Today is the day! Will do a post with links to the Closing Ceremony and will update winners as they're announced.
Will write about winners and the closing ceremony later. Now will watch the winners photocall, press conference and more...
---///--- 5/21/16 As the first Cannes awards were given yesterday, decided to start this post that will be in progress until after the festival awards ceremony that seems will be on Sunday as tomorrow, Saturday May 21, there are two in competition films that will have their premiere.
So here are the awards that were announced yesterday and will update post with as soon as the awards are announced today.
Main Competition
Palme d'Or: I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach, UK and France
Grand Prix: Juste La Fin du Monde (It's Only the End of the World), Xavier Dolan, Canada and France Jury Award: American Honey, Andrea Arnold, UK
Best Director: (tie) Cristian Mungiu for Baccalauréat (Family Photos), Cristian Mungiu, Romania, France and Belgium Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper, Olivier Assayas, France, Germany, UK, Czech Republic and Belgium
Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi for Forushande (The Salesman), Asghar Farhadi, Iran and France
Best Actress: Jaclyn Jose in Ma'Rosa, Brillante Mendoza, Philippines Best Actor: Shahab Hosseini in Forushande (The Salesman), Asghar Farhadi, Iran and France
Camera d'Or: Divines, Houda Benyamina, France
Short Films Palme d'Or: Timecode, Juanjo Giménez, Spain Special Mention: A moça que dançou com o diabo (The Girl who Danced with the Devil), João Paulo Miranda Maria, Brazil
Un Certain Regard Award: Hymyilevä mies (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki), Juho Kuosmanen, Finland Jury Prize: 小风琴 Fuchi ni Tatsu (Harmonium), Kôji Fukada, Japan Special Prize Un Certain Regard: La Tortue Rouge (Red Turtle), Michael Dudok de Wit, France and Japan Award for Best Director: Matt Ross for Captain Fantastic, USA Award for Best Screenplay: Delphine and Muriel Coulin for Voir du Pays (Stopover), Delphine and Muriel Coulin, France
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors' Fortnight)
Feature Films SACD Prize: L'Effet Aquatique (The Together Project), Solveig Anspach, France and Iceland Special Mention: Divines, Houda Benyamina, France CICAE Arte Cinema Prize: Wolf and Sheep, Shahrbanoo Sadat, Denmark, Sweden and France Label Europa Cinemas Prize: Mercenaire, Sacha Wolff, France
Short Films Illy Prize: Chasse Royale, Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret, France Special Mention: Zvir (The Beast), Miroslav Sikavica, Croatia
Semaine de la Critique (Critics' Week)
Grand Prix: Mimosas, Oliver Laxe, Spain, Morocco, France and Qatar Visionary Award: Albüm, Mehmet Can Mertoğlu , France, Romania and Turkey SACD Award: Diamond Island, Davy Chou, Cambodia, France and Germany GAN Foundation Support for Distribution Award: שבוע ויום Shavua ve Yom (One Week and a Day), Asaph Polonsky, Israel
Short Films Canal+ Award: L'Enfance d'Un Chef (Birth of a Leader), Antoine de Bary, France Cine Discovery Prize: Prenjak (In the Year of Monkey), Wregas Bhanuteja, Indonesia
First Prize: Anna, Or Sinai, Israel, Second Prize: In the Hills, Hamid Ahmadi, UK Third Prize (tie) A nyalintás nesze (The Noise of Licking), Nadja Andrasev, Hungary La Culpa, Probablemente (The Guilt, Probably), Michael Labarca, Venezuela
FIPRESCI Main Competition: Toni Erdmann, Maren Ade, Germany and Austria Un Certain Regard: Câini (Dogs), Bogdan Mirica, Romania, France and Bulgaria Semaine de la Critique: Grave (Raw), Julia Ducournau, France and Belgium
Ecumenical Jury Award: Juste La Fin du Monde (It's Only the End of the World), Xavier Dolan, Canada and France Special Mentions American Honey, Andrea Arnold, UK I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach, UK and France
L’Œil d’Or Documentary Award: Cinema Novo, Eryk Rocha, Brasil Special Mention: The Cinema Travelers, Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya, India
Queer Palm Feature Film: Les Vies de Thérèse, Sebastien Lifshitz, France Short Film: Gabber Lover, Anna Cazenave Cambet, France
Prix François Chalais: Ученик Uchenik (The Student), Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia
Prix Vulcain: Ryu Seong-Hee for 아가씨 Agassi (The Handmaiden), Park Chan-wook, South Korea Prix Angénieux for Career Achievement: Peter Suschitzky
Cannes Soundtrack Awards Best Composer: Cliff Martinez for Neon Demon, Nicolas Winding Refn Best Music Supervisor: Bruno Dumont for Ma Loute, Bruno Dumont
14th Prix UniFrance Short Films Grand Prix: Un Grand Silence, Julie Gourdain, France, 29' Special Jury Prize: Réplique, Antoine Giorgini, France, 18' Prix Coup de Coeur RTI: Au bruit des clochettes, Chabname Zariab, France, 25' Prix Coup de Coeur Movistar+: Colocataires, Delphine Priet-Mahéo, France, 11' Prix Coup de Coeur Grand Action: Réplique, Antoine Giorgini, France, 18'
Palm Dog Awards Palm Dog: Nellie plays Marvin in Paterson, Jim Jarmusch, USA Grand Prix du Jury: Jack in Victoria (In Bed With Victoria), Justine Triet, France Dogumanitarian Award: Shea in I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach, UK and France
Honorary Palme d'Or: Jean-Pierre Léaud
Prix France Culture Consécration: Frederick Wiseman Prix France Culture Cinéma des étudiants: Alexander Nanau for Toto et ses soeurs
Women in Motion Awards: Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis Women in Motion Young Talent Award: Leyla Boujid, Gaya Jiji and Ida Panahandeh
Chopard Trophy Bel Powley for The Diary of a Teenage Girl John Boyega for Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens
Videos
Ecumenical Award Ceremony (Xavier Dolan from minute 9)
Yesterday organizers had their award ceremony and closed a quiet year with not much activities, low social media coverage, low media coverage (it increased for the awards), the official website not working, some info in the partners sites, and some info in the facebook page. Hope that organizers collect themselves and prepare better for next year, hopefully with partners that help them to consolidate the award.
