Cannes Film Festival

 Lambert Wilson

French actor Lambert Wilson has been announced as the Master of Ceremony for 67th Festival de Cannes.  Lambert Wilson will have the honor of launching the festival on Wednesday 14th, in addition to welcoming the President Jane Campion and her jury on to the stage at the Palais des Festivals, and hosting the prize-giving ceremony on Saturday 24th May.

Previous master/mistress of ceremony include Audrey TAUTOU, who was given the honor last year, Vincent CASSEL (2006) and Edouard BAER (2008 and 2009).

 Who is Lambert Wilson? He has worked with some of the great names in French cinema, from André Téchiné to Benoît Jacquot, and from Bertrand Tavernier to Alain Resnais.

His numerous collaborations with Resnais, including Same Old Song, Not on the Lips, Private Fears in Public Places and You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet which enabled him to combine two of his passions: the stage and the screen, in a cinematographic genre that was one of a kind, and unique to Resnais.

He made his first appearance in Cannes in 1985, with Rendez-vous, by André Téchiné, in which he acted alongside a young débutante named Juliette Binoche. He then returned on several occasions to the Selection, both as an actor and as President of the Jury of Un Certain Regard (1999). 

On the international scene, he distinguished himself with his portrayal of the “Merovingian” in the The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions in 2003.

In 2010, during the 63rd Festival de Cannes, the cinema world was deeply moved by his performance in Xavier Beauvois’ Of Gods and Men, which picked up that year’s Grand Prix du Jury and for which, a few months later, he would be nominated at the César for Best Actor.

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The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival will be presided over by Abbas Kiarostami (Iran), and includes directors Noémie Lvovsky (France), Daniela Thomas (Brazil),  Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad), and Joachim Trier (Norway). They will be tasked with awarding three prizes to films submitted by students from film schools the world over, which will be presented in the Cinéfondation Selection. 

Abbas Kiarostami, the Iranian director and screenwriter, is one of the greatest directors of contemporary cinema. After rising to international fame with Où est la maison de mon ami ? (1987), Abbas KIAROSTAMI has since presented a number of his films at the Festival de Cannes, including five in Competition: Through the Olive Trees (1994), Taste of Cherry (Palme d’or 1997),  Ten (2002),  Certified Copy (2010) and Like Someone in Love (2012). He is also known for his photography work. He has been interested in the Cinéfondation since its creation in 1998, when he agreed to be a patron of the project alongside Martin SCORSESE.

Noémie Lvovsky, the French director, screenwriter and actress, directed Oublie-moi in 1994, her first feature film, imbued with off-beat humour. She then directed Petites (1997), La Vie ne me fait pas peur (1999), Les Sentiments (2003) and wrote the screenplays for several films by Valeria BRUNI TEDESCHI, Arnaud DESPLECHIN and Philippe GARREL. In 2012, she directed Camille redouble, which was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight and garnered 13 nominations for the César. It met with resounding public and critical acclaim.

Daniela Thomas, the Brazilian director and visual artist, is famed throughout the theatre world for her scenography. In the cinema, she has worked in partnership with Walter SALLES on Terra Estrangeira (1997) and O Primeiro Dia (1998) and the pair also directed Linha de Passe, presented in Competition at the Festival de Cannes in 2008.

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, the Chadian director, took refuge in France, where he studies film and works as a journalist. His first film, Bye Bye Africa, reaped a prize in Venice while Abouna was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight in 2002. He rose to prominence as a director with Daratt, which garnered an award in Venice in 2006.A Screaming Man was presented in Competition at the Festival de Cannes in 2010, where it picked up the Jury Prize. In 2013, he was once again In Competition with Grigris.

Joachim Trier is a young Norwegian director. After his first critically acclaimed film, Reprise (2006), he wrote and directed Oslo, 31 August, a subtle exploration of the problems faced by his generation. Selected for Un Certain Regard in 2011, his talents became known to a much wider audience.

via: Cannes Film Festival
images (l to r):  Abbas Kiarostami (Iran), Noémie Lvovsky (France), Daniela Thomas (Brazil), Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad), and Joachim Trier (Norway)

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French director Olivier Dahan’s GRACE OF MONACO starring Nicole Kidman, has been selected to open the next Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday May 14, 2014, in the Official Selection category, Out of Competition. GRACE DE MONACO sees Nicole Kidman play the role of Grace, with Tim Roth as Prince Rainier. Their co-stars include Frank Langella, Parker Posey, Jeanne Balibar, Sir Derek Jacobi and Paz Vega, who plays Maria Callas. 

