Cannes Film Festival 2012
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Cannes 2012 pt. 2
The incongruity of Michael Haneke winning the Palme d’Or for the second time in four years was that his film featured two veteran actors, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, in a year that may well be remembered for introducing us to several new talents. The common denominator of the films that opened the official competition, Un Certain Regard and Directors’ Fortnight, was that only the parents and school friends of the young actors would have heard of the leads before they became the darlings of the Croisette. Moonrise Kingdom’s Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, as well as Broken’s Eloise Laurence, […]
by Kaleem Aftab on Jul 19, 2012 -
Cannes 2012 pt. 1
Normally the spotlight at the Cannes film festival is stolen by attractive young celebrities and hip, hot films (Tarantino’s, for example). This Cannes was a little bit different. The most interesting films addressed Big Issues and, perhaps coincidentally, were awarded the top prizes. They are mature films, for the mature. Two provocative topics stood out. CONFRONTING OLD AGE Very different takes on living out the geriatric years are apparent in Austrian director Michael Haneke’s French production Amour, which took the Palme d’Or, and Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s Japanese film, Like Someone in Love (no prize, because, even if it […]
by Howard Feinstein on Jul 19, 2012 -
12 Tips on Networking from the Cannes Film Festival
While the concept of dropping into the world’s largest film event and competing with 999 other short filmmakers for the industry’s attention may seem like a Survivor-like TV show, it’s the reality each year for participants in Cannes’ Short Film Corner. Many of the filmmakers who screen their works in the basement of the Palais are arriving in Cannes for the first time, and the event is a crash course in networking and navigating the business side of film markets. “You can get lost in a sea of films,” admits filmmaker Bradley Montesi (pictured here with producer Elle LaMont), attending […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 30, 2012 -
CANNES PRESIDENT ADDRESSES ABSENCE OF FEMALE DIRECTORS
In an interview published yesterday in The Guardian, Cannes Festival President Gilles Jacob addressed the issue of the 2012 edition’s lack of female directors in Competition, saying, “I am sure that next year the chief selector, Thierry Frémaux, will look more carefully to find films by women.” Countering critics, he said that the festival does aim for some sort of gender balance in its selections. “The job of feminists and of people like me who like the work of female film-makers is to say to [Frémaux]: ‘Are you sure there isn’t somewhere a film by a woman that deserves to […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 27, 2012 -
“AMOUR,” “BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD” WIN AT THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
Michael Haneke picked up his second Palme d’Or in a row today when the Cannes jury awarded the Austrian director the festival’s top prize for Amour (pictured), his tale of an elderly couple dealing with the wife’s catastrophic health issues. The award was surprising only in its lack of surprise — while the preceding prizes had been unanticipated choices, Amour, to be released later this Fall by Sony Pictures Classics, was easily the consensus pick of critics and Competition viewers. In other awards, the Camera d’Or for Best First Film went to American independent Benh Zeitlin for his Beasts of […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 27, 2012 -
“BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD” WINS CANNES FIPRESCI PRIZE
Earlier today, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild picked up the FIPRESCI prize, given by an international jury of film critics, as the best film in the Un Certain Regard section of the main selection. Sergei Loznitsa’s In the Fog picked up the FIPRESCI prize in the Competition, while the jury gave the Director’s Fortnight prize to Rachad Djaidani’s Hold Back. The Cannes Ecumenical Jury gave its prize to Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, with Beasts of the Southern Wild receiving a mention.Marked by persistent rain, a Competition that hit critical mass midway with Michael Haneke’s tale of an elderly […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 26, 2012 -
Jeffrey Travis on Shopping his Economic Thriller at Cannes
L.A.-based independent filmmaker Jeffrey Travis (Flatlands) brought his latest short, Pollution, to the Short Film Corner at Cannes, and he’s using the trip to also look for a foreign sales agent for his new independent feature, Dragon Day. Below he talks about stalking the aisles of the Cannes Film Market, and why he hopes international buyers will warm to a dystopian near-future drama that imagines a U.S. destroyed by a cyber attack from China. Filmmaker: So how has the Cannes Film Market been for you? Jeff Travis: It’s been interesting. Before I knew very little about the whole world of […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 26, 2012 -
COMING OF AGE IN CANNES
Cannes No.64. Côte d’Azur. Film, film, film and more films. As a matter of fact, more films than you can even imagine are made. That was my first impression last year as I popped my cherry at the Palais, bringing my 30-minute short film, The Sea Is All I Know, starring Oscar winner Melissa Leo (above), to the festival. It was overwhelming. How could so many films be made? Where are they seen? Where does the funding come from? How does one sell them? Who were these people selling the films? What are pre-sells? How is that different than distribution? […]
by Jordan Bayne on May 25, 2012 -
AT CANNES: THE SUN SHINES AT THE WETTEST FESTIVAL
Is there anything worse than some other guy going on about the weather? When Angelenos extoll their perpetually sunny climes, it always feels a bit like a reproach to those who live anywhere else. Pacific Northwesterners discuss their persistent rain quietly, as if wearing some old war medal. But journalists in Cannes? What do readers feel when reading reports of how cold and soggy it is in the south of France? Sympathy? Schadenfreude? Or perhaps just disinterest? Despite my suspicion that it is the latter, I still have to go there because, yes, the rain has been the most notable […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 22, 2012 -
AT CANNES: THE CRONENBERG METHOD
As Toronto Film Festival head Cameron Bailey said by way of introducing a conversation with directors David Cronenberg and Brandon Cronenberg here at the Cannes Film Festival, 2012 is the first time the event has ever featured father and son filmmakers in the official selection. Pere Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis is a hotly anticipated title in the Official Competition. (Perhaps “ruefully anticipated” is a more accurate description; the film plays Saturday; many journalists, myself included, will be back home; and there have been no advance press screenings.) Antiviral, son Cronenberg’s foray into body horror and celebrity culture, is in Un Certain Regard. […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 21, 2012