The winner of the feature film is a documentary about Thérèse Clerc directed by Sébastien Lifshitz, who hast top documentary credentials in my book as his 2013 Bambi is mesmerizing. Here is Les Vies de Thérèse synopsis from la Quinzaine official site.
Thérèse Clerc is one of the great figures of militantism. From the struggle to legalize abortion to the fight for equal rights of men and women and the battle for gay rights, she’s been on the front lines of all of them. She has just learned that she has an incurable disease and has decided to take a last look back over her life, a tender and lucid look at the battles and the love that went with them. Documentary is must be seen for me as still recall Thérèse Clerc in the other Lifshitz documentary, Les Invisibles and yes, I'm curious to learn more about her life. Thérèse Clerc died in February 16, 2016, she was 88-years-old.
Here is a copy and paste from the jury statement that basically says the award was given to the director and his film, but also to the main character.
En récompensant Les vies de Thérèse c'est un double prix que s'est offert le jury. Une palme pour Sébastien Lifshitz et son film émouvant qui sait nous raconter une femme et ses combats, mêlant vie privée et engagement politique, balayant les époques, questionnant la sexualité, bousculant les rôles que la société nous impose. Le réalisateur pose un regard tendre sur cette femme, un regard amoureux, plein de vénération mais qui offre au spectateur la juste distance que nécessite la représentation de cette femme combattante au seuil de la mort. Et c'est aussi une palme pour Thérèse Clerc, décédée le 16 février 2016, pour cette femme qui a su, en traçant son propre chemin, nous ouvrir la voie, nous rappelant sans cesse combien notre désir et notre sexualité peuvent et doivent nourrir notre combat pour une société plus juste. Le jury se réjouit en outre d'avoir ainsi ajouté le premier documentaire à la liste déjà riche des films primés par la Queer Palm à Cannes.
Worth to mention that in the short history of the Queer Palm, this is the first time the award is given to a documentary.
In the short film category the award goes to Gabber Lover by Anna Cazenave Cambet and this is a copy and paste of the jury statement
Cette année, les films du festival ont offert une grande diversité de personnages féminins, forts, indépendants, différents, résistants. Et ils nous ont ainsi beaucoup parlé du désir féminin, si longtemps nié et réprimé. Ces films, peut-être parce que c'était la 69e édition du festival, nous ont aussi beaucoup montré de cunnilingus et le jury de la Queer Palm à l'unanimité tient à saluer les réalisatrices et réalisateurs qui ainsi contribuent à la promotion d'une pratique sexuelle nettement plus agréable à regarder que les rapides et franchement machistes coïts auxquels la sexualité des personnages de cinéma s'est longtemps cantonnée. Les beaux personnages féminins du festival nous ont rappelé qu'il fallait toujours faire face et souvent affronter les autres, la société et soi-même pour se construire et façonner autant que faire se peut notre propre destin. Les films que le jury, après une discussion nourrie, a décidé, à l'unanimité, de distinguer sont ainsi deux films d'espoir et d'amour qui montrent des femmes, l'une adolescente, l'autre au seuil de la mort, qui se confrontent à l'existence et veulent rester maîtresses de leur propre vie. La Queer Palm du court-métrage a donc été attribuée à Gabber lover d'Anna Cazenave-Cambet. Gabber lover est un film limpide à la réalisation maîtrisée, un film sensible surtout dans lequel la réalisatrice narre d'une façon aiguë et fine la confrontation de son personnage à sa situation intime comme sociale. Un film de coming out où l'on apprend à faire face à son désir, à lui donner enfin libre court. Gabber lover est un film dont nous ne doutons qu'il apportera un message libérateur aux jeunes spectateurs.
In summary, the Queer Palm jury recognized that this year the films in Cannes offer a big diversity of female characters, strong, independent, different, resilient. Then comes a funny message between the relation of the number 69 (which is this year fest edition) and lesbian scenes in some of the films the jury saw (lol). But they went back to be serious to say that this year the jury gave the awards to films about women, one a teenager and the other a woman near death, which I find surprising as does not happen often in LGBT festivals or any festival that gives LGBT awards. Bravo.
The short film by Anna Cazenave-Cambet has the following synopsis in the Cinéfondation site.
Nérac in the early 2000s. Laurie and Mila (13) dance on Gabber music, on the shores of a remote lake. Mila is in love with Laurie and she wants to tell her.
If you wish to check the award facebook page go here. Winners are below in *BLUE.
---///--- 5/13/16 Yesterday organizers announced the films that this year are competing for the LGBT award given in the Festival de Cannes and the announcement was made in a magazine called Clap and to our enjoyment, the magazine has some articles about lgbt films from 2015, with a special mention to Sean Baker's Tangerine that the call "rare, unique, work of art celebrating creative, humane and artistic freedom". Suggest you read the articles available in French and English.
Among the activities surrounding the award we find the Queer Film Market that will be held on Tuesday, May 17 from 2 to 5 pm; also night "activities" happen at the official queer and open minded club in Cannes, Le Vertigo, open from May 11 to 22, from midnight to dawn.
There are 17 films in the selection, twelve (12) are feature films and five (5) are short films
Feature Films
Official Selection
Competition Agassi (The Handmaiden), Park Chan-wook, Korea (L) Aquarius, Klebler Mendonca Filho, Brazil and France Rester Vertical, Alain Guiraudie, France The Neon Demon, Nicolas Winding Refn, Denmark, France and USA
Special Screenings Le Cancre, Paul Vecchiali, France
Un Certain Regard La Danseuse (The Dancer), Stéphanie Di Giusto, France (L)
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
Divines, Houda Benyamina, Fiore, Claudio Giovannesi, Italy and France *Les Vies de Thérèse, Sebastien Lifshitz, France
Semaine de la Critique
Competition Grave (Raw), Julia Ducournau, France and Belgium
Special Screenings Apnée, Jean-Christophe Murisse, France
ACID Willy 1er, Ludovic & Zoran Boukherma, Marielle Gautier and Hugo P. Thomas, France
Short Films
Cinéfondation Selection In the Hills, Hamid Ahmadi, UK *Gabber Lover, Anna Cazenave Cambet, France
Semaine de la Critique Le Soldat Vierge (The Virigin Soldier), Erwan Le Duc, France Prenjak (In the Year of Monkey), Wregas Bhanuteja, Indonesia Superbia, Luca Tóth, Hungary
Jury Presidents: Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, directors, France Émilie Brisavoine, Director, France Joao Federici, Festival Director, Brazil Marie Sauvion, Journalist, France
If you wish to check more about this award go to the award facebook page here.
