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Showing posts from April, 2019

27th L'ACID Selection

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ACID (Association for the Distribution of Independent Cinema) is a film directors association that has been promoting the distribution of independent cinema in movie theaters since 1992.  Their founding principle: the support brought by filmmakers to other filmmakers, French or foreign. ACID filmmakers follow their love for film and wish to give visibility to directors whose work is scarcely distributed,  in order to facilitate a theatrical release. The ACID program at Cannes International Film Festival was created in 1993. Films are chosen by fifteen or so filmmakers, members of the association.   The following are the filmmakers who chose the current selection. Sylvie Ballyot, Aurélia Barbet, Marta Bergman, Michaël Dacheux, Marina Déak, Delphine Deloget, Jean-Louis Gonnet, Diego Governatori, Hanna Ladoul, Marco La Via, Vladimir Perišić, Clément Schneider, Idir Serghine, Christian Sonderegger, Laure Vermeersch. The ACID program is shown at Palais des festivals...

51st Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Selection

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Yesterday organizers announced the selection to the pleasant surprise of many as includes many of the 2019 most expected films by extraordinary master filmmakers.  Great. Before getting into the list, a few words about the poster.  Both naturalistic and transfigured, photographer Robert Schlaug's picture evokes a road to travel as well as an acceleration, an eye movement.  Between realism and digital artifact, the artist's intervention disrupts codes and questions our perception, recalling the spirit of the films presented over the last 50 years bye de Directors' Fortnight. There are three Virtual Reality installations by Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang: called Go Where You Look! Falling Off Snow Mountain; the installation has three pieces Aloft, Chalkroom and To The Moon.  Both Aloft and Chalkroom are currently installed in MASS MoCA in North Adams Massachusetts. Under its Italian title “La Camera Insabbiata” it won the award for “Best VR Experience” at the Ve...

58th Semaine de la Critique Selection

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A few minutes ago organizers announced via social media the Festival de Cannes parallel section that always has unconventional films to say the least.  As of this moment the info is available only in French but imagine soon will be available in English. Update: all info is available in English too! The Poster Before diving into the selection will share info about the magnificent poster showcasing Félix Maritaud - winner of the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award - in a photo by Aurélie Lamachère in collaboration with les bons faiseurs agency. Shot during the blue hour, the actor is one with the disturbing love-hungry character he embodies in Sauvage, Camille Vidal-Naquet’s first feature, which competed in the 2018 edition of La Semaine de la Critique.  Félix Maritaud plays Léo with candid animalistic energy; almost graceful, he’s an angel haunted by his demons. The Jury Also interesting is this year jury president as is none other than Ciro Guerra, whom is a newcommer ...

#Cannes2019 Press Conference

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In about 30 minutes the much-awaited Festival de Cannes press conference will take place and finally all gossip/buzz will be put to sleep when the Official Selection lineup becomes known.  There are many great films that hope will make it to the competition as will give the festival the glitz that much needs after last year's Biennale stole much of it by allowing ALL films to compete and giving top award to a film that highly deserved to be seen by the whole world and not only a few cinephiles.  Sigh. Anyway let's hope for the best.  Here are the two versions as sometimes is really annoying to hear the translation ... In English In French

2019 La Fabrique Cinéma de l'Institut Français

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A few days back organizers announced that none other than Mira Nair will be the patron of the 2019 edition.  The following is what she said. I was at Cannes for the world premiere of my film Salaam Bombay! [in 1988] - we won the Audience Award and the Golden Camera Award. I remember so many things about that film, but most of all that it was a life-and-death situation. It was almost impossible to make; we had no money. We would shoot all day and for every shot, we would have at least a thousand people watching the shoot. I would come home tired, to my flat, which I shared with several cast and crew members who also didn’t have a place to go at night. It was like a railway station. I would be up all night, on the phone with financiers and producers trying to raise money, sometimes for the next day of shooting. Fast forward to today - to have films and artists from places like Bangladesh, Rwanda, India, Tunisia and so many others is exciting. For me to be able to share with them what...

#Cannes2019 Poster and Signatures

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Festival official poster has been unveiled and contrary to insistent rumors it has NOT Alain Delon in photo but none other than outstanding director Agnès Varda when she was 26-years-old in a behind the scenes photo from La Pointe Courte. Below it's the original photo that generated a fabulous composition for the poster with hot colors in the background.  My only problem with poster is the division of CAN and NES, which is a big No-No in branding.  Anyway, montage and design was done Fore Maquin, signatures created by Philippe Savoir (Filifox), and photo owner is Agnès Varda and her children. The official graphic design presentation has the following rationale. Agnès, in the bright sunlight. All the way up. As high as she could go. Perched on the shoulders of an impassive technician. Clinging to a camera, which seems to absorb her entirely. A young woman, aged 26, making her first film. It's August 1954: we are in the Pointe Courte neighborhood of Sète, in the South of France....