Top Movies Update

70th Festival de Cannes Award Winners

Posted by tarbiyyator Posted on 10:00 AM

Suddenly, Cannes is over. Once Again. Feel kind of sad. Very glad there are great movies in this year edition that hope to see sooner than later.

Regret that jury didn't wanted to make history, didn't wanted to be remembered forever, didn't wanted to give for the very first time EVER the Palme d'Or to a two-time-winner director and make him the ONLY three-time winner. Sigh.

Instead they opted for a Swedish film in English by a great Swedish director debut in not-his-mother-tongue film. The good news is that film could be good as not many directors have succeed when they do films in other languages; so, good for him (!) and also, for us -the audience.

Still, these days have been fun and now will have to adjust to calm, which is not what Ruben Östlund is having today and will have for a while -just check photo.

Then there is a record for Coppola as she's the first woman to ever win a screenwriting Oscar and the second woman to win in Cannes directing prize. But undoubtedly the biggest surprise is Cannes giving the 70th Anniversary Award NOT to a director but to an actress!!! Yes, Nicole Kidman wins the anniversary award.

Many predicted that BPM by Campillo was going to be the Toni Erdmann of last year and, well, perhaps they're right. Winning the Grand Prix is no small accolade but let's hope film continues to recollect awards and perhaps France makes a great decision and sends film to Oscars foreign language category at least.

Usually do not watch the jury press conference but this time will watch, as a matter of fact I'm watching right now. "No corrió sangre" Almodovar says. Besides being a bit funny, there was nothing interesting in press conference.

One more photo for our pleasure. Enjoy!!!

Main Competition

Palme d'Or: The Square, Ruben Östlund, Sweden, Germany, France and Denmark

Grand Prix: 120 Battements par minute (BMP-Beats Per Minute), Robin Campillo, France
Jury Award: Нелюбовь Nelyubov (Loveless), Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia, Belgium, Germany and France

Best Director: Sofia Coppola for The Beguiled, USA

Best Screenplay (tie)
Yorgos Lanthimos for The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Ireland, UK and USA
Lynne Ramsay for You Were Never Really Here, France and UK

Best Actress: Diane Kruger in Aus dem Nichts (In The Fade), Fatih Akin, France and Germany
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here, Lynne Ramsay, France and UK

Camera d'Or: Jeune Femme, (Montparnasse Bienvenue) Léonor Serraille, France and Belgium

Short Films
Palme d'Or: 小城二月 Xiao Cheng Er Yue (A Gentle Night), Qiu Yang, China, 15'
Special Mention: Katto (The Ceiling), Teppo Airaksinen, Finland, 15'

70th Anniversary Award: Nicole Kidman

Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard Award: لِرد Lerd (A Man of Integrity), Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran
Jury Prize: Las Hijas de Abril (April's Daughter), Michel Franco, Mexico
Award for Best Director: Taylor Sheridan for Wind River, UK, Canada and USA
Award for Best Actress: Jasmine Trinca in Fortunata (Lucky), Sergio Castellitto, Italy
Prize for the Best Poetic Narrative: Barbara, Mathieu Amalric, France

Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors' Fortnight)
Feature Films
SACD Award (tie):
Un Beau Soleil Intérieur (Let The Sunshine In), Claire Denis, France
L'Amant d'un Jour (Lover for a Day), Philippe Garrel, France
CICAE Arte Cinema Prize: The Rider, Chloé Zhao, USA
Label Europa Cinemas Prize: A Ciambra, Jonas Carpignano, Italy, France and Germany

Short Films
Illy Prize: Retour à Genoa City, Benoit Grimalt, France, 28' (documentary)

Carrose d'Or: Werner Herzog

Semaine de la Critique (Critics' Week)
Feature Films
Grand Prix: Makala, Emmanuel Gras, France
Visionary Award: Gabriel e a montanha (Gabriel and the Mountain), Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa, Brazil and France
SACD Award: Ava, Léa Mysius, France
GAN Foundation Support for Distribution Award: Gabriel e a montanha (Gabriel and the Mountain), Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa, Brazil and France

Short Films
Canal+ Award: Najpiękniejsze fajerwerki ever (The Best Fireworks Ever), Aleksandra Terpińska, Poland, 30'
Cine Discovery Prize: Los Desheredados, Laura Ferrés, Spain, 18'

Cinéfondation
First Prize: Paul est là (Paul is Here), Valentina Maurel, INSAS, Belgium, 24'
Second Prize: حیوان Heyvan (Animal), Bahman Ark, Iranian School of Cinema, Iran, 15'
Third Prize: Deux égarés sont morts, Tommaso Usberti, La Fémis, France, 27'

L'Atelier
Prix Arte International: The Translator, Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf, Syria

Collateral Awards

FIPRESCI
Main Competition: 120 Battements par minute (BMP-Beats Per Minute), Robin Campillo, France
Un Certain Regard: Теснота Tesnota (Closeness), Kantemir Balagov, Russia
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs: A Fábrica de Nada (The Nothing Factory), Pedro Pinho, Portugal

Ecumenical Jury Award: 光 Hikari (Radiance), Naomi Kawase, France and Japan

L’Œil d’Or Documentary Award: Visages Villages, Agnès Varda and JR, France

Queer Palm
Feature Film: 120 Battements par minute (BMP-Beats Per Minute), Robin Campillo, France
Short Film: Les îles (Islands), Yann Gonzalez, France

Prix François Chalais: 120 Battements par minute (BMP-Beats Per Minute), Robin Campillo, France
Prix Vulcain de l’Artiste Technicien: Josefin Asberg for Production Design in The Square Ruben Östlund, Sweden, Germany, France and Denmark

Cannes Soundtrack Awards
Best Composer: Oneohtrix Point Never (Daniel Lopatin) for original soundtrack in Good Time, Josh and Benny Safdie, USA
Special Mention: Arnaud Rebotini for 120 Battements par minute (BMP-Beats Per Minute), Robin Campillo, France

Prix de la meilleure création sonore: على كف عفريت Aala Kaf Ifrit (Beauty and the Dogs), Kaouther Ben Hania, Tunisia, France, Sweden, Norway, Lebanon and Switzerland

15th Prix UniFrance Short Films
Grand Prix: Marlon, Jessica Palud, Belgium and France, 20'
Special Jury Prize: Les Bigorneaux, Alice Vial, France, 25'
Prix Coup de Coeur RTI: Marlon, Jessica Palud, Belgium and France, 20'
Prix Coup de Coeur Movistar+: Negative Space, Max Poter and Ru Kuwahata, France, 4' (animation)
Prix Coup de Coeur Grand Action: Marlon, Jessica Palud, Belgium and France, 20'

Rail d'Or Short Film Award: Najpiękniejsze fajerwerki ever (The Best Fireworks Ever), Aleksandra Terpińska, Poland, 30'

Prix France Culture
Prix France Culture Consécration: Costa-Gavras
Prix France Culture Cinéma des Etudiants: Sébastien Laudenbach
Prix International Students Award: Rudi Rosenberg

Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens in Cinematography: Christopher Doyle

Palm Dog Awards
Palm Dog: Bruno in The Meyerowitz Stories by Noah Baumbach
Grand Prix du Jury: Lupo in Ava by Léa Mysius
Dogumanitarian Award: Leslie Caron with Tchi Tchi in ITV drama The Durrells
Special Jury Award: Three security dogs, Lilou, Glock and Even.