Today at noon organizers had the award ceremony at the Salon des Ambassadeurs in the Palais des Festivals and the second documentary annual award went to Eryk Rocha from Brazil with his documentary feature Cinema Novo. Also Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya from India with their film Cinema Travelers collected a Special Mention.
To read news at official site go here or check the photos and the announcements at La Scam twitter account here.
Winners are in *BLUE. ---///--- 5/4/16 Today The French Civil Society for Multimedia Authors (Scam) published the selection of documentaries that will be in competition for the second edition of the award that honors short and feature-lenght documentaries in the Festival de Cannes at the Official Selection, Un Certain Regard, Cannes Classics, Director's Fortnight, Semaine de la Critique, Special Screenings, Out of Competition and Short films.
Let's recall that the ‘L'Œil d’Or’ Documentary Award was created in 2015 by the Scam, in collaboration with the Cannes Festival and its General Delegate Thierry Frémaux, with the support of the INA (the French national audiovisual Institute).
This year the international jury is headed by none other than Gianfranco Rosi, Golden Bear at Berlinale 2016 and is made of the following jury members: Anne Aghion, French-American director Natacha Regnier, Belgian actress Thierry Garrel, guest curator of the International Documentary Festival DOXA Amar Labaki, brasilian film critic, founder and director of It’s All True ‐International Documentary Film Festival
The L'OEil d’Or and a cash prize will be presented to the creator of the winning film on Saturday 21 May at the Palais des festivals.
En 2015, L'OEil d'Or Prize went to Marcia Tambutti Allende for Allende, mi abuelo Allende. The judging panel of the first‐ever L’OEil d’or documentary film prize was chaired by Rithy Panh and made up of Nicolas Philibert, Irène Jacob, Diana El Jeiroudi and Scott Foundas.
There are seventeen (17) documentaries running for the award this year
Special Screenings Hissène Habré, une tragédie tchadienne (Hissiein Habre, A Chadian Tragedy), Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Chad, Senegal and France L'Ultima Spiaggia (The Last Resort), Thanos Anastopoulos and Davide del Degan, Italy, France and Greece Wrong Elements, Jonathan Littell, USA
Cannes Classics Bernadette Lafont et Dieu créa la femme libre, Esther Hofffenberg, France *Cinema Novo, Eryk Rocha, Brasil Winner of the L'Œil d’Or Close encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond, Pierre Filmon, France Et La femme créa Hollywood (Women Who Run Hollywood), Clara and Julia Kuperberg, France Exil, Rithy Panh, France Gentleman Rissient, Benoît Jacquot, Pascal Mérigeau and Guy Seligmann, France Midnight Return: The Story of Billy Hayes and Turkey, Sally Sussman, USA *The Cinema Travelers, Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya, India Winner of a Special Mention The Family Whistle, Michele Russo, Italy Voyage à travers le cinéma français, Bertrand Tavernier, France
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Les Vies de Thérèse, Sébastien Lifshitz. France Risk, Laura Poitras, Germany and USA
Two other documentaries are to be presented at Cannes Out of Competition for the L’OEil d’Or; no doubt these additional screenings reflect the growing popularity of documentary films in cinemas
ACID Swagger, Olivier Babinet, France Madame B, Histoire d'Une Nord-Coreene (Mrs. B.), Jero Yun, France and South Korea
Elated by the large presence of documentary features, with a high quality selection, LaScam is also delighted by the homage to two major figures of documentary cinema, both already recompensed by LaScam with a lifetime achievement award for their films: Raymond Depardon and Frederick Wiseman.
To check the announcement at official site go here.
Will not deny that I'm completely surprised that La Semaine de la Critique decided to do their closing ceremony today, Thursday, May 19 as usually the ceremony is Friday before the festival closes.
As a matter of fact went back to the schedule and (lol) yes, the closing ceremony was scheduled for today at 20:45 local time.
There are three awards given by the jury and another three given by the event partners, so here there are the six awards that were announced a few minutes ago via twitter. Winners are in *BLUE. To check winners at official site go here.
---///--- 4/18/16 A few minutes ago organizers released the video with Charles Tesson, Artistic Director, revealing the selection to journalist and film critic Charlotte Lipinska and the rest of the world and perhaps the biggest surprise for me is the total absence of Latin American cinema, except for a short film by a previous Critics' Week participant.
As we know this year La Semaine de la Critique will celebrate its 55th edition by placing spotlight on the films and talents discovered since its 50th anniversary, so their event logo uses the 50+5 iconography to represent the celebration. There are some posters that have appeared during the weeks before the selection announcement, which will include them at the end of this post. Also as a 50+5 celebration, the jury is composed by 5 directors discovered by the Critics' Week during these past 5 years.
Charless Tesson shared that this year 1,500 shorts and 1,100 feature films were received. With seventeen (17) countries represented, the selection includes 10 features plus 15 short medium-length films. Six (6) feature films are film debuts -compete for the Camera d'Or- and four (4) are second films.
My spontaneous reaction to the selection is of amazement as from the seven films, six are French co productions -which obviously pleases me but know to tame my enthusiasm as this is La Semaine and always has weird/strange films. Most interesting to find that most films in the competition come from being projects in film festivals, including the Cinefondation, Berlin, Rotterdam, Doha. Worth mentioning are the three short films that will be screened in the closing night as are done by three well-known actresses with their directorial debut, they are: Laetitia Casta, Sandrine Kiberlain and Chloë Sévigny.
As every year there are seven (7) first or second very particular feature films in Cannes oldest parallel section competition, all competing for the Awards given by the jury, Grand Prize and Visionary Award. Also in the selection 3 feature films in Special Screenings plus 10 short and medium-length films in Competition and 5 short and medium-legth films in Special Screening.
