24/04/2008

At 62, the German filmmaker Wim Wenders is preparing to compete for the ninth time at the Cannes Film Festival with The Palermo Shooting [+see also:
trailer
film profile], as announced yesterday.

The director is a Cannes regular, having won the Palme d'Or in 1984 with Paris, Texas (which also picked up the FIPRESCI Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Award). He scooped another FIPRESCI Prize and the Palme d’Or for Best Director in 1987 for Wings of Desire and the Grand Jury Prize in 1993 for Faraway, So Close!.

The last Wenders film to screen at Cannes was Don't Come Knocking [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2005).

The Palermo Shooting marks Wenders’ return to Germany after a 15-year absence and is the first film he has shot in his home city of Düsseldorf (the shoot kicked off there last autumn before relocating to Sicily).

The film, co-produced by the director’s company Neue Road Movies and Italy, tells the story of a successful but overworked photographer (played by Campino, the Düsseldorf-born singer of the punk group Die Toten Hosen). He decides to leave everything behind and start a new life in Palermo, where he falls madly in love with a restaurant owner (Giovanna Mezzogiorno).

Wenders’ film explores Palermo and avoids the mafia clichés to reveal a complex and fascinating city.

The Palermo Shooting also stars Dennis Hopper, Jana Pallaske, Inga Busch, Sebastian Blomberg and Udo Samel, with appearances from Lou Reed, Patti Smith and Milla Jovovich.

Senator Film will release the title domestically later on this year.

There is a strong German contingent at this year’s Cannes Festival. Other titles vying for the Palme d'Or include Kornél Mundruczó’s German/Hungarian film Delta; Ari Folman’s French/German/Israeli co-production Waltz With Bashir, which is the first animated documentary feature ever made; and The Silence of Lorna [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne
interview: Olivier Bronckart
film profile] by the Dardenne brothers, co-produced with Belgium, France and Italy.

Moreover, the prestigious Un Certain Regard sidebar is screening the premiere of Cloud 9 by Andreas Dresen (Summer in Berlin [+see also:
trailer
film profile]); and Pandora co-productions Tulpan by Sergei Dvortsevoy and O'Horten [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Norwegian director Bent Hamer.

Also of note are Jan Speckenbach’s Gestern in Eden, competing in the Cinéfondation competition, and Benedek Fliegauf’s German/Hungarian project Womb, which will take part in the Festival Workshop.

Alexandra Maria Lara is on the official jury (presided by Sean Penn) and Fatih Akin heads the Un Certain Regard jury.

(Translated from French)