Women in Motion Award: Isabelle Huppert
Women in Motion Young Talents Award: Maysaloun Hamoud, director and scriptwriter, Palestine

Choppard Trophy for up-and-coming talent
Anya Taylor-Joy
George MacKay

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5/25/17
Awards started to be announced today and will update post as soon as awards are announced.

Post will be in progress until after the Official Awards Ceremony Today.

Yes, watching the red carpet arrivals and "guessing" films that will win something because directors are Happy walking the red carpet!!! LOL

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Closing Ceremony Live TV #Cannes2017

Posted by tarbiyyator Posted on 9:11 AM

Today's Agenda - Sunday May 28th

06:00pm : Red carpet of closing ceremony
08:30pm : Press conference of the jury
09:30pm : Photocall of winners
09:45pm : Press conference of winners

Youtube

Use link to watch closing ceremony

LINK

Cannes 2017: Suivez en live la cérémonie de... par CinemaCanalPlus

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3rd L’Œil d’Or Award Winner

Posted by tarbiyyator Posted on 7:00 AM

Will not deny that I'm very pleased with this edition of the documentary award as believe winner is undoubtedly the most interesting doc in the festival as surely has awesome visuals, definitively must be a great cinema experience and most of all, the idea behind film is truly outstanding, one that should be emulated (copied!) everywhere in the world, especially in smaller towns.

The Golden Eye (as is called in English) this year goes to Visages, Villages (Faces, Places) by Agnès Varda and JR.

The jury’s justification was the following: "Our jury has been deeply moved by Agnès and JR’s decision to meet local, so-called ‘little’ people, and our hearts have been touched by this movie-tale about consideration for the other through art. These combined perspectives are both delicate and generous."

Agnès Varda daughter, Rosalie Varda, received the award yesterday and here is a nice photo of the award ceremony.

We know about Agnès Varda monumental filmmography, so let's learn a bit about JR. Street-artist JR work is breathtaking to put it simply as has many giant-size photos that could blew anybody's mind. Among his work there is one 150 m2 monumental fresco that recently opened at Palais de Tokyo, forming a singular portrait of the inhabitants of Clichy-Montfermeil (Seine-Saint-Denis), suburbs where the popular rebellions that shook France in 2005 began. If wish to learn more go here. The following photo shows an excerpt of this work.

JR lives in France and New York, so there is work done in USA, like The Wrinkles of the City, Los Angeles, Lovers on the Roof, USA, 2012 a giant-sized print installed in a what looks like a warehouse roof. Fabulous! Then there is the installation of Giants in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics and so many more that could spend hours looking to his marvelous work, but believe we already got the idea of how great JR is and if you wish to learn more go to Artist website here.

As we know, the documentary follows the two artists as they travel through rural France in JR's van, which doubles as a photographic studio and laboratory that can produce giant-sized prints. On their journey they photograph some of the people they meet and then paste billboard-sized images on the walls of their community houses and workplaces.

But let's check the doc synopsis.
Agnès Varda and JR have things in common: their passion for images in general and more particulary questioning the places where they are showed, how they are shared, exposed. Agnès chose cinema. JR chose to create open-air photographic galleries. When Agnès and JR met in 2015, they immediately wanted to work together, shoot a film in France, far from the cities. Random encounters or prepared projects, they will go towards the others and get them to follow them on their trip with JR's photographic truck. The film is also about their friendship that grows during the shooting, between surprises and malice, laughing of their differences.

Most interesting is American press already talking about doc going to the Oscars and well, this time absolutely agree even when we know is too-early; but, let's hope doc momentum stays up until Oscars nominations time.

Film is must-be-seen for me and many will be able to watch it from June 28 when opens in France theaters. Cohen Media Group handles international sales.

Winner is in *BLUE. Check the film poster.

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5/3/17

For the third consecutive year the SCAM (Société civile des auteurs multimedia) will honor documentaries with the award L’Œil d’or and this morning organizers had their press conference where they announced the members of the jury and the films that will be considered for the 2017 award.

A little background from the official site about the award for our recall benefit. Cinema has its roots in documentary film. This unique depiction of the world is becoming increasingly popular on the big screen and among the public. It is garnering more critical recognition and becoming more visible at festivals. As such, it deserves to be acknowledged at Cannes.

The L'Œil d’Or - Documentary Award was created in 2015 by LaScam (The French civil society for multimedia authors), in collaboration with the Cannes Festival and its General Delegate Thierry Frémaux, with the support of the INA (the French national audiovisual Institute). It will be awarded to a documentary screened in one of the Cannes Festival sections: Official Selection, Un Certain Regard, Cannes Classics, Directors' Fortnight, Semaine de la Critique, Special Screenings & Out of Competition and Short & Feature-Length Films.

On May 23 organizers will held the Doc Day 2017 that this year includes a conversation with Amos Gitaï plus more events where the documentary has the center stage. The Doc Day is organized by Cannes Marché du Film with the support of the Ford Foundation and the partnership of the CNC and the organizers of L’Œil d’or.

The following are the films that will be considered for the award and do include the documentaries in Cannes Classics as we learned them just a few minutes ago.

Official Selection
12 Jours (12 Days), Raymond Depardon, France
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, USA
Carré 35, Eric Caravaca, France
Demons in Paradise, Jude Ratman, Sri Lanka and France
Le Vénérable W., Barbet Schroeder, France and Switzerland
Napalm, Claude Lanzmann, France
Promised Land, Eugene Jarecki, USA
Sea Sorrow, Vanessa Redgrave, UK
*Visages, Villages, Agnès Varda and JR, France

Quinzaine des réalisateurs
Alive in France, Abel Ferrara, USA and France
Nothingwood, Sonia Kronlund, France
Retour à Genoa City, Benoit Grimalt, France, 28'
West of the Jordan River (Field Diary Revisited), Amos Gitaï, France and Israel

Semaine de la Critique
Los Desheredados, Laura Ferres, Spain, 18'
Makala, Emmanuel Gras, France

Cannes Classics
Cary Grant - De l’autre côté du miroir (Becoming Cary Grant), Mark Kidel, France
David Stratton-A Cinematic Life, Sally Aitken, Australia
Filmworker, Tony Zierra, USA
Jean Douchet, l’enfant agité, Fabien Hagège, Guillaume Namur and Vincent Haasser, France
La belge histoire du festival de Cannes (The Belgian’s Road to Cannes), Henri de Gerlache, Belgium

Earlier April organizers announced that Sandrine Bonnaire will be the president of the jury but today we learn that none other than outstanding filmmaker Lucy Walker is also in the jury along with Lorenzo Codelli, Dror Moreh and Thom Powers.

The Jury
President: Sandrine Bonnaire, actress, director and screenwriter, France
Lucy Walker, director, UK
Dror Moreh, director, Israel
Lorenzo Codelli, film critic, Italy
Thom Powers, film programmer, USA

This year the award will be presented on Saturday May 17 at 12:00 at the Palais des Festivals. To read more about the award go official site here, available with some info in English but most data is in French.

The Press Conference

The Jury

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2017 Queer Palm Award Winners

Posted by tarbiyyator Posted on 5:30 AM

As soon as read about Robin Campillo's film BPM (Beats Per Minute), knew was going to win this award as the award-worthy story was really compelling, emotional and relevant, even today.

