11/05/2009

As Croisette regulars and two-time Palme d’Or winners (1999 and 2005), Belgian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne will give the Cinema Lesson on Tuesday, May 19 at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, which opens this Wednesday.

Launched in 1991 by Francesco Rosi, the Cinema Lesson has previously been led by Martin Scorsese, Stephen Frears, Wong Kar-wai, Nanni Moretti, Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone, Milos Forman, Wim Wenders, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sydney Pollack, Ousmane Sembene, André Delvaux, Volker Schlondörff, Theo Angelopoulos, Youssef Chahine, Bertrand Tavernier and Agnès Varda.

Directors, screenwriters and producers via Les Films du Fleuve (who co-produced Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cannes 2009
Ken Loach
interview: Steve Evets - actor
film profile], in competition this year at Cannes), the Dardenne brothers made their Cannes debut in 1996, when their third feature, The Promise, screened in the Directors’ Fortnight.

Their subsequent film, Rosetta won the Palme d'Or and Best Actress in 1999, before The Son [+see also:
trailer
film profile] scooped Best Actor in 2002. This was followed by The Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne
film profile], which in 2005 enabled the two filmmakers to join Francis Coppola and Emir Kusturica in the select group of double Palme d’Or winners. Finally, Lorna’s Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne
interview: Olivier Bronckart
film profile] won Best Screenplay at last year’s festival.

(Translated from French)