Stories from Cannes · France

Actress Laura Dern has joined the cast of The White Lotus for its fourth season. She will play a new role that replaces the character originally intended for Helena Bonham Carter. Showrunner Mike White decided Carter's character did not work once filming began.

The series Empathie by Florence Lompré received the Audience Award at the Cannes Series Festival. The award was announced yesterday during the festival. The series is described as a formidable production.

The British comedy Alice & Steve won the best series prize at the International Series Festival. The Spanish series I Always Sometimes received the award for best writing. The documentary The Deal With Iron won in its category.

Engineers at Thalessa-Léniaspace are conducting final tests on the Flex satellite in Cannes. The satellite is designed to analyze vegetation fluorescence to monitor plant evolution in response to climate change. The project is currently in its final testing phase before space deployment. Ralph Bock of the European Space Agency stated the satellite will observe energy dissipation as heat and fluorescence to monitor plant health. The mission aims to provide resolution for observing vegetation status. This data will complement existing satellite measurements of ground temperature and vegetation types.