The film portrays a period in the life of American Actress Grace Kelly (played by Nicole Kidman) who became Princess Grace of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier III (Tim Roth) in 1956, in what was dubbed “the marriage of the century”. An Oscar winner, she was already a huge film star, having worked with the very greatest (John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, Fred Zinnemann) and acclaimed the world over. Six years later, amid occasional difficulties in fulfilling her role, she was invited back to Hollywood by Alfred Hitchcock, to play in his new film Marnie. At the time, France was threatening to tax and even annex Monaco, the tiny Principality whose monarch Kelly had become. Was she still an actress? Was she really Princess of Monaco?

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New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion and the only woman to win the coveted Palme d’Or, will head the jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the organizers announced Tuesday. “I am truly honored to join with the Cannes Film Festival as President of the ‘in Competition’ features for 2014,” said Campion in a statement. “To tell the truth I can’t wait,” added Campion who succeeds last year’s jury head Steven Spielberg. Campion who won the Palme d’Or for “The Piano” in 1993 also holds the distinction as the only double winner, her short “Peel” having picked up the top prize in that category in 1986.

The 67th Cannes film festival will run from May 14 to 25, 2014.

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The 67th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will be held May 14 to 25, 2014.

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FRUITVALE STATION by Ryan Coogler won the AVENIR PRIZE in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.  FRUITVALE STATION originally named FRUITVALE won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award earlier this year at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The film will be released July 26 by The Weinstein Company.

FRUITVALE STATION, is the true story of Oscar (Michael B. Jordan) , a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who wakes up on the morning of December 31, 2008 and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions: being a better son to his mother, whose birthday falls on New Year’s Eve, being a better partner to his girlfriend, who he hasn’t been completely honest with as of late, and being a better father to T, their beautiful 4 year old daughter. He starts out well, but as the day goes on, he realizes that change is not going to come easy. He crosses paths with friends, family, and strangers, each exchange showing us that there is much more to Oscar than meets the eye. But it would be his final encounter of the day, with police officers at the Fruitvale BART station that would shake the Bay Area to its very core, and cause the entire nation to be witnesses to the story of Oscar Grant. 

Trailer below…

http://youtu.be/CxUG-FjefDk

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The Coen brothers – Ethan COEN and Joel COEN newest film, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS won the Grand Prix Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS follows a week in the life of a young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is at a crossroads. Guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving New York winter, he is struggling to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles-some of them of his own making.

Trailer below.

http://youtu.be/R4GGOXkY5CI 

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[caption id="attachment_3983" align="alignnone" width="550"]BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR[/caption]

BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (La Vie d’Adèle – Chapitre 1 & 2) by Abdellatif Kechiche won the biggest prize – Palme d’or of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

After receiving his award from American actress Uma Thurman, Abdellatif Kechiche,  accompanied by his two actresses, declared: “I want to remind everyone of a man who helped me find my way, who I love and who I miss: Claude Berri. I want to dedicate this prize and this film to the wonderful young people of France who I met while making this film and who taught me so much about the hope for freedom and of living in harmony together. And to the young people who, not so long ago, lived through the Tunisian revolution, so as to inspire them to live in freedom, express themselves in freedom and love in freedom.”

BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR tells the story of Adele (Adèle EXARCHOPOULOS) who at 15, doesn’t question it: a girl goes out with boys. Her life is turned upside down the night she meets Emma (Léa SEYDOUX), a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

The complete list of winners include

Palme d’Or
LA VIE D’ADÈLE – CHAPITRE 1 & 2 (Blue Is The Warmest Color) by Abdellatif KECHICHE with Adèle EXARCHOPOULOS & Léa SEYDOUX

Grand Prix
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS by Ethan COEN and Joel COEN 

Award for Best Director
Amat ESCALANTE for HELI  

Jury Prize
SOSHITE CHICHI NI NARU (Like Father, Like Son / Tel Père, Tel Fils) by KORE-EDA Hirokazu 

Award for Best Screenplay
JIA Zhangke for TIAN ZHU DING (A Touch Of Sin)