Feature Films
(*) A Yellow Bird, K. Rajagopal, Singapore and France *(*) Albüm, Mehmet Can Mertoğlu , France, Romania and Turkey France 4 Visionary Award Winner *Diamond Island, Davy Chou, Cambodia, France and Germany SACD Award Winner (*) Grave (Raw), Julia Ducournau, France and Belgium *Mimosas, Oliver Laxe, Spain, Morocco, France and Qatar Nespresso Grand Prize Winner *(*) שבוע ויום Shavua ve Yom (One Week and a Day), Asaph Polonsky, Israel GAN Foundation Award for Distribution Winner (*) ربيع Tramontane, Vatche Boulghourjian, Lebanon and France
Special Screenings Opening Night: Victoria (In Bed with Victoria), Justine Triet, France (*) Apnée, Jean-Christophe Murisse, France I tempi felici verranno presto (Happy Times Will Come Soon), Alessandro Comodin, Italy and France
(*) Compete for the Camera d'Or
Short Films
Short and Medium-Length Films Arnie, Rina B. Tsou, Taiwan and Philippines, 24' Ascensão, Pedro Peralta, Portugal, 18' Campo de Víboras, Cristèle Alves Meira, Portugal and France, 20' *L'Enfance d'Un Chef(Birth of a Leader), Antoine de Bary, France, 15' Canal+ Award for Short Film Winner Le Soldat Vierge (The Virigin Soldier), Erwan Le Duc, France. 39' Limbo, Kostantina Kotzamani, Greece and France, 30' O Delírio é a redenção dos aflitos (Delusion is Redemption to Those in Distress), Fellipe Fernandes, Brazil,21' Oh What a Wonderful Feeling, François Jaros, Canada, 15' *Prenjak(In the Year of Monkey), Wregas Bhanuteja, Indonesia, 13' Leica Cine Discovery Prize for Short Film Winner Superbia, Luca Tóth, Hungary, 15'
Short Films in Special Screenings
50+5 Special Screenings Los Pasos del Agua, César Augusto Acevedo, Colombia, 12' Myomano Shel Tzalam Hatonot (From the Diary of a Wedding Photographer), Nadav Lapid, Israel, 40'
Closing Night: Bonne Figure (Smile), Sandrine Kiberlain, France, 13' En Moi, Laetitia Casta, France, 26' Kitty, Chloë Sevigny, USA, 14'
Invitation to the Morelia International Film Festival Selection of 4 short films selected to the 13th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival El Buzo, Esteban Arrangoiz, Mexico, 16' Isabel Im Winter, Laura Baumeister de Montis and Teresa Kuhn, Mexico, 6' Mil Capas, Tess Anastasia Fernández, Mexico, 18' Rebote, Nuria Menchaca, Mexico, 20'
Jury of the Grand Prize, Visionary Award and Discovery Prize President: Valérie Donzelli, director, writer and actress, France Alice Winocour, director, writer and actress, France Nadav Lapid, director, writer and editor, Israel David Robert Mitchell, director, writer, producer, USA Santiago Mitre, director, writer and actor, Argentina
To read info about each film go to official site here, but will have to wait until links are activated as of today films are just listed.
La Semaine de la Critique is a hub for emerging directors and it will continue to accompany the 10 short film talents by offering them to take part in the NEXT STEP program, which is a training and supporting workshop to set the path to a feature films.
Video with Charles Tesson announcing the selection (French with English subtitles)
On May 16 fest organizers announced the last film in the Official Selection and this is the official reason to add the film so late, while the fest is running full force.
The Festival de Cannes has decided to add another film as a Special Screening: Peshmerga by Bernard-Henri Lévy.
This film, which we have just discovered, offers a close-up look at the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. With just a small team in tow, the director traveled 1,000 km along the Iraqi frontier, from south to north, filming war situations, landscapes and the faces of men and women rarely seen in the wider world. This last-minute screening will take place on Friday 20th May at 3 pm, in the Salle Bazin. If demand is high, another screening will possibly be added on Saturday 21st May.
Yes, I'm back home ... so as of today the post is final.
4/28/16 A few minutes ago the juries of the other festival sections in the Official Selection were announced and now we know who will decide the awards in Un Certain Regard, la Camera d'Or and the short films in competition and at the Cinéfondation.
The Jury is listed below each section plus have included a photograph with all the jurors.
---///--- 4/25/16 A few minutes ago the jury of the selection competition was finally announced and well, yes the leaked list was right but missed quite a few names. Now the jury has become official and I'm very glad that Mads is going to be all over the festival, lol! Enjoy!
---///--- 4/23/16 The week closed with an unexpected announcement from Cannes fest organizers whom apparently waited to the last weekday to stir the interest from the security exercise that was all over the buzz channels. Among the most unexpected is the notice that Iggy Pop will be attending the screening of Gimme Danger, Jim Jarmusch's film about him; film will be shown at a Midnight Screening on Thursday May 19.
The most incredibly good news come from one more film to the competition by none other than Asghar Farhadi, a director that have been following since I discover and was mesmerized by Chaharshanbe-soori (Fireworks Wednesday).
In the Un Certain Regard section was announced that the film Eshtebak (Clash) by Mohamed Diab will be the Opening film plus there is a new movie in the selection by David Mackenzie, Hell or High Water. In the Special Screenings there are three new films by Jonathan Littell, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, and Karim Dridi. Also one more film to Midnight Screening that American press has called the "latest" Mel Gibson film directed by a French director, Jean-François Richet, better known as the director of the outstanding violent and beautiful-to-watch Mesrine Part 1 and Part 2.
Imagine that next week there will be the juries announcement and maybe even one more film to the competition. To read the announcement at the official site go here. All films have been added to the the list below.
---///--- 4/14/16 After a short delay due to a peaceful demonstration, the much expected Cannes 2016 press conference started and some figures came to be known, 1,869 films were seen and only 49 made the official selection, which has 7 first films. Then Thierry Fremaux began to name film after film starting with the Out of Competition movies.
Believe there are no surprises and now when I'm writing this post think that perhaps among those not present in the official selection there are some surprises -or omissions; but many could make it to La Quinzaine, which is also Cannes! So let's not get blue if your favorite film didn't made it to what was announced today. But still, remarkable is the absence of Spanish-Language Latin American cinema, sigh.
My spontaneous reaction was of amazement when started to think who is going to walk the red carpet this year as there is a long list of outstanding actresses/filmmakers, like Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, Marion Cotillard (2 films), Catherine Deneuve, Léa Seydoux, Adèle Haenel, Kristen Stewart (2 films), Julia Roberts (her first time), Charlize Theron (again this year), Adèle Exarchopoulos, Golshifteh Farahani, Sonia Braga, Jodie Foster, plus add newcomer Lily-Rose Melody Depp (yes the daughter of the famous couple) and none other than Soko (2 films).
Most interesting is to learn that festival closing film will be the Palm d'Or winner for the first time, so in a way there will be no out-of-competition film screening after the awards ceremony.
