18/04/2023 - Firmly recentred around singular filmmaking, the selection includes 19 feature film world premieres, with Michel Gondry, Bertrand Mandico, Cédric Kahn and Hong Sang-soo standing out in lead roles

A great deal of expectation surrounded the films selected for the 55th edition of the Directors’ Fortnight (unspooling 17 – 26 May within the 76th Cannes Film Festival) which were unveiled in Paris today. Would the new artistic director Julien Rejl change the direction of the parallel section’s editorial line? Ultimately, expectations were not disappointed as the new head of the Directors’ Fortnight revealed a stripped-back line-up consisting of 19 feature films ("to offer the films greater exposure") under the aegis of a return to roots for the parallel section which was founded in 1969 with a view to shining a light on free forms.

"To seek out singular cinematic writing over and above categories and genres, and to welcome hybrid forms; to refuse all kinds of quotas relating to nationality, sex or genre; to not prioritise films which already have distributors and sales agents, to avoid the pitfall of overly standardised films and to not favour high-quality feature films which might be selected for the official competition, because the Directors’ Fortnight is first and foremost a place of discovery". Julien Rejl has laid his cards very clearly on the table, further adding that films eligible for the Directors’ Fortnight should respect French media chronology rules; in other words they must be released in cinemas first. The upshot is a selection which might be described as purist, including six first feature films, four second features and six works directed by women. It’s a line-up dominated by seven European titles and five Asian movies, flanked by three American features, two films hailing from the Europe-Asia border and two African feature films.

A handful of highly known filmmakers are nonetheless on the agenda, namely France’s Michel Gondry, Bertrand Mandico and Cédric Kahn (who’s opening the event with The Goldman Case [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cédric Kahn
film profile]) and South Korea’s Hong Sang-soo (closing the line-up with In Our Day). They’re accompanied by several other easily recognisable names, such as Morocco’s Faouzi Bensaïdi (previously selected for the Un Certain Regard section via his first feature A Thousand Months, and twice chosen for the Giornate degli Autori festival) and Portuguese duo Filipa Reis and João Miller Guerra (revealed in competition in Rotterdam 2018 via their first feature Djon Africa [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]).

Worth highlighting on the European side is a seemingly deliberate reduction in the number of  French films in the line-up (four in total, the surprise Pierre Creton movie joining the three afore-mentioned directors’ works), Belgium’s Claude Schmitz (news), Spain’s Elena Martín Gimeno (news) and the Portuguese talents mentioned above.

Asia is making a strong comeback with feature films hailing from Vietnam, India, China, South Korea and Pakistan. Eye-catching movies from the European-Asian border include a first Russian film (described as "totally independent") and a Georgian film (by Elene Naveriani, discovered in Locarno in 2021 via Wet Sand [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elene Naveriani
film profile]), while three first feature films from America will likewise grace the showcase (one of which bearing the name of Director of Photography Sean Price Williams). Africa, for its part, will be represented by Morocco’s afore-mentioned Faouzi Bensaïdi, alongside the Cameroon director (living in Belgium) Rosine Mbakam. The total absence of South American films is noteworthy, but Julien Rejl fully accepts the unequal representation of continents and regions in this selection, which will notably offer up sci-fi, adventure, detective films, road movies, coming of age titles and queer cinema. Rounding off the line-up, we’ll find Manoel de Oliveira’s 1993 title Abraham’s Valley, showing in a special screening, and ten short films.

The selection:

Feature Films

The Goldman Case [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cédric Kahn
film profile] - Cédric Kahn (France) (opening film)
Agra [+see also:
film review
interview: Kanu Behl
film profile] - Kanu Behl (India/France)
The Other Laurens [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claude Schmitz
film profile] - Claude Schmitz (Belgium/France)
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Thien An Pham (Vietnam/Singapore/France/Spain)
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elene Naveriani
film profile] - Elene Naveriani (Switzerland/Georgia)
Grace [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Ilya Povolotsky (Russia)
She Is Conann [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bertrand Mandico
film profile] - Bertrand Mandico (Luxembourg/France/Belgium)
Creatura [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Elena Martín Gimeno
film profile] - Elena Martín Gimeno (Spain)
Deserts [+see also:
film review
interview: Faouzi Bensaïdi
film profile] - Faouzi Bensaïdi (France/Germany/Morocco/Belgium)
In Flames - Zarrar Kahn (Pakistan/Canada)
Légua [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Filipa Reis, João Miller Gu…
film profile] - Filipa Reis & João Miller Guerra (Portugal/France/Italy)
The Book of Solutions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michel Gondry
film profile] - Michel Gondry (France)
Mambar Pierrette [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rosine Mbakam
film profile] - Rosine Mbakam (Belgium)
Riddle of Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Weston Razooli (USA/France)
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed - Joanna Arnow (USA)
The Sweet East - Sean Price Williams (USA)
A Prince [+see also:
film review
interview: Pierre Creton
film profile] - Pierre Creton (France)
A Song Sung Blue - Zihan Geng (China)
In Our Day - Hong Sang-soo (South Korea) (closing film)

Special Screening

Abraham’s Valley - Manoel de Oliveira (1993) (Portugal)

Short Films

The House Is on Fire, Might as Well Get Warm (La maison brûle, autant se réchauffer) - Mouloud Aït Liotna
Dans la tête un orage (A Storm Inside) - Clément Pérot
Il compleanno di Enrico (The Birthday Party/L’Anniversaire d’Enrico) - Francesco Sossai
J'ai vu le visage du diable (I Saw the Face of the Devil) - Julia Kowalski
Lemon Tree - Rachel Walden
Margarethe 89 - Lucas Malbrun
Mast-del - Maryam Tafakory
Oyu - Atsushi Hirai
The Red Sea Makes Me Wanna Cry - Faris Alrjoob
Talking to the River - Yue Pan

(Translated from French)