Directors' Fortnight speaks fluent French
PARIS -- The Directors' Fortnight will have a decidedly Gallic flavor as it celebrates its 40th anniversary in Cannes this year, with more than half its 22 titles produced or co-produced by France and just one title hailing from the U.S.
The sidebar will open with Jerzy Skolimowski's Franco-Polish co-production Four Nights With Anna.
Bertrand Bonello's De la Guerre (On War) will bring Mathieu Amalric and Asia Argento back to the Croisette after a high-profile presence at last year's fest.
Claire Simon's Les Bureaux de Dieu explores women's sexual freedom at a family planning center and stars festival veteran Nathalie Baye alongside Nicole Garcia, Beatrice Dalle and Isabelle Carre.
Other all-French productions include Cannes newcomer Nicola Sornaga's Monsieur Morimoto and Croisette vets Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu's Le Voyage aux Pyrenees.
French-language films include Algerian director Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche's Le Dernier Maquis and a pair of France-Belgium co-productions from Belgian helmers: Bouli Lanners with Eldorado and Joachim Lafosse with Eleve Libre.
French minority co-productions include Filipino director Raya Martin's Now Showing and Iranian Saman Salour's Lonely Tune of Tehran.
"This simply demonstrates the strong presence of French producers all over the world. Does the fact that a film has a French producer take away its nationality? I don't think so," artistic director Olivier Pere said in an interview.
The U.S. is conspicuous by its absence in this year's Fortnight, with only Josh Safdie's whimsical first feature, closing night film The Pleasure of Being Robbed, programmed in the main selection.
Among the special screenings and events scheduled to celebrate the parallel sidebar's 40th anniversary is the May 18 unspooling of director Olivier Jahan's 40x15, a history of the sidebar produced by Gaul's MK2.
The sidebar will open with Jerzy Skolimowski's Franco-Polish co-production Four Nights With Anna.
Bertrand Bonello's De la Guerre (On War) will bring Mathieu Amalric and Asia Argento back to the Croisette after a high-profile presence at last year's fest.
Claire Simon's Les Bureaux de Dieu explores women's sexual freedom at a family planning center and stars festival veteran Nathalie Baye alongside Nicole Garcia, Beatrice Dalle and Isabelle Carre.
Other all-French productions include Cannes newcomer Nicola Sornaga's Monsieur Morimoto and Croisette vets Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu's Le Voyage aux Pyrenees.
French-language films include Algerian director Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche's Le Dernier Maquis and a pair of France-Belgium co-productions from Belgian helmers: Bouli Lanners with Eldorado and Joachim Lafosse with Eleve Libre.
French minority co-productions include Filipino director Raya Martin's Now Showing and Iranian Saman Salour's Lonely Tune of Tehran.
"This simply demonstrates the strong presence of French producers all over the world. Does the fact that a film has a French producer take away its nationality? I don't think so," artistic director Olivier Pere said in an interview.
The U.S. is conspicuous by its absence in this year's Fortnight, with only Josh Safdie's whimsical first feature, closing night film The Pleasure of Being Robbed, programmed in the main selection.
Among the special screenings and events scheduled to celebrate the parallel sidebar's 40th anniversary is the May 18 unspooling of director Olivier Jahan's 40x15, a history of the sidebar produced by Gaul's MK2.
- 4/25/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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