more, much more happy, much more like in a family. We're all happy when there is something to celebrate and, and I think that we celebrate every year what cinema is, but saying that it's the 65th anniversary it's maybe a way not to celebrate Cannes but to celebrate what Cannes has done for, or what the film festivals in the world (have) done for. We are here to celebrate cinema, to support the filmmaker, the cinema d'auteur, to support the professionals who are working here. We are not only here in the sun with beautiful landscape we are all here to work and in a word, it's, it's to say that Cannes is here to prove that the cinema is alive."

12. Medium of Thierry Fremaux, Cannes Festival Director, talking to reporter

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Thierry Fremaux, Cannes Festival Director:

"Yeah, a lot of films made in America by people who come from America, three but, David Cronenberg is Canadian, Walter Salles is Brazilian, John Hillcoat and Andrew Dominik are Australian, so America is becoming again maybe a land of open dreams for the filmmakers in the world, but what is very interesting is that the recent American cinema was divided in two blocks. One was the small independent cinema celebrated in a festival like the Sundance Film Festival for example which emerged in the 80s with the video and so on, and on the other side the big blockbuster made by the studio in Hollywood - the summer movies and we have maybe now some kind of comeback of the filmmakers who are making films for the public for people from thirty to sixty years old. Of course we still have Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers and Terrence Malick and so on but there is quite a young generation, like Jeff Nichols, who is in competition this year with "Mud." I think he's 35 or 36 and maybe they are the sons of Jerry Schatzberg or Bob Rafelson or Martin Scorsese all the filmmakers who were famous in the seventies."

14. Medium of Thierry Fremaux, Cannes Festival Director, talking to reporter

THE AMERICANS ARE COMING TO CANNES

Despite the mood in Europe, don't expect any austerity at the Cannes Film Festival, the annual Cote d'Azur extravaganza where glamor is wrapped in world cinema fervor and gauzy Mediterranean sunshine.

Except for the Oscars, it's the flashiest red carpet in the world, a ruby staircase flanked by tuxedoed photographers - and a world away from financial turmoil.

Yet Cannes, the 65th edition of which starts Wednesday (16th May 2012), fetes its directors as much as it does its stars.

This year, there are plenty of both: esteemed international filmmakers like Abbas Kiarostami and Michael Haneke to big-name talent like Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman.

Among the 22 films in competition, there's a particularly large American contingent which was selected, in-part, by Cannes' artistic director Thierry Fremaux.

"America is becoming again maybe a land of open dreams for filmmakers," says Fremaux.

"Of course we still have Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers and Terrence Malick and so on, but there is quite a young generation, like Jeff Nichols, who is in competition this year with 'Mud.' I think he's 35 or 36 and maybe they are the sons of Jerry Schatzberg or Bob Rafelson or Martin Scorsese all the filmmakers who were famous in the seventies."

The opening night film is Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" - the story about adolescent love on the run that brings a few new names (Bruce Willis, Ed Norton) into Anderson's carefully orchestrated world.

Later, there's David Cronenberg's Don DeLillo adaptation, "Cosmopolis," starring Robert Pattinson.

Brazilian director, Walter Salles' ("The Motorcycle Diaries") anticipated adaptation of Jack Kerouac's beloved "On the Road" is produced by Francis Ford Coppola and stars Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund, but has attracted more attention for its supporting roles, including Pattinson's "Twilight" co-star Kristen Stewart as Dean Moriarty's girlfriend.

The unusually large U.S. group is rounded out by Jeff Nichols' "Mud," with Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon; and Lee Daniels' "Precious" follow up, "The Paperboy," a death row drama starring McConaughey, Zac Efron and Kidman.

There's also Australian director, John Hillcoat's "Lawless," a prohibition-era bootlegging tale starring Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy, and New Zealander Andrew Dominick's "Killing Them Softly," a crime film starring Pitt as a mob enforcer.

The 65th addition of the Cannes Film Festival runs through until Sunday 27th May when the winner of the Palme d'Or - the festival's top prize -will be announced.

"To celebrate an anniversary is also an opportunity to make the atmosphere much more, much more happy, much more like in a family. We're all happy when there is something to celebrate and, and I think that we celebrate every year what cinema is, but saying that it's the 65th anniversary it's maybe a way not to celebrate Cannes but to celebrate what Cannes has done for, or what the film festivals in the world (have) done for. We are here to celebrate cinema, to support the filmmaker, the cinema d'auteur, to support the professionals who are working here. We are not only here in the sun with beautiful landscape we are all here to work and in a word, it's, it's to say that Cannes is here to prove that the cinema is alive," says Fremaux.