Up-to-these moment there are 20 films in competition and there is always the possibility that one or more will be announced before the fest begins; as a matter of fact we know there will be a film from Panama but not sure if will go into the competition or any other section of the official selection.
Worth noting is that from the 20 films in competition there are 10 French films: 2 are 100% French production (Nicole Garcia and Alain Guiraudie), 3 are French Majority productions (Bruno Dumont, Paul Vehoeven and Olivier Assayas) and 5 are French Minority productions (Dardenne Brothers, Cristi Puiu, Ken Loach, Xavier Dolan, and Cristian Mungiu).
Post will be updated as soon as organizers announce new films and this is the list as was released today, April 14 plus the short films released yesterday. Yes, have read about all films and will post trailers, info, poster as soon as find them.
Competition
아가씨 Agassi(The Handmaiden), Park Chan-wook, South Korea American Honey, Andrea Arnold, UK Aquarius, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil and France Baccalauréat (Family Photos), Cristian Mungiu, Romania, France and Belgium Elle, Paul Verhoeven, France and Germany Forushande (The Salesman), Asghar Farhadi, Iran and France La Fille Inconnue (The Unknown Girl), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardene, Belgium and France Loving, Jeff Nichols, USA and UK I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach, UK and France Julieta, Pedro Almodóvar, Spain Juste La Fin du Monde (It's Only the End of the World), Xavier Dolan, Canada and France Ma Loute (Slack Bay), Bruno Dumont, France and Germany Mal de Pierres (From the Land of the Moon), Nicole Garcia, France Ma'Rosa, Brillante Mendoza, Philippines Paterson, Jim Jarmusch, USA Personal Shopper, Olivier Assayas, France, Germany, UK, Czech Republic and Belgium Rester Vertical (Staying Vertical), Alain Guiraudie, France Sieranevada, Cristi Puiu, Romania, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Macedonia The Last Face, Sean Penn, USA The Neon Demon, Nicolas Winding Refn, Denmark, France and USA Toni Erdmann, Maren Ade, Germany and Austria
Out of Competition Opening Film: Café Society, Woody Allen, USA 곡성 Goksung (The Wailing), Na Hong-jin, South Korea Money Monster, Jodie Foster, USA The BFG, Steven Spielberg, USA, Canada and UK The Nice Guys, Shane Black, USA and UK
The Jury President: George Miller, director, writer and producer, Australia Arnaud Desplechin, director and writer, France László Nemes. director and writer, Hungary Valeria Golino, actress, director, writer and producer, Italy Mads Mikkelsen, actor, Denmark Vanessa Paradis, actress and singer, France Kirsten Dunst, actress, USA Donald Sutherland, actor, Canada Katayoon Shahabi, producer, Iran
Un Certain Regard
Opening Film: Eshtebak (Clash), Mohamed Diab, Egypt and France Apprentice, Boo Junfeng, Singapore, Germany and France (*) Câini (Dogs), Bogdan Mirica, Romania, France and Bulgaria Captain Fantastic, Matt Ross, USA 小风琴 Fuchi ni Tatsu (Harmonium), Kôji Fukada, Japan Hell or High Water, David Mackenzie, USA (*) Hymyilevä mies (The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki), Juho Kuosmanen, Finland (*) La Danseuse (The Dancer), Stéphanie Di Giusto, France (*) La Larga Noche de Francisco Sanctis (Francisco Sanctis's Long Night), Francisco Márquez and Andrea Testa, Argentina (*) La Tortue Rouge (Red Turtle), Michael Dudok de Wit, France and Japan מעבר לגבעות וההרים Me'ever Laharim Vehagvaot (Beyond the Mountains and Hills), Eran Kolirin, Israel (*) עומאר שקסייה Omor Shakhsiya (Personal Affairs), Maha Haj, Israel Pericle il Nero, Stefano Mordini, Italy, Belgium and France (*) The Transfiguration, Michael O'Shea, USA Ученик Uchenik (The Student), Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia 海よりもまだ深く Umi yori mo mada fukaku (After the Storm), Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan Varoonegi (Inversion), Behnam Behzadi, Iran Voir du Pays (Stopover), Delphine and Muriel Coulin, France
Un Certain Regard Jury President: Marthe Keller, actress, Switzerland Céline Sallette, actress, France Ruben Östlund, director, Sweden Diego Luna, actor, director and producer, Mexico
Special Screenings Chouf, Karim Dridi, France Exil, Rithy Panh, France (documentary) Hands of Stone, Jonathan Jakubowicz, USA and Panama Hissène Habré, une tragédie tchadienne (Hissiein Habre, A Chadian Tragedy), Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Chad, Senegal and France (documentary) La forêt de Quinconces (Fool Moon), Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, France La Mort de Louis XIV, Albert Serra, France Le Cancre, Paul Vecchiali, France L'Ultima Spiaggia (The Last Resort), Thanos Anastopoulus and Davide Del Degan, Italy, France and Greece (documentary) Peshmerga, Bernard-Henri Lévy, France (documentary) Wrong Elements, Jonathan Littell, USA (documentary)
Midnight Screenings Blood Father, Jean-François Richet, France 부산행 Busanhaeng (Train to Busan), Yeon Sang-Ho, South Korea Gimme Danger, Jim Jarmush, USA (documentary)
(*) First film, competes for the Camera d'Or
Camera d'Or Jury President: Catherine Corsini, director, Société des Réalisateurs de Films - SRF Jean Christophe Berjon, Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma - SFCC Alexander Rodnyansk, producer Russia Isbelle Frilley, Fédération des Industries du Cinéma, de l’Audiovisuel et du Multimédia - FICAM Jean-Marie Dreujou, Association Française des directeurs de la photographie Cinématographique - AFC
Check available trailers and info for the Official Selection Competition, Out of Competition, Special Screenings and Midnight Screenings @MOC Check available trailers and info for Un Certain Regard @MOC
Short Films Competition
This year the selection committee received 5,008 short films -458 more than in 2015. The Competition comprises ten (10) films, mostly from Europe and Latin America, with one (1) representative from Asia and one (1) from Africa.
These films are all in the running for the 2016 Short Film Palme d’Or, to be awarded by Naomi Kawase, President of the Jury, at the official award ceremony of the 69th Festival de Cannes on May 22th .
