Cannes to present Palme d'Or, with history on the line

History could be made when the top award of the Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d'Or, is handed out Saturday.

The Palme d'Or is decided by a nine-person jury, headed this year by the filmmaker Alejandro Inarritu. Their deliberations are done in secret, so what will win is always a guessing game.

But milestone victories could occur if some of the festival's most acclaimed films were to win. If French director Celine Sciamma's period love story "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" won, it would be the first time a female filmmaker has won the Palme d'Or outright. Sciamma's movie, about two women in 18th century France, has been hailed as feminist masterpiece.

Director Celine Sciamma poses for portraits for the film 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' at the 72nd international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

The only previous female director to win the prestigious Palme d'Or in the festival's 72-year history was Jane Campion in 1993 for "The Piano." She tied with Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine." The only other time a woman has won the Palme d'Or was in 2013 when the award for "Blue Is the Warmest Color" was shared between director Abdellatif Kechiche and actresses Leya Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos.

Sciamma is a 40-year-old writer-director who helped found 50/50X2020, France's version of Time's Up. She said in an interview that a Palme win for "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" would be a larger victory for women.

"It would mean a lot for a lot of people," she said. "That would be the most important."

Director Pedro Almodovar, from left, actors Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Pain and Glory' at the 72nd international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

Pedro Almodovar could make personal history by winning the Palme for "Pain and Glory." Though he's been one of Europe's pre-eminent filmmakers for decades, the 69-year-old Spanish director has never won Cannes' top award despite being in the running five times before. "Pain and Glory," a self-reflective drama starring Antonio Banderas as a fictionalized version of Almodovar, was received as the filmmaker's best work in years.

Also in the mix is Bong Joon-ho's class satire "Parasite," about a poor family of hustlers who find jobs with a wealthy family. Two years ago, Bong was in Cannes' competition with "Okja," a movie distributed in North America by Netflix. After it and Noah Baumbach's "The Meyerowitz Stories" (also a Netflix release) premiered in Cannes, the festival ruled that all films in competition needed French theatrical distribution. Netflix has since withdrawn from the festival.

A win for "Parasite" would mark the first Korean film to ever win the Palme d'Or.

Actress Penelope Cruz poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Pain and Glory' at the 72nd international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Photo by Arthur MolaInvisionAP)

Last year's awards in Cannes saw Hirokazu Kore-eda's "Shoplifters" triumph and Italian director Asia Argento declare from the stage: "I was raped by Harvey Weinstein. The festival was his hunting ground." Weinstein, who has denied sexually assaulting Argento, was for decades a prominent presence in Cannes, which has had its struggles in adapting to the post-MeToo era.

This year, bowing to pressure from 5050x2020, the festival released gender breakdowns of its submissions and selections. Cannes said about 27 percent of its official selections were directed by women. The 21-film main slate included four films directed by women, which ties the festival's previous high. Mati Diop, the French-Senegalese director, became the first black woman in competition in Cannes with her feature debut "Atlantics."

The 72nd Cannes has had its share of red-carpet dazzle, too. Elton John brought his biopic "Rocketman" to the festival, joining star Taron Egerton for a beachside duet after the premiere. And Quentin Tarantino unveiled his 1960s Los Angeles tale "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood," with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, 25 years after the director's "Pulp Fiction" won the Palme d'Or.

Actors Nora Navas, from left, Antonio Banderas, directors Pedro Almodovar, actors Penelope Cruz, Asier Etxeandia and Leonardo Sbaraglia poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Pain and Glory' at the 72nd international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 18, 2019. (Photo by Arthur MolaInvisionAP)

Tarantino is holding out hope that he might win again. His movie did on Friday win the annual Palme Dog, an award given by critics to the festival's most memorable canine. Pitt's character has a loyal pit bull in the film.

"We will see what we will see," said Tarantino, accepting the award Friday. "But at least I won't go home empty handed."

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

Actresses Luana Bajrami, from left, Noemie Merlant, director Celine Sciamma, actresses Adele Haenel and Valeria Golino pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' at the 72nd international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 20, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

Actresses Benedicte Couvreur, from left, Valeria Golino, Noemie Merlant, director Celine Sciamma, actresses Adele Haenel, and Luana Bajrami pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' at the 72nd international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 19, 2019. (Photo by Vianney Le CaerInvisionAP)

BEIRUT (AP) — The European Union announced Thursday an aid package for Lebanon of 1 billion euros — about $1.06 billion — much of which will go to boost border control to halt the flow of asylum seekers and migrants from the small, crisis-wracked country across the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus and Italy.

The deal follows other EU aid packages for countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Mauritania to fortify their borders. It comes against a backdrop of increasing hostility toward Syrian refugees in Lebanon and a major surge in irregular migration of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Cyprus.