Of course had no idea that film was going to be received so well, with film critics (crying) coming out of cinema teary-eyed and pouring so many positive reactions that film almost immediately became Palme d'Or favorite front-runner.

Film is a success story and more success will follow after the festival not matter if wins or not the top award. Perhaps the only unfortunate element is that Pedro Almodovar is the jury president as there are some non-French-speaking critics suggesting that IF film wins top award is because of Pedro being the jury president (!!!???).

Anyway lets hope film wins the Palme d'Or and adds top win to already great wins, like prestigious FIPRESCI award, the François Chalais award, a special mention from Cannes Soundtrack award and now the well-deserved, Queer Palm.

Still, the most interesting situation has happened this year and is the first time it happens since the award was founded in 2010. Believe has more to do with the film than with the Queer Palm award BUT nevertheless, organizers should take advantage to maybe now, once and for all, solidify the Queer Palm perception and position as a prestigious independent award.

No other Queer Palm winner has had the press coverage than BPM has had in less than 24 hours after the award was announced.

Not only social media but also every press serious outlet -cinema industry and beyond- in several languages has commented about the Queer Palm winner. Great!

In a few hours we will learn if BPM wins the top award or which award wins, as believe will win something tonight. Let's hope the best to Campillo's film as after all is not often that a LGBT film gets recognition from one of the top three film festivals or the cinema industry in general.

Not available in English but wish to save the Jury statement here:
Pour la Queer Palm 2017 du meilleur long métrage, nous avons choisi un film dans lequel l'ensemble des acteurs a su s'illustrer dans des rôles poignants avec le plus grand des courages. Sans jamais verser dans le mélodrame, le film nous plonge dans les pages les plus sombres de notre histoire récente, tout en nous rappelant que nous sommes toujours plus forts quand on conjugue nos énergies, quand on s'aime tous un peu plus, quand on se soutient tous un peu plus, et bien sûr, quand on danse tous ensemble un peu plus. La Queer Palm 2017 est attribuée au film de Robin Campillo, « 120 Battements par minute ».

In the short film category Yann Gonzales Les Îles (Islands) won the award. What follows is the Jury statement.
Pour le court métrage, nous avons choisi un film doté d'une sensualité fantastique. Un film que nous avons senti riche et multiforme dans sa célébration du désir et du queer. Le prix est attribué à « Les îles » de Yann Gonzalez.

Here is BPM trailer with previously release clip, all together in one video. Enjoy!!!

Also take a look at this interesting video in English, about the award.

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5/4/17

Has become harder to find reliable info about this edition of the Cannes LGBT award as most of the past official web sites are not working anymore and the only place to find info from official sources has become the usually dangerous "social media".

But finally today organizers via facebook and twitter accounts, announced that the selection is available this year via TÊTU, a LGBT media that according to what I read from their twitter account "c’est aussi un regard masculin différent porté sur la culture, la découverte et le bien-être" which means that gives a different masculine view about the culture, coming out and well-being. Sigh. Seems there is no "female" point of view in this media. (!!!)

According to what is announced at TÊTU here there are seven (7) feature films and six (6) short films that were selected by organizers and according to what have been able to learn about films in ALL sections, believe there are more movies with some LGBT interest. Imagine perhaps later organizers will figure that they should also consider them. Sigh.

The Selection

Feature Films (7)

Official Selection

Competition
120 Battements par minute (BMP-Beats Per Minute), Robin Campillo, France (GL)
Synopsis: Paris, the early 1990s: a group of young activists is desperately tied to finding the cure against an unknown lethal disease. They target the pharmaceutical labs that are retaining potential cures, and multiply direct actions, with the hope of saving their lives as well as the ones of future generations.

Yes, Adèle Haenel is in film and in below film still. My crystal ball tells me that this film has excellent odds to win the award this year.

Out of Competition
How to Talk to Girls at Parties, John Cameron Mitchell, UK and USA
Synopsis: John Cameron Mitchell, director of the acclaimed films Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus takes us to an exotic and unusual world: suburban London in the late 70s. Under the spell of the Sex Pistols, every teenager in the country wants to be a punk, including our hopeless hero Enn (Alex Sharp). Crashing local punk queen Boadicea’s party, Enn discovers every boy’s dream – gorgeous foreign exchange students. When he meets the enigmatic Zan (Elle Fanning), it’s love at first sight. But these teens are, in fact, aliens from outer space, sent to Earth to prepare for a mysterious rite of passage. When their dark secret is revealed, the love-struck Enn must turn to Boadicea (Nicole Kidman) and her followers for help in order to save the girl he loves from certain death. When the punks take on the aliens, neither Enn’s nor Zan’s universe will ever be the same again.

No idea of the "interest" film has but surely could be Gay-interest as most JCM films have. Because of cast film will have lots of buzz and perhaps will be a popular contender to win the Queer Palm IF indeed has some relevant LGBT interest.

Special Screenings
They, Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, USA and Qatar
Synopsis: J has been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder, goes by the selected pronoun “they”, and takes hormone blockers to suspend their puberty. J is in their early teens and lives with their parents in the countryside. While J’s parents are away on a trip, their older sibling Lauren and her boyfriend Araz are assigned the duties of house-sitting and looking after J. Through a series of activities, performances and events, J’s growth and complex gender identity are explored within the precarious family dynamic. The rural landscape becomes a queer site for dismantling the narratives of coming-of-age and transition, pharmaceutics and human biotechnology, and the effort for self-determination between recalling/forgetting the past and imagining/avoiding the future. J, Lauren and Araz spend time in their parents’ greenhouses, the artificial environment for sheltering organic growth, as well as in the clinic : the technologized institution that shapes their bodies . They recast the family and the medical-industrial complexes through role-play games and test the role of language in the formation of their identities and relationships by reading poetry, telling stories, and entertaining bilingual games. These adventures become an entry point into the open-ended questions of growth and becoming that THEY are facing.

From synopsis film story seems quite interesting and obviously is a Gender Identity interest film.

Meet the director

70th Anniversary Events
Nos années folles (Golden Years), André Téchiné, France
Synopsis: The plot revolves around newlyweds Paul and Louise, as World War I breaks out. After two years on the frontline, Paul maims himself and deserts his post. But how can he hide when he is condemned to death in war-torn Paris? Louise dresses him up as a woman. He becomes Suzanne, drags his wife around the debauched Paris of the Golden Twenties and earns quite a reputation for himself. In 1925, once he is finally granted amnesty, Suzanne attempts to revert back to being Paul…

Cross-dressing interest? Téchiné is one of my most admired living French directors and obviously all his films are must-be-seen for me. Have seen almost ALL his movies and know many have some LGBT interest and his latest is no exception. Film cast is outstanding as leads are played by great Céline Sallette and Pierre Deladonchamps.

Check the poster

Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
Marlina si pembunuh dalam empat babak (Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts), Surya Mouly, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and France
Synopsis: In the deserted hills of an Indonesian island, Marlina, a young widow, is attacked, raped and robbed for her cattle. To defend herself, she kills several men of the gang. Seeking justice, she goes on a journey for empowerment and redemption. But the road is long, especially when the ghost of her headless victim begins to haunt her.

No idea about the LGBT interest. According to synopsis perhaps has some lesbian-interest but I'm not sure.