4:15 P.M. Sfarsitul Lumii (4:15 P.M. The End of the World), Catalin Rotaru and Gabi Virginia Sarga, Romania, 15' A moça que dançou com o diabo (The Girl who Danced with the Devil), João Paulo Miranda Maria, Brazil, 14' Après Suzanne, Félix Moati, France, 15' Dreamlands, Sara Dunlop, UK, 14' Fight on a Swedish Beach, Simon Vahlne, Sweden 14' Il Silenzio (The Silence), Farnoosh Samadi Frooshani and Ali Asgari, Italy, 15' Imago, Raymund Gutierrez, Philippines, 15' La Laine sur le dos, Lofti Achour, Tunisia and France, 15' Madre (Mother), Simón Mesa Soto, Colombia, 14' Timecode, Juanjo Giménez, Spain, 15"
Cinéfondation Selection
To mark its 19th year, the Cinéfondation Selection has chosen eighteen (18) films (14 works of fiction and 4 animations), from among the 2,300 works submitted this year by film schools from all over the world. Fifteen countries from three continents are represented.
Seven of the films selected come from schools taking part for the first time, and it is also the first time that a film school from Bosnia and Herzegovina and one from Venezuela have seen one of their films reach the selection stage. More than half of this edition's movies are directed by women, with 10 out of the 18 films selected.
The three Cinéfondation prizes will be awarded at a ceremony preceding the screening of the prize-winning films on Friday 20th May in the Buñuel Theater.
1 Kilogram, Park Young-ju, Korea, 29', Korea National Universtity of Arts A nyalintás nesze (The Noise of Licking), Nadja Andrasev, Hungary, 9', Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Ailleurs (Somewhere), Mélody Boulissière, France, 6', École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs Anna, Or Sinai, Israel, 24', The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School Aram, Fereshteh Parnian, France, 17', Université Lumière Lyon 2 Bei Wind und Wetter (Whatever the Weather), Remo Scherrer, Switzerland, 11', Hochschule Luzern - Design & Kunst Business, Malena Vain, Argentina, 20', Universidad del Cine Dobro (Fine), Marta Hernaiz Pidal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 15', film.factory Gabber Lover, Anna Cazenave Cambet, France, 13', La Fémis Gudh (Nest), Saurav Rai, India, 28', Satyajit Ray Film & TV Institute In the Hills, Hamid Ahmadi, UK, 21', The London Film School La Culpa, Probablemente (The Guilt, Probably), Michael Labarca, Venezuela, 14', Universidad de los Andes La Santa Che Dorme (The Sleeping Saint), Laura Samani, Italy, 19', Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia Las Razones del Mundo (The Reasons in the World), Ernesto Martínez Bucio, Mexico, 37', Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica Poubelle (Trash), Alexandre Gilmet, Belgium, 19', INSAS Submarine, Mounia AKL, USA, 19', Columbia University School of the Arts The Alan Dimension, Jac Clinch, UK, 8', NFTS Toate fluviile curg în mare (All Rivers Run to the Sea), Alexandru Badea, Romania, 24', UNATC "I. L. Caragiale"
Short Films and Cinéfondation Jury President: Naomi Kawase, director, Japan Marie-Josée Croze, actress, Canada and France Jean-Marie Larrieu, director, screenwriter, France Radu Muntean, director, screenwriter, Romania Santiago Loza, director, playwright, writer, Argentina
To check the Official Selection article go here and Short Films article at the official site go here. Already know there are some trailers so will post link to whatever info I find as soon as possible. Enjoy!The feast started ONE DAY earlier!!! Yay!
Check available trailers and info for Short Films in Competition and Cinéfondation @MOC
To check posters for films in all sections of the Official Selection go here.
Check the Press Conference video
With non-pleasant English translation voice over
---///--- 4/13/16 To my huge surprise today festival organizers released an article with the short films that will compete for the top honors in the two sections, the Competition and the Cinéfondation! Will start post today but will be in-progress until tomorrow when the feature films will be announced at the press conference which seems will be at 11:00am local time (5am ET) and will stream live via the main social video sites; stream will also be at the festival official site here.
Have to comment that been noticing the great graphic design this year as seems a professional is combining the design elements (colors and graphics) to make the most interesting section presentations. Yesterday noticed the Short Films section use of graphics and this morning the most interesting combination for Cinéfondation and Short Films. Yes, is the one leading the post today, as tomorrow will change.
The day started with me trying to watch LIVE Café Society photocall and/or press conference and surprise, surprise: NO luck! This year it's not possible to watch events live, at least as of today, May 11 when the fest officially opens in a few hours.
Perhaps the website will improve in the following days but gee, organizers should knew that the BEST way to go was to keep "old" site in one place with all the perks -like fest archives and LIVE events coverage- and in a different place the new site (alright is expensive BUT is the best way to transition from one quite good site to a very simple site with no info and lots of photos).
Anyway I'm hoping that now opening ceremony will be open to the World especially when something is happening to the relation between Canal+ and the festival. Will find later on if happens or not. The fest unofficially started last night with cocktails and dinner for the jury and there are many photos of both events, but chose two for post.
In previous editions there was always a balcony photo with all jury members but this year infamous balcony photo got only a few jury members, luckily for us were the ones that are very easy-on-the-eyes!
Also yesterday Café Society cast did the press junkets and selected one particular photo that I like from one junket where Allen and Stewart look relaxed.
The Jury - Photocall
Will talk about the Opening Ceremony after I'm able to watch it; but today is the day of Café Society and the press has already seen it, so there are some news.
Out of Competition - Opening Film
Café Society
Woody Allen opens the festival for the third time after 2002's Hollywood Ending and 2011's Midnight in Paris and this movie has what I can call "very contemporary" cast that includes Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Blake Lively and Corey Stoll -all in Cannes to promote film-. Also in cast but unfortunately not in Cannes great Steve Carell and Parker Posey. Believe the best way to summarize plot is to say that is a nostalgic Hollywood romance set in the 30's written by a sadistic writer (lol), which by-the-way is me paraphrasing a line from the film mentioned at the press conference (actually the line says "life is a comedy written by a sadistic comedy writer").
Photocall
No video yet but there are multiple photos all over the net showcasing Kristen and Blake; but here is the photo with all the cast, where you can see how tall Blake Lively is -lol and another one I like. One hour after the live event, the edited video of the photocall is up and gee, it's funny because Kristen Stewart clearly shows her impatience (lol). There are lots of really beautiful Stewart photos but is the video what shows how uncomfortable she always is with these events specially with the crazy and screaming Cannes photographers, even pregnant Blake Lively looks quite uncomfortable. If you wish to see the short edited photocall video go here.
