Wednesday, May 18, 2016

69th Festival de Cannes Official Selection Lineup - Final


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.

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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!

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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.

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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 FilmCafé 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



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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.

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