Nothingwood, Sonia Krolund, France and Germany (documentary)
Synopsis: About a hundred kilometers away from Kabul, Salim Shaheen, the most popular and prolific actor-director-producer in Afghanistan, comes to show some of his 110 films and to shoot the 111th in the process. He has brought with him his regular troupe of actors, each more eccentric and out of control than the next. That trip is an opportunity for us to get to know Shaheen, a real movie buff who has been making Z movies tirelessly for more than thirty years in a country at war. Nothingwood is the story of a man who spends his life making his childhood dreams come true.

Documentary is also known as The Prince of Nothingwood and have no clear idea of the interest but probably will be gay-interest.

ACID
Coby, Christian Sonderegger, France
Synopsis: Small town smack in the American Midwest. Suzanna age 23 changes gender and becomes a boy: Coby. Her transformation deeply disrupts the lives of all who love her. Ultimately, Coby's chrysalis becomes the one of a whole family compelled to modify their own perspective. Not only a physical metamorphosis is at stake here but also a spiritual one that eventually takes place under the director's luminous and unexpected eye.

Gender identity interest.

Short Films (6)

Cinéfondation
בן ממשיך Ben Mamshich (Heritage), Yuval Aharoni, Steve Tisch School of Film & Television, Tel Aviv University, Israel, 25'

Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
Trešnje (Cherries), Dubravka Turić, Croatia, 30' (G)

Semaine de la Critique
Coelho Mau (Bad Bunny), Carlos Conceição, Portugal and France, 33'
Les Îles (Islands), Yann Gonzalez, France, 23'
Möbius, Sam Kuhn, Canada and USA, 15'
Najpiękniejsze fajerwerki ever (The Best Fireworks Ever), Aleksandra Terpińska, Poland, 30'

The Jury
President: Travis Mathews, director, USA
~~Didier Roth-Bettoni, journalist, France~~
Lidia Leber Terki, director, France
Yair Hochner, director and festival director, Israel
Paz Lazaro, Berlinale Panorama programmer, Spain
Paul Marques Duarte, director, France

More interesting news is that Le Vertigo, the official Queer Palm Club, is back in Cannes from May 17 to 28 and yes, will be open from midnight to dawn! But the best of all LGBT news is that this Cannes edition has la crème de la crème of open gay world directors and more outstanding is the fact that three of them are competing for the 2017 Palme d'Or: Robin Campillo, Todd Haynes and François Ozon. Great filmmakers and storytellers.

Among the films with some LGBT-interest not listed in their selection, there is one that stands out, the latest Roman Polanski film starring his wife and Eva Green which has some lesbian-interest as checked book film is based on plus see film still below. The film is out of competition and is called: D'après une Histoire Vraie (Based on a True Story) and the most interesting fact about this movie is that the script is co written by Polanski and Olivier Assayas (great!) and is based on the novel of the same name by Delphine de Vigan.

The very short synopsis: Emmanuelle Seigner plays a writer who has an affair with an obsessive fan played by Eva Green.

The Poster

This year the Queer Palm poster pays tribute to the President of the festival Competition jury, Pedro Almodóvar and poster is a re-design by Maud Lammens of the original poster from his 1991 Tacones Lejanos (High Heels) designed by Juan Gatti.

In the re-interpretation design the high heels is kept, the Queer Palm logo is added as well as the phrase: " Gracias Pedro" (Thanks Pedro). It's a clean design that got me a bit puzzled as initially couldn't figure what the phrase said (lol); it was until a friend saw the poster and rapidly told me what the phrase said that I could figure out (LOL)! Nevertheless, the 2017 Queer Palm poster has a nice composition, a lot nicer than those posters from previous editions.

Check the original poster

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7th Cannes Soundtrack Award Winners

Posted by tarbiyyator Posted on 4:30 AM

Yesterday organizers announced award winner is the Composer of Good Time original score, Oneohtrix Point Never, working name of Daniel Lopatin. Here is and excerpt from what Warp says about the award:

"Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) and Josh Safdie became close friends through a shared love of cult genre movies and music, and their level of collaboration here has a rare depth of symbiosis of picture and score. Mundane events become dramatic, montages become mini operas and Iggy Pop features on the poignant closer ‘The Pure And The Damned’."

Oneohtrix Point Never experimental electronica's original score was also part of movies like Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring and Ariel Kleiman's Partisan.

A Special Mention is given to composer Arnaud Rebotini for the soundtrack of 120 Battements par Minute by Robin Campillo, the film that many hope will win Cannes film festival and the one that has already collected several collateral awards.

Winners will eventually be at the official site here.

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4/27/17

For the first time will share some info about this award founded by Vincent Doerr, that has been given for the last six years.. Will start sharing what he says about this edition.

From May 17 to 28, Festival de Cannes celebrates its Seventh Birthday. Over the last 70th editions, the Film Festival gave us the biggest talents from cinema industry. From Rosselini, Welles, De Sica to Clouzot, Bunuel, Godard, Fellini and Visconti…, Cannes carried them to the edge of film heritage as cult directors.
Film soundtracks are fully a part of this heritage, precisely because Music and Image are indivisible. Much more than that, soundtracks immerses spectators in the realm of imagination and merges with the soundtrack of our lives. As a redolence, music imbues our memories and our imagination throughout films.
Cannes Soundtrack was founded as an echo of the Festival, in the aim of setting up Music & Cinema and rewarding the best soundtrack, and their composers, among the Official Competition.
Vincent Doerr / Founder Cannes Soundtrack

Meet the Composers

If you're interested in learning more about the history of soundtracks and the festival suggest you read a very well-written article at Cine Chronicle here, unfortunately available only in French. Also if you wish to learn about past winners and composers in competition each year go to official site here.

Strongly suggest you check the award facebook page as for the festival 70th birthday they are doing reviews of the best scores of past festivals; go to facebook page here. As an example let me share one post about Angelo Bandalamenti and his Mulholland Drive main theme:

Today our review leads us to Mulholland Drive, a masterpiece by David Lynch, rewarded in 2001 during the Festival de Cannes. fifteen years from now David Lynch established his own signature with Blue Velvet: surreal pictures against codes from Hollywood industry. Wild at Heart was a doped road movie searching for ideals, Twin Peaks absorbed us more and more in Lynch's universe. Angelo Badalamenti, regular composer of the Director, composed ethereal scores and managed to put music onto strangeness. From this association, Badalamenti and Lynch created the perfect chord !

An outstanding film from David Lynch and an ethereal score from Angelo Badalamenti. This piece is a haunting yet beautiful score and it, to me, is one of the greatest pieces ever written and it's conducted by Badalamenti himself. If you haven't seen Mulholland Drive I highly suggest it. It's one of the greatest films out there and features an amazing, multi-layered performance from Naomi Watts.

If reviews do not have much info at least is interesting to see the list that includes, Neil Young, Giorgio Moroder, Ennio Morricone, Michael Myman, Nino Rota, Ry Cooder and more.

Cannes Soundtrack awards the Best Original Music award to the soundtrack of one of the films in the main competition which -as of today- there are eighteen (18) films (surely there will be more). The award jury is composed by 24 journalists and the award ceremony will be on May 27.