Press Conference
Really miss the chance to watch events live even when they spoil the movie for me. No video yet but here is a photo. Video is up and to my HUGE surprise press conference is very interesting, suggest to watch to learn something about cinematography.
Interview Check the first interview of the Festival de Cannes, it's fun to watch -not serious and very light; go here. Gee, Stewart has learn to hussle questions! (lol).
Press reactions to film Here are some reactions from different language sources. Perhaps what surprises me the most is the postive reactions from American press, been years since they write something positive about Allen's and/or his movies.
"Café Society", plongée nostalgique de Woody Allen dans les années 30 - le point (France) Un Woody Allen mélancolique - Ecran noir (France) Woody Allen's amiable, if insubstantial, tribute to golden-age Hollywood - Peter Bradshaw - The Guardian (UK) Buoyant and lighthearted “Cafe Society” - Ali Naderzad - Screen Comment (USA) Familiar but charming - Todd McCarthy - THR (USA) Allen's 47th picture is a consolidation of his usual fixations. - Eric Kohn - indiewire (USA) Is His Most Charming Film In Years - Jessica King - The Playlist (USA)
But the glitter of the 1930s American beau monde rubs off handsomely in Café Society, a bittersweet comedy of manners that sees Allen pushing the boat out stylistically and in narrative ambition, even as he treads familiar ground. Sumptuous visual execution plus a top-rate ensemble cast should place this in the high altitudes of Allen’s recent commercial successes, especially in France, where it opens simultaneously with its launch of the Cannes official selection. - Jonathan Romney - Screendaily (UK)
Twittersphere Une ouverture cannoise toute en délicatesse. Olivier Bousquet Woody Allen, un #CafeSociety romantique et sophistiqué - Marilyne Letertre -metronews (France)
The Red Carpet
Watched live and was ok, that melange of French and English translation that drives me crazy (lol) but at least organizers allowed us to watch live.
Very glad with the mostly positive Cannes press reception of Allen's film. Film also opened today in France and according to French news broke records in one day. All this only tells me that there are hight probabilities that I will enjoy film. Great!
Opening Ceremony
No, I didn't like at all the humor of Laurent Lafitte and he made me feel very uncomfortable, so much that almost stop watching. But enjoyed the movie clips, both from George Miller films as from all the movies in the competition, especially the elusive ones that until this moment had not seen any moving images from film. Even Prince's tribute was odd, so strange that the audience didn't participate when the singer asked them, twice.
The good thing is the fest is open and assume there will be great photos from tonight parties and opening dinner.
Photos of the Day
Very Beautiful Photo
Gong Li
Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake
Jessica Chastain and Vincent Lindon
As soon as it is available will embed here the opening ceremony.
The new blogger platform and the links from Canal+ are not working together so if you wish to watch the Opening Ceremony video please use this link to the official site. The link will take you to all videos available, so look for the one with the opening ceremony. Unfortunately Cannes new site is full of flaws and errors, so links work in very unexpected ways (lol!!).
Testing this link. Yes!!! This one works and takes you directly to the Opening Ceremony video.
A little bit of gossip plus some photos are always great! Enjoy Gala Magazine
Today we will play the guessing game, yes we will have to guess IF the new and so much advertised Web TV Live will be open to the World and IF I'll be able to watch where I am...
For starters here are the two links to Dailymotion that offers an English version as well as a French Version ... as of this moment the clock says 5 hours 38 minutes to live stream, but know that Cafe Society press conference is happening right now so seems no live stream of the event. Sigh.
Many things have been written about women and Cannes 2016 but got the feeling that not many articles gave a positive light into the future of female participation in world cinema. While this time I’m not trying to save the world of females in cinema, will share what I consider a positive reaction to the female directors and actresses that will attend this edition of the festival.
We already know that there are many great actresses in movies that this year are in the Official Selection as well as in the parallel sections and will try to “count” them for you but will start with the directors that to my surprise and just in the official selection plus Cannes Classics amount a total of 27 female directors with 8 feature films, 5 documentaries and 11 short films. As a matter of fact, the parallel sections also have some female directors’ presence with 11 in the Quinzaine and 9 in la Semaine de la Critique. So when we consider all movies in Cannes we find 47 female directors with films in this year's edition. No, will not count the male directors as then will do what all others are doing, but estimate that the percentage will follow the industry with 25% or less.
Nevertheless talking about 47 directors is no easy task, so will give more info about directors of feature films and less about the directors of short films, but will give links to read bios at official site if you're interested in learning more about these filmmakers of the future.
There is one very unpleasant surprise with the new Cannes site, yes looks fantastic with all the new photo-centrism pages BUT there is so much info lost from the past!!! Sigh. Hope they fix site to include info from previous editions as the old site use to have. I do appreciate info from the past and present so it's quite upsetting for me to discover that most links to old site are broken now and do not transfer to equivalent in new site. GRRRRR.
Unfortunately I'm traveling so what I was trying to do will be a lot shorter, still enjoy the photos from the 47 directors and info about the three directors in the main competition. Sigh.
Meet the Female Filmmakers
Official Selection - In Competition
There are three (3) films by female directors in the main competition, what follows is a brief bio plus info of the films they had in Cannes before, if applicable.
Andrea Arnold with American Honey
She was born in Dartford and not only directs but also writes screenplays. She made her debut with two short films, Milk in 1998 and Dog in 2001. She gained international recognition when she won in 2005 the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film with Wasp.
Her first feature film, Red Road won in 2006 the Jury Prize in Cannes and most impressive her 2009 film Fish Tank won once again the Jury Prize. In 2011, she directed an adaptation of Emily Bronte¹s Wuthering Heights, the film was shown at the 68th Venice International Film Festival where it won the Golden Osella for Best Cinematography.
Believe that with American Honey Arnold has great chances of wining an award again this year but as we know 2016 international jury is very-very heterogeneous so, somehow, I expect some surprises from jury; nevertheless Arnold has great credentials to collect honors.
Nicole Garcia with Mal de Pierres (From the Land of the Moon)
Born in Oran, France (now Algeria) on April 22, 1946. She studied philosophy and then drama before she began to tread the boards. With a first prize in acting from the Conservatoire under her belt, she appeared in a number of theater plays before breaking into to the French film scene with her role in the Alain Resnais 1979 film Mon oncle d'Amérique (My American Uncle; but, there are many more performances before and after that film as according to IMDb she has 80 credits as an actress.
