14/04/2011

A surprising generational and stylistic head-to-head is in store for the competition at the 64th Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22, 2011), whose official selection was unveiled at midday today in Paris by delegate general Thierry Frémaux. Indeed, 19 titles are screening in competition, including eight by newcomers to this level, an enormous proportion that shows a desire to re-boost the potential of the Cannes event.

Big names in world cinema will put in an appearance as usual with four former Palme d’Or winners (Lars von Trier, Nanni Moretti and brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) and seven previous award winners on the Croisette: Pedro Almodóvar, Aki Kaurismäki, Paolo Sorrentino, Alain Cavalier, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Naomi Kawase and Terrence Malick.

But above all, the 2011 edition opens a window onto a totally new panorama of talent with one director making his second shot (Bertrand Bonello) and eight newcomers to the Palme d’Or race: Maïwenn Le Besco, Lynne Ramsay, Nicolas Winding Refn, Radu Mihaileanu, Takashi Miike, Joseph Cedar, Markus Schleinzer and Julia Leigh (the last two with their debut features). Four women directors have been selected this year, which is a record number.

With 12 titles, Europe dominates the competition by far. Those vying for honours include three French directors (Bonello – see news, Cavalier and Maïwenn – see news); two Italians (Moretti – see news, and Sorrentino, with his first English-language film, starring Sean Penn – see news); and Spanish icon Almodóvar (see news), who has in the end accepted his invitation to Cannes after considering giving it a miss.

Also in the line-up are von Trier (see news); Belgium’s Dardenne brothers (see news); Brit director Lynne Ramsay (see news); Finland’s Kaurismäki (see news); and Austria’s Schleinzer.

Turkey’s Bilge Ceylan acts as a bridge between Europe and Asia, which has two Japanese directors in competition (Kawase and Miike with a samurai film) and Israel’s Cedar.

While South America is completely absent from the 2011 Palme d’Or competition, Australia is represented by Leigh and the United States by Malick (who returns to the competition he first discovered back in 1979) and Drive by Denmark’s Winding Refn.

The out-of-competition line-up looks particularly attractive, with Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris as opening film (see news); Rob Marshall’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides; Jodie Foster’s The Beaver; and Xavier Durringer’s The Conquest (which looks back at Nicolas Sarkozy’s campaign for the last presidential elections – see news).

Official Selection

Competition
The Skin I Live In [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile] (Spain) - Pedro Almodóvar
L'Apollonide [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adèle Haenel
film profile] (France) - Bertrand Bonello
Footnote (Israel) - Joseph Cedar
Pater [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alain Cavalier
film profile] (France) - Alain Cavalier
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey) - Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Hanezu no Tsuki (Japan) - Naomi Kawase
The Kid With a Bike [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
film profile] (Belgium) - Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Le Havre [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Aki Kaurismäki
film profile] (Finland) - Aki Kaurismäki
Sleeping Beauty (Australia) - Julie Leigh
Tree of Life (US) - Terrence Malick
Polisse [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïwenn
film profile] (France) - Maïwenn
The Source [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (France) - Radu Mihaileanu
We Have a Pope [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nanni Moretti
film profile] (Italy) - Nanni Moretti
Ishimei (Hari-Kiri: Death of a Samurai) (Japan) - Takashi Miike
Michael [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Austria) - Markus Schleinzer
We Need to Talk About Kevin (UK) - Lynne Ramsay
Melancholia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lars von Trier
film profile] (Denmark) - Lars von Trier
This Must Be the Place [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo Sorrentino
film profile] (Italy) - Paolo Sorrentino
Drive (US) - Nicolas Winding Refn
The Artist [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michel Hazanavicius
film profile] - Michel Hazanavicius (FR)

Out of Competition
Opening Film
Midnight in Paris [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Spain/US) - Woody Allen

The Conquest [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (France) - Xavier Durringer
The Beaver (US) - Jodie Foster
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (US) - Rob Marshall
Bollywood - The Greatest Love Story Ever Told - Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra & Jeff Zimbalist (IN)

Midnight Screenings
Wu Xia (China) - Chan Peter
Day of Grace - Everardo Gout (Mexico)

Special Screenings
Labrador (Denmark) - Frederikke Aspöck
Le Maître des Forges de l'Enfer (France) - Rithy Panh
Michel Petrucciani (US) - Michael Radford
Tous au Larzac (France) - Christian Rouaud
The Big Fix - Josh Tickel (US)
In Film Nis - Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb (IR)
Plus jamais peur (Tunisia) - Mourad Ben Cheikh

Screenings for high-school students
Les Hommes libres - Ismäel Ferrouki (MA/FR)
Prodigies (La Nuit des enfants rois) - Antoine Charreyron (FR)

Short-films in competition
Ghost - Ma Dahci (KR)
Badpakje - Wannes Destoop (BE)
Soy tan feliz - Vladimir Durán (AR)
Bear - Nash Edgerton (AU)
Kjottsar - Lisa Marie Gamlem (NO)
Meathead - Sam Holst(NZ)
Ce n'est rien - Nicolas Roy (CA)
Paternal Womb - Megumi Tazaki (JP)
Cross - Maryna Vroda (FR)

Cinefondation selection
Cagey Tigers - Aramisova (FAMU - CZ)
Suu et Uchikawa - Nathanael Carton (NYU - SG)
A viagem - Simao Cayatte (Columbia University - US)
Befetach Beity - Anat Costi (Bezalel Academy - Il)
The Agony and Sweat of The Human Spirit - D. Jesse Damazo & Joe Bookman (University of Iowa- US)
Bento Monogatari - Pieter Dirkx (Sint-Lukas University - BE)
Der brief - Doroteya Droumeva (dffb - DE)
Duelo antes da noite - Alice Furtado (Universidade Federal Fluminense - BR)
Drari - Kamal Lazraq (La fémis - FR)
Salsipuedes - Mariano Luque (Univeridad Nacional de Cordoba - AR)
La festa de casamiento - Gaston Margolin & Martin Morgenfeld (Universidad del Cine - AR)
L'estate che non viene - Pasquale Marino (Centro Sperimentale de Cinematografia - IT)
Big Muddy - Jefferson Moneo (Columbia University - US)
Al Martha lauf - Ma'ayan Rypp (Tel Aviv University - IL)
Ya-Gan-Bi-Hang - Son Tae-gyum (Chung-Ang University - KR)
Der wechselbalg - Maria Steinmetz (HFF "Konrad Wolf" - DE)

(Translated from French)