2017 Jury
Caroline Vie - 20 minutes
Nicolas Schaller - L'Obs
Marilyne Letertre - Madame Figaro
Olivier Bousquet - VSD
David Fontaine - Le Canard Enchaine
Renan Cros - Stylist
Laura Terrazas - Le Figaro
Renaud Baronian - Le Parisien
Yal Sadat - Chronic'Art
Audrey Abril - Sens Critique
Marie-Pauline Mollaret - Ecran Noir
Jeremie Couston - Telerama
Yannick Vely - Paris Match
Theo Ribeton - Les Inrockuptibles
Annie-Claire Cieutat - Bande a part
Damien Aubel - Transfuge
Hubert Charrier - La Grande Evasion
Antoine Guillot - France Culture
Pierre Siclier - Le Blog du Cinema
Time Zoppe - Trois Coleurs
Philippe Rouyer - Positif
Fernando Ganzo - So Film
Aurelien Allin - Cinemateaser
Nathalie Dassa - CineChronicle

The Competition Composers for 2017 edition have not been announced yet and imagine the list will be available when Festival de Cannes organizers say they have announced all films in competition. As soon as the list becomes available will modify post to include the names of all composers in each film.

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49th Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Award Winners

Posted by tarbiyyator Posted on 10:00 AM

Winners were announced a few minutes ago but seems official press release was sent to media earlier, as all had articles with winners before the actual "live" ceremony via facebook video.

Anyway winners are not available yet at official site and perhaps when they post, we will find the Special Mentions (if there are any) as event in section official twitter there are no mentions to special mentios (lol).

According to some cinema pundits, section top award is the one given by CICAE and this year went to an American film that quite a few film critics praised, The Rider by Chloe Zhao; then among only European films, Jonas Carpignano's A Ciambra gets the Label Europa Cinemas Award and ONLY among French films the most pleasant surprise as there is a tie between the films by Claire Denis, Let The Sunshine In, and Cannes regular Philippe Garrel's Lover for a Day.

Undoubtedly Claire Denis win is the reason why Juliette Binoche stayed for so long in Cannes as usually most top-actors come and go very fast. Nevertheless, I'm quite pleased to see Binoche all over Cannes events and premieres.

Winners are in *BLUE. To check winners at official site go here; not available yet, but soon article will be there.

The Selection

The official announcement came to me in the wee hours but brave me, saw it live. Yes, after went back to sleep (lol) as was way too-early to wake up. So today will be a slow-motion day for me, sigh.

Have very little doubt to call this year's selection eclectic as find a very diverse mix of film from all over the world but with too-many American films for my taste, especially when some American films come from this year's Sundance fest. Still, I'm very glad that some of my wish list films do appear in the selection as will give us glimpses of great directors plus great French actresses.

There are some films by established directors like Claire Denis, Philippe Garrel, Bruno Dumont, Abel Ferrara, Amos Gitai and Sharunas Bartas; but, also there are newcomers and directors with their second or third film which undoubtedly balance the selection. Then we have films with great French cinema actresses like Juliette Binoche, Cecile de France, Vanessa Paradis; so, seems there will be a lot of 'stars' walking on the Promenade de la Croisette this year.

The selection in figures. Out of the 1,649 feature films and 1.679 short films seen comes a Selection with with 19 feature films, 10 short films, 5 debut feature films, 5 French films, 5 American films, 3 Italian films and 7 films by female directors. There are five French filmmakers, three Italians and a Lithuanian for a total of nine European directors.

Feature Films

Opening Film: *Un Beau Soleil Intérieur (Let The Sunshine In), Claire Denis, France SACD Award Winner
(*) Closing Film: Patti Cake$, Geremy Jasper, USA

*A Ciambra, Jonas Carpignano, Italy, France and Germany Label Europa Cinemas Prize Winner
Alive in France, Abel Ferrara, France (documentary)
Bushwick, Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott, USA
(*) Cuori Puri (Pure Hearts), Roberto De Paolis Italy
Frost, Sharunas Bartas, Lithuania, France, Ukraine and Poland
(*) I Am Not A Witch, Rungano Nyoni, UK, France and Germany
Jeannette, L'Enfance de Jeanne d'Arc (Jeannette, the Childhood of Joan of Arc), Bruno Dumont, France
*L'Amant d'un Jour (Lover for a Day), Philippe Garrel, France SACD Award Winner
(*) La Defensa del Dragón, Natalia Santa, Colombia
L'Intrusa, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Italy
Marlina si pembunuh dalam empat babak (Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts), Mouly Surya, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and France
Mobile Homes, Vladimir de Fontenay, Canada and France
(*) Nothingwood, Sonia Krolund, France and Germany (documentary)
Ôtez-moi d'un doute (Just to Be Sure), Carine Tardieu, France and Belgium
The Florida Project, Sean Baker, USA
*The Rider, Chloé Zhao, USA CICAE Arte Cinemas Prize Winner
West of the Jordan River (Field Diary Revisited), Amos Gitaï, Israel and France (documentary)

Special Screenings
A Fábrica de Nada (The Nothing Factory), Pedro Pinho, Portugal

(*) First Film. Competes for the Camera d'Or.

Short Films

Água Mole, Laura Gonçalves and Alexandra Ramires (Xá), Portugal (animation), 9'
La Bouche, Camilo Restrepo, France
Copa-Loca, Christos Massalas, Greece
Crème de menthe, David Philippe Gagné and Jean-Marc E. Roy, Canada
Farpões, Baldios, Marta Mateus, Portugal
Min Börda (The Burden), Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Sweden, 13'
Nada, Gabriel Martins, Brazil
*Retour à Genoa City, Benoit Grimalt, France, 28' (documentary) Illy Prize Winner
Tijuana Tales, Jean-Charles Hue, France, 15' (experimental)
Trešnje (Cherries), Dubravka Turić, Croatia

Check available info and trailer @MOC
Check available posters for ALL Cannes films, including la Quinzaine here.

To check list at official site go here.

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4/20/17
A few hours ago in Paris, la Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Artistic Director, Edouard Waintrop, announced the films in this year selection of the Festival de Cannes parallel section that's run by the Société des Réalisateurs de films (French Director's Guild) and believe that my greatest spontaneous surprise is the many "new" unexpected films that made the selection.

Before getting into the selection lets review what has been going on with this Cannes parallel section before today's announcement.

The Poster

For starters we have the magnificent poster that showcases a photography by Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide with the outstanding composition of a sign she did in Italy. What seems like a part of the sign reads "Sogno" which means Dream in English and definitively is a word many of us associate to cinema and now, thanks to this poster, to the most famous Directors' Fortnight.

Here is the copy/paste of what Waintrop says about the poster.

"To be transported by a dream is one of the things the cinema does best. Even in lockstep with the harshest reality, when it is dramatic even tragic, cinema takes us out of our context - just as this poster, built around a superb image by the great Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide, does. Portraitist of the world, she has for decades transported us from paradise to purgatory and back, and transformed our world with her eye.
In Italy, she captured this sign, Sogno, dream, which is worth a program, the one we hope for the Directors’ Fortnight.
Come dream with us... "
Édouard Waintrop
Artistic Director of the Directors’ Fortnight

La Carrose d'Or

As we already know this year the SRF will honor Werner Herzog with the Carrose d'Or and among the different events to commemorate the occasion, on May 18th there will be a tribute that includes the screening of Bad Lieutenant: Por of Call New Orleans, a conversation with Herzog as well as the promotion of the book by Hervé Aubron and Emmanuel Burdeau, Werner Herzog, pas à pas.

