Here Comes Cannes 2012

The first edition of the Cannes International Film Festival (CIFF) was originally set to be held in Cannes in 1939 under the presidency of Louis Lumière. However, it was not until over a year after World War II ended that it finally took place, September 20, 1946. It was subsequently held every September – except in 1948 and 1950 – and then every May from 1952 onwards.

This year is the 65th Cannes IFF Anniversary Edition. It will run from May 16 through May 27th. Among those who mainly are associated with American motion pictures and who are expected to walk the red carpet are: Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn and Matthew McConaughey.

The full line-up for the Festival's Jury, who will judge the 22 motion pictures in competition is: French actress Emmanuelle Devos; German actress Diane Kruger; French designer Jean Paul Gaultier; British actor Ewan McGregor; American director, scriptwriter and producer Alexander Payne; and Haitian director, scriptwriter and producer Raoul Peck.

The Competition Jury will be presided over by Italian director, actor and producer, Nanni Moretti. The task of selecting the best new filmmaker falls to Brazilian filmmaker Carlos Diegues, head of the jury for the Camera d'Or.

President Gilles Jacob, and artistic director Thierry Fremaux, announced the official selection of films in competition, which will include a stronger showing from the U.S. this year than last. Some of the films in competition are from: David Cronenberg (Crash, 1996), Lee Daniels (Precious, 2009), Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes the Barley, 2006) and Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon, 2009).

Veteran French filmmaker Alain Resnais, who is approaching 90, will bring a new film, You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet (Vous N’avez encore rien vu), an adaptation of Jean Anouilh’s Eurydice from Greek mythology, starring Marion Cotillard and Cannes veteran Mathieu Amalric. Resnais won his fourth Palm d'Or in 2009 for Wild Grass.

 LIST OF FILMS IN COMPETITION

MOONRISE KINGDOM

Two-time Oscar nominated director Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom will open the 65th Anniversary Edition Wednesday, May 16, the opening night of competition. Anderson's previous films include: The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Rushmore. The Moonrise Kingdom cast includes Kara Hayward, Jared Gilman, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartzman, Harvey Keitel and Bob Balaban. Music by Alexandre Desplat, who was nominated for an Oscar for The King's Speech, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Queen.

Focus Features has acquired the world wide rights to Moonrise Kingdom.  It opens in the U. S. in select theaters May 25th.

French director Claude Miller

Thérèse Desqueyroux (a.k.a., Thérèse D ), a 2012 adaptation of the novel by François Mauriac, the final movie directed by the late French director Claude Miller (20 February 1942 – 4 April 2012), will close the festival Sunday, May 27th. A previous adaptation of the novel was filmed in 1962. No release date in the U.S. has been announced.

Miller, film producer, writer and director, was 70 when he died. His principal mentor was my late friend, French director François Truffaut. The movie features Audrey Tautou in the title role as well as Gilles Lellouche and Anaïs Demoustier. A release date in the U.S. has not been announced. READ MORE

 

Every year, the Cannes Film Festival invites prominent figures from the world of cinema to give “Masterclasses,” Chiefly focusing on directing. Previous directors have included Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Wong Kar-wai, etc. from time to time, the Masterclasses explore other aspects of film-making other than directing.

Masterclasses for the 65th anniversary will be given by Philip Kaufman, Alexandre Desplat and Norman Lloyd (above). Each speak about their work at the Buñuel Theatre followed by a Q&A with the audience.

Sean Penn

The Festival de Cannes will present "Haiti: Carnival in Cannes," a benefit event presented by Giorgio Armani in support of Sean Penn’s J/P HRO, Paul Haggis’ Artists for Peace and Justice and Petra Nemcova’s Happy Heart’s Fund for their united and extraordinary fund raising work in Haiti.

That gala evening, presented by Giorgio Armani, will feature a dinner Friday, May 18th at the Festival Agora. The funds raised at the gala will benefit all three charities and help them to bring sustainable programs to the Haitian people quickly and effectively.

A Haitian show entitled “Carnival in Cannes” will present a concert of authentic RaRa and Racine music, created with the RAM band, Haiti's leading Racine group, brought in for the occasion from Haiti. The event will be co-sponsored by Chopard.

Festival Site in English

Toronto Audience Award is PRECIOUS

PRECIOUS, the movie that won the top prize plus the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, was awarded the Cadillac Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) yesterday.

Other than recognizing some films, such as Canadian ones, this is the only major award the festival bestows as it is a non-competitive festival. This award is not only sponsored by Cadillac, it is considered the Cadillac of audience awards. Last year's winner was SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Other notable winners include, AMERICAN BEAUTY and CHARIOTS OF FIRE.

Based on the novel 'Push' by a former Harlem educator who writes under the name of Sapphire, the movie was originally titled PUSH and won at Sundance under that name. However, it arrived at Toronto with a new name, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE.

PRECIOUS was accepted at Toronto IFF with not much else than the strength of the novel and the wins at Sundance going for it, except it had some heavy hitters behind it. Among them is Lionsgate, the production / distribution company based in Vancouver, Canada, plus executive producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. Both Perry and Winfrey attended the Festival as chief cheerleaders.

PRECIOUS also has some other heavyweight names involved. It is directed by Lee Daniels, who produced MONSTERS BALL and directed SHADOWBOXER, with a screenplay adapted by Geoffrey Fletcher. It stars Mariah Carey and Mo'Nique in supporting roles, the latter winning the Sundance Special Jury Award for her portrayal of the abusive mother.

Both the comedienne Mo'Nique and singer Carey play against type. Carey is said to have worn no makeup in the movie. Mary J. Blige contributed a song to the soundtrack, and author Sapphire has a minor part.

The lead character is played by an unknown actress from Harlem, Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe, who plays Clareece "Precious" Jones, a 16-year-old Harlem girl, an overweight illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child. Both pregnancies are the result of Precious having been raped by her father.

Precious is also repeatedly beaten by her mother. When she is invited to enroll in an alternative school she gains hope that her life can head in a new direction, but the road is not altogether the yellow brick road to Oz for which she has wished.

The movies LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and JUNO were each named "the little movie that could go all the way" after their wins at Sundance, and they did. PUSH, now called PRECIOUS, has been similarly annointed. With this important win at Toronto, it now is at the front of all the movies chugging uphill in quest of an Academy Award®.

The 47th New York Film Festival opens this Friday night, 25th, and PRECIOUS: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire is this year's Centerpiece Film, one of the most prestigious spots in the Festival's lineup. The current questions are, "Will PRECIOUS gain more distance from the pack at the New York Film Festival?" and "With the new expanded 10-nominee format for Best Picture, will PRECIOUS make the list?"

I can't guess the NYFF prospect, but I can hazard a guess that the answer to the last question is, "Yes." The movie's tagline is: "Life is hard. Life is short. Life is painful. Life is rich. Life is....Precious." With a tagline like that, Oprah and the others, can it possibly miss?