26/04/2006

European directors dominate the seven-strong competition line-up of the 45th International Critics’ Week (SIC) at next month's Cannes Film Festival. Five European films will be presented in the sidebar section, which will kick off on May 18.

"On the whole, young European cinema is in good shape, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe in particular, but also Germany, which has presented extraordinarily high quality films this year, with six features chosen out of the 19 viewed by the selection panel,” said Critics’ Week Artistic Director Jean-Christophe Berjon at the presentation of the selection this afternoon in Paris.

The competition of feature films, which will open with the second feature by France’s Emmanuel Bourdieu, Les Amitiés Maléfiques, includes participants from Hungary (Fresh Air by Agnes Kocsis), Norway (The Bothersome Man by Jens Lien), Germany (Pingpong by Matthias Luthardt) and Belgium (Komma by Martine Doyen. No films from Asia or the US feature in this year’s line-up.

Europe has more reasons to celebrate: earthy UK/Norwegian animated film Free Jimmy by Christopher Nielsen will close the Week as one of the Special Screenings, which will also include Greek feature Soul Kicking by Yannis Economidis; French documentary Kigali, des images contre un massacre by Jean-Christophe Klotz; and Nocturnes pour le roi de Rome by Jean-Charles Fitoussi - the first real auteur film made with a mobile phone. Director Gaspard Noé, patron of the 2006 Critics’ Week, will present a compilation of erotic shorts by various directors, Destricted (UK/US).

Features Competition
Emmanuel Bourdieu - Les Amitiés Maléfiques(FR)
Matthias Luthardt - Pingpong (DE)
Jens Lien - The Bothersome Man (NO)
Martine Doyen - Komma (BE)
Agnes Kocsis - Fresh Air (HU)
Kirill Mikhanovsky - Sonhos De Peixe (BR)
Gerardo Naranjo - Dramamex (MX)

Special screenings – Features
Christopher Nielsen - Free Jimmy (UK/NO)
Yannis Economidis - Soul Kicking (GR)
Jean-Christophe Klotz - Kigali, des images contre un massacre (FR)
Jean-Charles Fitoussi - Nocturnes pour le roi de Rome (FR)
Sarah Watt - Look Both Ways (AU)
Gaspard Noé, Larry Clark, Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney, Sam Taylor-Wood, Marco Brambilla and Richard Prince - Destricted (US/UK)
René Letzgus - Une équipe de rêve (FR)

Shorts Competition
Christoph Girardet & Matthias Müller - Kristall(DE)
Olivier Ciechelski - L’Ecluse (FR)
Ursula Ferrara - News (IT)
Johannes Stjärne Nilsson & Ola Simonsson - Woman & Grammophone (SE)
Hiroyuki Nakano - Iron(JP)
Gitanjali Rao - Printed Rainbow (IN)
Esmir Filho -Something Like That (BR)

Special screenings medium features
Cristian Nemescu - Marilena de la P7 (RO)
Mikhaël Hers - Charell (FR)
Hélier Cisterne - Les deux vies du serpent (FR)

(Translated from French)