The Factory

The Quinzaine is also hosting the 4th edition of its talent development initiative The Factory, which this year is focused on emerging directors from Lebanon. So there will be One Country, 8 directors, 6 nationalities, 4 short films and one feature film to open the 2017 Director's Fortnight in Cannes.

The following are the 8 directors that in couples will produce the four short films:

Ahmad Ghossein (Lebanon) & Lucie La Chimia (France)
Mounia Akl (Lebanon) & Ernesto Vilalobos (Costa Rica)
Rami Kodeih (Lebanon) & Una Gunjak (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Shirin Abu Shaqra (Lebanon) & Manuel Maria Almereyda Perrone (Switzerland)

To the right is The Lebanon Factory poster with artwork by renowned Lebanese artist Nada Sehnaoui and design by Mike Malajalian.

If you wish to learn more about The Lebanon Factory go to their official facebook page here. Have to confess that I'm still (after reading all about the Factory) what the "one feature film" is all about as today we learned the film that will open la Quinzaine and definitively is not related to The Lebanon Factory.

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56th Semaine de la Critique Selection Award Winners

Posted by tarbiyyator Posted on 9:00 AM

As happened last year for the first time, the Critics' Week is the first parallel section that has their award ceremony and seems trend will stay for the future.

If stays, then will be the shorter major collateral event of the festival.

Most interesting is Charles Tesson, Semaine director, had the most visibility ever and not only was present in many activities -as always- but also presented film and allowed photographs. No doubt his visibility went up a few notches.

I'm always cautious with films in this section but definitively the one that called my attention the most is Los Perros; still know that probably will watch Ava that won an award tonight.

Award winners are in *BLUE. To check winners at official site go here.

Feature Films

Competition
*(*) Ava, Léa Mysius, France SACD Award Winner
*Gabriel e a montanha (Gabriel and the Mountain), Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa, France and Brazil France4 Visionary Award Winner and Gan Foundation Award for Distribution Winner
(*) La Familia, Gustavo Rondón Córdova, Venezuela, Chile and Norway
Los Perros, Marcela Said, Chile and France
*Makala, Emmanuel Gras, France (documentary) Grand Prix Winner
(*) Oh Lucy!, Atsuko Hirayanagi, Japan and USA
(*) Tehran Taboo, Ali Soozandeh, Germany and Austria (animation)

Special Screenings
Opening Film: Sicilian Ghost Story, Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, Italy and France
Closing Film: Brigsby Bear, Dave McCary, USA
Petit Paysan (Bloody Milk), Hubert Charuel, France
Une Vie Violente (A Violent Life), Thierry de Peretti, France

(*) First Film. Competing for the Camera d'Or.

Short Films

Competition
Ela - Szkice na pozegnanie (Ela - Sketches on a Departure), Oliver Adam Kusio, Germany, 26'
Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month, Carlo Francisco Manatad, Philippines and Singapore, 13'
Les enfants partent à l’aube (Children Leave at Dawn), Manon Coubia, France, 23'
Le Visage (Exposure), Salvatore Lista, France, 30'
*Los Desheredados, Laura Ferrés, Spain, 18' Cine Discovery Prize Winner
Möbius, Sam Kuhn, Canada and USA, 15'
*Najpiękniejsze fajerwerki ever (The Best Fireworks Ever), Aleksandra Terpińska, Poland, 30' Canal+ Award for Short Films Winner
Real Gods Require Blood, Moin Hussain, UK, 20'
Selva, Sofía Quirós Ubeda, Costa Rica, Argentina and Chile, 17'
Tesla: Lumière mondiale (The Tesla World Light), Matthew Rankin, Canada, 8'

Special Screenings
After School Knife Fight, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel, France, 21'
Coelho Mau (Bad Bunny), Carlos Conceição, Portugal and France, 33'
Les Îles (Islands), Yann Gonzalez, France, 23'

The Jury
President: Kleber Mendonça Filho, director, screenwriter, film programmer and film critic, Brazil
Dana Bustamante Escobar, producer and film programmer, Colombia
Erick Kohn, film critic, USA
Hania Mroué, film programmer, Lebanon
Niels Schneider, actor, Canada

Invitation to the Morelia International Film Festival
Selection of 3 short films
Juan Perros, Rodrigo Imaz, Mexico, 34'
Microcastillo (Microcastle), Alejandra Villalba García, Mexico, 22'
Verde (Green), Alonso Ruizpalacios, Mexico, 22'

To check films at official site go here.

The Video

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4/21/47

Early this morning organizers released the video with Charles Tesson, Semaine de la Critique Artistic Director, and Charlotte Lipinska, journalist and film critic, announcing the selection for the 2017 edition of the Critics' Week and is as eclectic (and strange) as always but this year also has some new elements like it is the first time ever the competition has an animation film and also a documentary.

No doubt cinema industry is changing and finally the mother of all festivals is starting to change as by now we know there are changes, some more fundamental than others, in all Cannes sections. Change is always a constant and brings bad reactions, change in Cannes is no exception and there are many voicing their negative reactions to Cannes change. So, I'm curious to see if the festival and/or the parallel sections will succumb to negative reactions; obviously, next year we will find what happens if change trend stays, continues or is stopped.

But before going in depth into the selection let's review what has been happening in this Cannes parallel section

The Poster

After last year's wonderful poster with Jessica Chastain the follow-up task was going to be hard and believe the 2017 poster doesn't match the beauty of last years' and uses a visual gimmick to attract the attention -which is good and bad. Good because absolutely attracts anybody attention -as two women embracing always do- and bad because come on! why? why would anyone use two women to sell a cinema event? (lol).

Nevertheless the composition is not so great and, as someone wrote to mention how a controversial actress who might or might-not be dating the president was erased from photo, I believe that more people should have been erased to make a cleaner composition. Sigh.

Here is what organizers say about the poster designed by Les bons faiseurs with a photography by Alice Khol: Oldest among the parallel sections in Cannes and driven by its mission to reveal new Talents by selecting first and second films, La Semaine de la Critique chose to spotlight fort its 56th edition the magical and emotional moment when a film crew meets the very first audiences. (... in the photo) the young actress Garance Marillier embraces director Julia Ducournau after the screening of her debut feature, Raw, selected in the competition of the 55th Semaine de la Critique.

Next Step

Created in collaboration with the TorinoFilmLab and supported by the CNC, the CCAS and the Moulin d’Andé-CÉCI, Next Step is a program, consisting of a 5-day workshop held in France in December.

The aim of this project is to support the 10 short filmmakers discovered by La Semaine de la Critique as they branch out into feature films. During the workshop, the filmmakers have the opportunity to discuss their projects with international experts and tutors, in order for them to receive advice on their scripts, to understand the reality of the industry and define an appropriate development strategy. Furthermore, a half-day workshop is dedicated to film music to encourage the participating directors to both better understand the work that goes into music composition for films and start thinking about the music for their feature film projects.

The next edition of Next Step will take place in December 2017 with the 4th session dedicated to the 10 short film directors selected at the 56th Semaine de la Critique in Cannes.

The Selection

Organizers received 1,700 short films and watched 1,250 feature films. They proceed to select 13 short films and 11 feature films, 6 being first films (will compete for the Camera d'Or) and 5 second films.