Award for Best Actress
Bérénice BEJO in LE PASSÉ (The Past) by Asghar FARHADI 

Award for Best Actor
Bruce DERN in NEBRASKA by Alexander PAYNE 

SHORT FILMS 

Palme d’Or
SAFE by MOON Byoung-gon 

Special Mention – tie
HVALFJORDUR (Whale Valley / Le Fjord des Baleines) by Gudmundur Arnar GUDMUNDSSON
37°4 S by Adriano VALERIO

CAMERA D’OR 
ILO ILO by Anthony CHEN presented in the Directors’ Fortnight

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[caption id="attachment_3978" align="alignnone" width="550"](L’IMAGE MANQUANTE) The Missing Picture[/caption]

THE MISSING PICTURE (L’IMAGE MANQUANTE) by Rithy Panh won the top prize, PRIZE OF UN CERTAIN REGARD, in the Un Certain Regard section at 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The auto-biographical film is set during the Khmer Rouge dictatorial rule of Cambodia in the late 1970’s and Panh’s failure to find “missing pictures” to document the proof of mass murders and other atrocities against his family. Since there is no proof, hence the “missing pictures,” the director tells the story using using hundreds of artfully carved clay figures to represent his family.

Complete list of winners:

PRIZE OF UN CERTAIN REGARD
THE MISSING PICTURE by Rithy PANH
 
JURY PRIZE
OMAR by Hany ABU-ASSAD
     
DIRECTING PRIZE
Alain GUIRAUDIE for STRANGER BY THE LAKE
 
A CERTAIN TALENT PRIZE
For the ensemble cast of LA JAULA DE ORO by Diego QUEMADA-DIEZ
 
AVENIR PRIZE
FRUITVALE STATION by Ryan COOGLER 

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NEEDLE directed by Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA, won First Prize of The Cinéfondation Selection at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The Cinéfondation Selection consisted of 18 student films, chosen out of nearly 1 550 entries coming from 277 film schools around the world. As part of the winning prizes, the First Prize winner, Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, is also guaranteed that his first feature film will be presented at the Cannes Film Festival.

In NEEDLE, Young Lilly played by Florence Winners is going to get her ears pierced. A quarrel between her parents overwhelms the situation and directs it differently.

The complete list of winners of The Cinéfondation Selection at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

First Prize:
NEEDLE directed by Anahita Ghazvinizadeh
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA

Second Prize:
WAITING FOR THE THAW (En attendant le dégel) directed by Sarah Hirtt
INSAS, Belgium

Third Prize ex-aequo: 
ÎN ACVARIU (In the Fishbowl) directed by Tudor Cristian JURGIU 
UNATC, Romania

Joint Third Prize: 
PANDY (Pandas) directed by Matúš VIZÁR
FAMU, Czech Republic

 

Needle – Trailer from Anahita Ghazvinizadeh on Vimeo.

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Jim Jarmusch’s “ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE,” which had its world premiere at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in the In Competition section is headed to U.S. theaters, via Sony Pictures Classics.

Starring Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt, Anton Yelchin and Jeffrey Wright, “ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE” takes place against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier and follows an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, who reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister.

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Clio Barnard’s THE SELFISH GIANT which made its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at this year’s 2013 Cannes Film Festival will be released in the US by Sundance Selects.

THE SELFISH GIANT, written and directed by Barnard (THE ARBOR), stars Conner Chapman, Shaun Thomas and Sean Gilder, and is described as a contemporary fable about a thirteen-year-old boy named Arbor (Chapman) and his best friend Swifty (Thomas). Excluded from school and outsiders in their own neighborhood, the two boys meet Kitten (Gilder), a local scrapdealer.  They begin collecting scrap metal for him using a horse and cart.  Swifty has a natural gift with horses while Arbor emulates Kitten – keen to impress him and make some money.  However, Kitten begins to favor Swifty, leaving Arbor feeling hurt and excluded, driving a wedge between the boys.  Tensions build, leading to a tragic event, which transforms them all.

This marks the third film from Cannes Film Festival that Sundance Selects will release in the U.S., including writer-director François Ozon’s Competition title YOUNG & BEAUTIFUL with a star-making turn from actress Marine Vacth and Abdellatif Kechiche’s BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR, also playing in the Competition section

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