BAZ BAMIGBOYE: I spy... Salma Hayek tempted as a Mata of fact by new film role

Published: 18:47 EST, 21 May 2015 | Updated: 03:19 EST, 22 May 2015

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Salma Hayek, on the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival, is considering a role as Mata Hari

Salma Hayek is in discussions about portraying cunning courtesan Mata Hari, who was executed by firing squad in 1917 after being accused of spying for Germany.

Director Sophie Fiennes has been working on a film about the woman born Margarethe Zelle for years.

Hayek and Fiennes were deep in conversation on the subject at Charles Finch’s filmmakers’ dinner at the Hotel du Cap.

Fiennes told me that there are a lot of misconceptions about Hari, a polyglot who used her skill to seduce soldiers and diplomats.

‘Many of the men who enjoyed her, turned against her, but there’s evidence now that she was unfairly labelled a traitor,’ she said.

Hayek was in Cannes for the gala of Matteo Garrone’s Tale Of Tales, about grotesque goings-on in a horror fantasy world.

In one scene, she chows down on a giant sea monster’s heart.

‘It was disgusting,’ she said. However, producer Jeremy Thomas reassured me that the heart was made of confectionery: ‘It looked worse than it tasted.’

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Nancy Talamantes, a 14-year-old newcomer from Mexico making her debut in David Pablos’ film Las Elegidas (The Chosen Ones).

Talamantes plays Sofia, girlfriend of a teenage boy who works in his father’s car business.

But the lad’s family have an income from a sideline that’s beyond shocking: they run a whorehouse, and the boy and his brother have been raised to ensure that the young women they date are forced to become prostitutes.

Nancy Talamantes, a 14-year-old newcomer from Mexico making her debut in David Pablos’ film Las Elegidas

The boy (Oscar Torres) strikes a bargain with his father that if he finds someone to replace Sofia, she can go free. It’s a devil’s bargain.

Such a compelling film, with a performance by Talamantes that continues to haunt me.

Margherita Buy, Giulia Lazzarini and John Turturro, who star in Nanni Moretti’s heartfelt Mia Madre (My Mother). Ms Buy plays a film director lumbered with an impossibly difficult actor (Turturro) at the same time as her mother (Lazzarini), a former teacher, is dying. The picture will be coming to cinemas in the UK later in the year or some time in 2016. I had to see it a second time.

Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori and Kiersey Clemons, who star in Rick Famuyiwa’s movie Dope, which closes the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes tonight.

Forest Whitaker and Pharrell Williams are two of the producers of this film, set in California, about three students who unwittingly become embroiled in a drugs war.

It’s cool, it’s funny and it reminded me a tiny bit of the old Tom Cruise film Risky Business. I’ll give no more away except to repeat what one of the characters says: ‘Do ya dig it?’ I certainly did. Big time.

Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin and Daniel Kaluuya, who star in Denis Villeneuve’s scorching dark thriller Sicario, about FBI and US drug enforcement efforts to bring down a Mexican drug kingpin. The acting is superb, and the action is awesome. It opens in the UK in early September.

Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt and director Denis Villeneuve attend the Premiere of 'Sicario' during the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival this week