The following is what organizers say about the selection:

With 13 short films and the 11 first and second feature films selected, the 56th Semaine de la Critique reflects the young directors' concerns about the ever changing world we live in. The selected filmmakers take a political stance on human and social realities, in heterogeneous territories, stretching from Europe to Africa, from Latin America to Iran. Films of far-reaching modernity, crossover of various cinematic genres, from the thriller to the eruption of fantasy, documentary, but also, for the first time at La Semaine de la Critique, an animation film will be competing. To complete this year's selection, 2 films imbued with humor and tenderness are the rejoicing opportunities to meet again with the wonderful actors Josh Hartnett and Mark Hamill.

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Day 5 at #Cannes2017

Posted by tarbiyyator Posted on 1:37 PM

Day five marks the beginning of Nicole Kidman in Cannes as the first of the four films is screened today and not less-relevant, today is the first film (out of two) with Isabelle Huppert in the lead. But day will be on the soft side for me as not really interested in much of the films screened today, with a few exceptions, of course.

Know that Happy End by Michael Haneke will screen tomorrow but press screening is today and I'm dying to find my favorite film critics reactions. Not that will matter (lol) as will see film no matter whoever says whatever. But as many in the world, I'm curious.

Will not publish until me learning press reactions to Haneke's film as will talk about them today to compensate for the films screened today at fest. By-the-way, imagine that not many have realized that Happy End poster is a cell phone... similar to what you see when you're about to take photo with your phone. This is something that has been puzzling me as wish to know why there is a phone but at the same time I hate to have a movie spoiled and somehow suspect that if learn reason why will spoil something (big) in the movie.

So here I go with some press reactions about Happy End by Michael Haneke but there is one that hit me HARD as made me wonder if Happy End is Haneke saying goodbye! Oh, no! I know he's 75-years-old but he has time for more masterpieces and truly wish for him to be the first director to win three Palme d'Or.

Most unusual/strange/odd comment comes from finding Sia's Chandelier is in a Haneke movie! Then you have iconic tweet by Kyle Buchanan that reads as follows: "Michael Haneke is 75 and his new film has Instagram Live, YouTubers, Facebook chat about piss play, *and* Sia. When will your elderly faves?"

Lines to get in at first press screening were long, second screening are longer ... some saying not seen in Cannes since Carol by Todd Haynes lines.

Press Reactions
Film critics I know tend to have positive reactions; but in general, film divided opinions.
-Michael Haneke's Happy End is a satirical nightmare of European prosperity - stark, brilliant and unforgiving as a halogen light. Peter Bradshaw-The Guardian,UK
-Haneke's HAPPY END: Cinema of despair at its finest, including the most depressing karaoke scene in film history. Eric Kohn-indiewire, USA
-Michael Haneke has made a serious bid for his third Palme d'Or with insidious family drama Happy End. It grips and never lets go. TotalFilm, USA
-'Happy End' is the film I wanted Haneke to make after 'Amour.' A unique & original vision that demands every frame 2 be studied. Jordan Ruimy-The Playlist, USA
-Haneke's HAPPY END talks back to all his previous films while existing starkly in the here and now. Career epilogue?Final film? Dave Calhoun-TimeOut, London
-Happy End: the sweet agony of Michael Haneke. Who else could keep you engrossed in a story about suicide, social media& family? Alicia Malone-FilmStruck, USA
-HAPPY END de Michael Haneke es como un pastiche de sí mismo; o resumen de su obra, que no suene mal. También frío, pero eso no es novedad. Ricardo Aldarondo, Spain.
-Haneke's HAPPY END. A perplexing meditation on the bourgeois nightmare. Wilfully lacks a centre. Uncurls like a snake. Donald Clarke-The Irish Times, Ireland
-Plus aride et déspéré que jamais, #Haneke filme un monde déjà mort. TroisColeurs, France
-Happy End. Un Haneke menor con aires de 'greatest hits'. Y aun así, tiene su fuerza. Como un diesel, arranca lento y contamina mucho. Alex Vicente-El Pais, Spain

LOVE press reactions as on the surface they're controversial and that's exactly what I was expecting: controversy, division, incredulity as IF everyone was in accord on the extreme positive or the extreme negative THEN I'll be really worry. Michael Haneke is complex, not easy to digest and seems his latest film has his unique filmmaking style. There was one tweet that say something smart, goes something like this: will sleep tonight, probably will dream about it but tomorrow will try to separate the many films I saw today in one Haneke film. Brilliant!!!

Official Selection

Competition

Le Redoutable by Michel Hazanavicius
I'm not ignorant about Godard's life story, so it's no surprise that most people find a story about him not pleasant to watch. Still this is a film that probably will see because of the lead actor as really do not like films by the director.

Press Reactions
Reactions tend to go to the not positive side of the scale but there are some film elements that find their way into a more positive reception. Most interesting to find that reactions in the English-language tend to be a lot more positive than in French.
- ... [positive words] ... Only hardcore Godardians -a pretty unforgiving bunch- would reject it out of hand. Jonathan Romney-Screendaily, UK (LOL!!!)
-Pétillant, drôle, inspiré, inattendu.L'audace de Hazanavicius et la perf de Garrel.Grand8 passionnant sur Godard. Alexandre Caporal, Switzerland
-Plaisant et léger #LeRedoutable. Louis Garrel est un sérieux candidat au prix d'interprétation masculine. Mehdi Omaïs, France
-Comédie pop, (auto)portrait d'un réalisateur égocentrique #leredoutable confirme surtout que Louis Garrel est un acteur comique qui s'ignore. Yannick Vely - ParisMatch, France
-Amusante utilisation des tics filmiques de JLG pour un portrait vif et léger, clin d'oeil aux cinéphiles, qui tourne à vide. David Verhaeghe-TF1, France
-Si ya odiaba a Hazanavicius por 'The Artist', con 'Le redoutable' se ha ganado mi absoluto desprecio; un verdadero cáncer del cine... Hans Lucas.

Another film with various artists competing for the Cannes Soundtrack award.

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) by Noah Baumbach
Perhaps the most interesting news about this film come from an American film critic reaction: ... "Won't Be An Oscar Contender" apparently because is good as some call it "Best Baumbach" until now with "great" performances by Sandler (!?) and Stiller. (LOL!!!) Truth that besides Emma Thompson, I'm no fan of any one related to film and say something nice about Baumbach, let me share that I sort tolerate his movies where Greta Gerwig is the lead. Sigh.

But since film will be available to the world on the same day (with NO Windows) there are chances that will watch it. (lol).

To be fair there are reports that Adam Sandler performance "drew glowing reviews ... and even buzz about a best actor prize" even when critics "sniffed when Hollywood funnyman got invited to Cannes". Film gets positive reviews and some claim is Netflix best, commenting that seems Netflix is getting very discerning about content. So, seems is a good movie after all.

Press Reactions
- Noah Baumbach made a Kore-Eda movie and it's as sweet and prickly and sad as you might expect. Emily Yoshida-Vulture, USA
-Wow, Adam Sandler might actually belong in Cannes ... it remains hugely frustrating how great he can be when he's not making Adam Sandler movies. The Wrap
-Kind of love that Adam Sandler is so rarely as great as he is in 'The Meyerowitz Stories', because when he is it feels so revelatory. Robbie Collin-Daily Telegraph, UK
-Noah Baumbach’s latest boasts smart writing and a strong ensemble cast, but it’s Stiller who steals the show with a remarkable display of emotion ... is a family comedy on familiar lines, but with real warmth and charm. Peter Bradshaw-The Guardian, UK
-Baumbach has out-baumbached himself in #MeyerowitzStories. Very neurotic, quick-talk NY crazy. It's a love or hate kinda thing. Beatrice Behn-Kino Zeit, Berlin

Cannes Soundtrack award says today:
First time in film competition for Noah Baumbach with The Meyerowitz Stories, the film follows a crisis-riddled siblings gathered round the decline father. Baumbach is a part of american director's new generation. Randy Newman, famous and prestigious composer, gave music to this satirical comedy.