In 1985, she ventured into directing her first feature film Un week-end sur deux (Every Other Weekend) but her first experience was directing a short, 15 août, that was in competition at 1986 Cannes.
The world she chose to illuminate was a very private one, full of vibrant and complex characters such as those played by Gérard Lanvin in Le Fils préféré (1993) or Catherine Deneuve in Place Vendôme (1997). Nicole Garcia confirmed her talents as a filmmaker with L’Adversaire (2002), starring Daniel Auteuil, and Selon Charlie (2005), a film based around a chorus of seven male characters. In 2009, she revisited the Algeria of her childhood with Un balcon sur la mer starring Jean Dujardin. Her latest film, Going Away, starring Louise Bourgoin and Pierre Rochefort was released in 2014.
Her film in Cannes is one of the two in competition starring none other than Marion Cotillard; also in film, one of my favorite French actors, Louis Garrel. Not sure how film will be accepted in Cannes as is an epic complex romance based on a novel by Milena Angus, but there are always chances as she has collected many honors as a director in the festival circuit and French awards.
Maren Ade with Toni Erdmann
She was born on December 12, 1976 in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She first studied film production and media management and then later, film direction at the University of Television and Film in Munich. In 2001 co-founded Komplizen Film a film production company that produced her final student film Der Wald vor lauter Bäumen (The Forest of the Trees) that went to win the Special Jury Prize at 2005 Sundance fest.
Her second feature film, Alle Anderen (Everyone Else) premiered in competition at the 2009 Berlinale and won the Jury Grand Prize plus the Best Actress Silver Bear for Birgit Minichmayr. She's a very act5ive producer and perhaps her most eye-poping production work is for 2015 Arabian Nights trilogy by Miguel Gomes. No doubt she has the most impressive credentials, so after winning accolades in Sundance and Berlin now is the turn of Cannes with her third feature film that believe has high chances of collecting an award.
Un Certain Regard
Four films and five directors.
In photo: Delphine and Muriel Coulin with their film Voir du Pays (Stopover), Stephanie DiGiusto with La Danseuse (The Dancer), Andrea Testa co-director of La Larga Noche de Francisco Sanctis (Francisco Sancti's Long Night), and Maha Haj with עומאר שקסייה Omor Shakhsiya (Personal Affairs.)
Out of Competition
One film and one director, but she's none other than Jodie Foster with Money Monster.
No, there are no female directors in the Special Screenings nor in the Midnight Screenings, but when it comes to short films there are plenty.
Short Films Competition
Three directors with three short films but only one has a single director, the other two are co-directed with a male director.
In photo: Gabi Virginia Sarga co-director of 4:15 P.M. Sfarsitul Lumii (4:15 P.M. The End of the World), Sara Dunlop with Dreamlands and Farnoosh Samadi Frooshani co-director of Il Silenzio (The Silence).
Cinéfondation Selection
Nine directors with nine short films.
In photo, first row: Nadja Andrasev with A nyalintás nesze (The Noise of Licking), Mélody Boulissière with Ailleurs (Somewhere), Malena Vain with Business, Marta Hernaiz Pidal with Dobro (Fine), Anna Cazenave Cambet with Gabber Lover. Second row: Laura Samani with La Santa Che Dorme (The Sleeping Saint), Mounia AKL with Submarine, Fereshteh Parnian with Aram, and Or Sinai with Anna. Cannes Classics
There are six directors with five feature documentaries about cinema.
In photo, first row: Shirley Abraham co-director of The Cinema Travelers, Sally Sussman with Midnight Return: The Story of Billy Hayes and Turkey, and Alexis Bloom co-director of Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fischer and Debbie Reynolds. Second row: Julia Kuperberg and Clara Kuperberg co directors of Et La femme créa Hollywood (Women Who Run Hollywood), and Esther Hoffenberg with Bernadette Lafont et Dieu créa la femme libre
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Selection
There are eleven (11) female directors in the Quinzaine this year, four with feature films and seven with short films.
Feature Films
There are four directors with four films.
In photo: Laura Poitras with Risk, Shahrbanoo Sadat with Wolf and Sheep, Houda Benyamina with Divines and Sólveig Anspach (R.I.P.) with L'effet aquatique (The Together Project).
Short Films
Seven directors with five short films
In photo, first row: Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret co-directors of Chasse Royale, Tamar Rudoy with Habat Shel Hakala, and Dea Kulumbegashvili with Léthé Second row: Isabel Penoni and Valentina Homem co-directors of O Segredo De Abigail (Abigail) and Ena Sendijarevic with Import.
Semaine de la Critique
Feature Films
There are two female directors, one in the Competition and the other is the opening film screened as Special Screenings.
In photo: Julia Ducournau with Grave (Raw) and Justine Triet with Victoria (In Bed with Victoria).
Short Films
Seven directors with seven short films. Three directors are well-known French and American actresses.
In photo, first row: Rina B. Tsou with Arnie, Cristèle Alves Meira with Campo de Víboras , and Kostantina Kotzamani with Limbo. Second row: Sandrine Kiberlain with Bonne Figure (Smile), Laetitia Casta with En Moi, and Chloë Sevigny with Kitty.
No excuse, but when not home, not easy to do posts; BUT thank you very much to blog reader that found the 47 director I couldn't find yesterday. One director and one short film in La Semaine, Luca Tóth with Superbia.
Not exactly what I had in mind for honoring female directors but since I'm traveling ... this is it. Sigh.
The Actresses
Wish to close with a showcase of the many female actresses that will walk the red carpet and Cannes streets. Worth mentioning is Marion Cotillard comes back to Cannes in TWO (2) films In Competition, one by Nicole Garcia and the other by Xavier Dolan. Also with two films, Kristen Stewart, one in competition by Olivier Assayas and another with the honor of being the Opening Film by Woody Allen.
But we also will see just from the films in competition Isabelle Huppert, Juliette Binoche, Léa Seydoux, Adèle Haenel, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Charlize Theron, Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks and Jenna Malone. Then in the out of competition we will have none other than Julia Roberts in her first ever Cannes visit; plus Blake Lively, Parker Posey, and Catherine Denevue in a Special Screening film.
Today is the day! Will do a post with links to the Closing Ceremony and will update winners as they're announced.