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a Beirut visit with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides that the aid distribution will start this year and last till 2027.

The bulk of the aid — 736 million euros — would go to support Syrian refugees “and other vulnerable groups” in Lebanon, while 200 million euros are meant to bolster Lebanese security services in enforcing border and migration control, according to figures provided by the Cypriot government.

An unspecified amount would go to Lebanese fishermen, to discourage them from selling their boats to smugglers.

Von der Leyen said the EU will also work on a “more structured approach to voluntary return" of Syrian refugees "in close cooperation with” the U.N. refugee agency. The bloc will continue to maintain “legal pathways” for resettlement of refugees in Europe, she said.

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati praised the package, saying that “Lebanon’s security is security for European countries and vice versa,” and that an escalation of the crisis ”will not be limited to Lebanon but will extend to Europe."

Lebanon, which has been in the throes of a severe financial crisis since 2019, hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands more who are unregistered, the world's highest refugee population per capita.

Lebanese political officials have for years urged the international community to resettle the refugees in other countries or assist their return to Syria — voluntarily or not. Lebanese security forces have stepped up deportations of Syrians over the past year.

Tensions further flared after an official with the Christian nationalist Lebanese Forces party, Pascal Suleiman, was killed last month in what military officials said was a botched carjacking by a Syrian gang. The incident prompted outbreaks of anti-Syrian violence by vigilante groups.

Meanwhile, Cypriot authorities complain the island nation has been overwhelmed by irregular migration of Syrian asylum seekers, many of them coming on boats from Lebanon.

The UNHCR in Lebanon said it had verified 59 “actual or attempted” departures by boats carrying a total of 3,191 passengers from Lebanon between January and mid-April, compared to three documented boat movements carrying 54 passengers in the same period last year. Usually, few boats attempt the much more dangerous crossing in the winter. In all of 2023, UNHCR recorded 65 boat departures carrying 3,927 passengers.

Cyprus has taken a new approach to halting the flow of migrants. Last month, it suspended processing of Syrian asylum applications, and human rights groups accused the Cypriot coast guard of forcibly turning back five boats carrying about 500 asylum seekers coming from Lebanon. Cypriot officials have denied this.

Bassel al-Shayoukh, a Syrian refugee from Idlib living in Lebanon since 2014, said his brother and several cousins and nephews were on one of the boats turned back. Now he wants to make the journey himself.

“In the beginning I thought that in a year or two the war would be over in Syria,” he said, but it dragged on, while in Lebanon “every year ... the situation began to get worse.”

Shayoukh said he fears being beaten by vigilantes or deported to Syria after Lebanese authorities declined to renew his residency permit.

His 17-year-old nephew, who declined to give his name fearing for his safety, said the Cypriot coast guard started making waves to push the boat he was on away. “I was terrified... I don’t know how to swim,” he said. “I thought we were going to die.”

The people on the boats “stayed three days without food or water” before turning back to Lebanon, the teen added.

Back in Lebanon, they were detained by the army; those registered with UNHCR were released and the others deported.

Mohammed Sablouh, a Lebanese human rights lawyer who works on refugee and migrant cases, says Lebanese authorities are deliberately “turning a blind eye" to the surge in migration to "pressure the international community.”

The Lebanese army did not respond to a request for comment on their measures to combat smuggling.

Thursday's aid announcement comes ahead of the annual fundraising conference for the Syrian crisis in Brussels later this month. After 13 years of civil war, donor fatigue has set in while the world’s attention is occupied by the humanitarian fallout of more recent conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

The Cypriot president said Thursday was a “historic day” and called for European officials to go farther and declare some areas of Syria safe for return.

“The current situation is not sustainable for Lebanon. It is not sustainable for Cyprus, it is not sustainable for the European Union,” Christodoulides said.

But not all Lebanese officials are convinced the European aid would solve the problem.

Lebanese Forces party head Samir Geagea told The Associated Press earlier this week that European authorities are mainly concerned “that the refugees don’t go to Europe."

"For us the problem is that we cannot have our country drowning in illegal Syrian refugees,” Geagea said, urging for Syrians to be sent back to either government or opposition-held areas of the neighboring country.

But Shayoukh says he has nowhere to go.

The Damascus government wants him for opposing Syrian President Bashar Assad, he said, while the Islamist group that now controls his hometown behaves "the same way as the regime’s intelligence services” in crushing dissidents.

Associated Press writer Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s global migration coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, speaks during his meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, speaks during his meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, welcomes Cyprus' president Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen before their meeting at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen pose for photograph at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, right, welcomes Cyprus' president Nikos Christodoulides before their meeting at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, center, review an honor guard upon their arrival to meet with the Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, speaks during his meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, welcomes Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)