Out of Competition
How to Talk to Girls at Parties by John Cameron Mitchell
Most surprising photo of the day is film photocall with NO Nicole Kidman!!! Where is she? Oh! Yes she is in the red carpet, which is live right now, Kidman and Fanning look like mother and child (!). Have to say that love JCM look, he's very peculiar/particular but not only in cinema events, loved him in his The Good Fight stint as Milo Yiannopoulos. Great!

Believe Cameron Mitchell films are an acquired taste and definitively are not for general audiences, as tend to be quite image and narrative playful and well, even grotesque which easily generates cult following. Nevertheless, his films are quite fun to watch if you do not take them too seriously.

Press Reactions
-Thumbs up for How To Talk To Girls at Parties. It’s like Sing Street with punks, aliens and colour-coded latex. Top tunes too. Jordan Farley-TotalFilm, UK
-Totally bonkers w/ splashes of zany B-camp sci-fi entertaining ridiculousness. Original & fun! Nikola Grozdanovic-The Plalylist, USA

Un Certain Regard
Fortunata by Sergio Castellito
Cannes 2017 has not much Italian films but I'm glad Sergio Castellito's film made it to the Official Selection as I do like his films and this one in particular has a cast that I like. Besides story seems like a slice of life, a style that nowadays seems to be disappearing but that I highly enjoy as stimulates your imagination -if you wish- to see the before and after. Yes, surely will watch this film.

Press Reactions
-Sergio Castellito filme amoureusement la sublime Jasmine Trinca. Hélas, récit convenu et parfois artificiel. Mehdi Omais-TroisColeurs, France
-Bravisima "Fortunata" de Sergio Castellito. Odisea de madre coraje y su hija hacia la libertad de ser ellas mismas. Un disfrute. Nacho Gonzalo-Spain

Sanpo suru shinryakusha (Before We Vanish) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Yes I'm interested in film basically because I like director's films, even when is another alien invasion film and no matter the critic's reactions that tend to be mixed.

Press Reactions
-The new k. Kurosawa was a bizarre, sometimes grotesque and surprisingly poetic. Cesar del Giudice
-commence très très fort mais se perd un peu en chemin pour finir dans une certaine mièvrerie. #cannes2017 Dommage! Christophe Grosjean, France
-Kurosawa fait son Body Snatchers conceptuel, intéressant même si pas toujours réussi. Nicolas Lemerle-Romania

Special Screenings
Keul-le-eo-ui ka-me-la (Claire's Camera) by Hong Sangsoo
Film was made last year while director and actors were in Cannes; so just for this fact is interesting as undoubtedly will reflect peculiar and particular director's style. Then Isabelle Huppert is the lead and no suprise, I see everything with her in it. Unsurprisingly most reviews are on the very positive side with a few slightly negative coming mainly from Spain's film critics.

Press Reactions
-A short and sweet divertissement with a few profound punchlines. Deborah Young-THR, USA
-A big laugh greets Isabelle Huppert's first line in Hong Sang-Soo's CLAIRE'S CAMERA: "I've never been to Cannes before!" Caspar Salmon, UK
-is HSS at his silliest. Features Huppert saying she's never been to Cannes and Y&Y poster. A delight, obviously. tanni Erdmann, US
-Hong Sangsoo reunited with Huppert in a Cannes-set funny film with some downer moments, of course. Mikko Pihkoluoma, Finland
-és un dels Hong Sangsoo que donen menys joc. Un divertiment cannoise catàrtic amb Isabelle Huppert de guest star. Eulàlia Iglesias Huix‏, Barcelona,Spain
-Decepcionante regreso de Hong Sang-soo, pero con algún diálogo de antología y reflexión sobre poder transformador de imagen. Alex Vicente-El Pais, Spain

Also in Special Screenings: Napalm by Claude Lanzmann and Carré 35 (Plot 35) by Eric Caravaca (which got very positive reviews and makes it top contender for L'oeil d'Or award).

Midnight Screenings
Today Ak-Nyeo (The Villainess) by Jung Byung-gil.

Cannes Classics
Masterclass by Clint Eastwood
Człowiek z żelaza by Andrej Wajda
David Stratton - A Cinematic Life by Sally Aitken (documentary)

Cinema de la Plage: Special Event - M in Concert (Matthieu Chedid) who is presenting his new album "ÎL" EST UNE ÂME, le Baptême de LAMOMALI accompanied by Toumani & Sidiki Diabaté, the singer Fatoumata Diawara and the Afro Pop Orchestra.

Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
Today a film by one director I enjoy Amos Gitai but this time he's in Cannes with a documentary, a film by a director that not sure I like his films (don't understand his humor) and the perspective of watching a musical is not attractive for me, and last

Still Dumont's film has very positive reactions (between Dreyer and Metallica), Amos Gitai's doc also tends to get positive reviews (Gitai weaves together a surprisingly uplifting ode to tolerance and peace) and de Fontenay film is called "hidden gem" by THR. So maybe eventually could give films a try. Sigh.

Jeannette l'Enfance de Jeanne d'Arc (Jeannette the Childhood of Joan of Arc) by Bruno Dumont
Mobile Homes by Vladimir de Fontenay
West of the Jordan River (Field Diary Revisited) by Amos Gitai

Semaine de la Critique
Gabriel e a Montanha (Gabriel and the Mountain) by Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa
Not positive reviews for Gamarano's film "wandering toward a dead end" but as we now section has always "strange" films. Also today short films from the Special Screenings section.

News
-Costa-Gavras wins the Prix France Culture Consécration for his lifetime work; Sébastien Laudenbach wins the Prix France Culture Cinéma des Etudiants and Rudi Rosenberg wins Prix International Students Award UniFrance/France Culture. To learn more about the awards given today go to official site here, available only in French.
-Yesterday Elle Fanning Presented Ginger and Rosa At the L’Oreal Paris Cinema Club in Cannes.
-The Short Film Corner will open tomorrow, Monday 22nd and short films screenings will start to happen.
-Tonight is the Women in Motion soirée where Isabelle Huppert will receive the third Women in Motion award.
-Chopard names up-and-coming talent Trophy Award winners: Anya Taylor-Joy and George MacKay. The will receive the award from Charlize Theron at tomorrow night at the Martinez hotel.

Irreverent News
-Last night was the Vanity Fair and HBO diner party plus the afterwards part hosted by Vanity Fair and chopard at the magnificent Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, there are some interesting photos that perhaps should share.
-Today there is the Ace of Spades and Three Six Zero Entertainment party at Les Hauts de Saint Julien which looks the perfect place for a Sunday afternoon, sigh. Nice photos around the usual sites.
-Today, Brittany Snow cuts the red ribbon to open the American Pavillion at Cannes.

Photos

Red carpet duo, Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman