Cannes 2008

[Grimfarrow]

Read between the lines...

[Zazou dans le Metro]

Don't give up hope yet. There's another French film in Competition that hasn't been announced yet.

Could this be Claire Denis? I haven't read anything about the status of this other than its opening in September in France.

[backstreetsbackalright]

Does anyone have any crash-course tips for attending films at Cannes? As in, is it impossible to find lodging this late in the game? How quickly to tickets to screenings sell out? That sort of thing...

[Grimfarrow]

wait, so what is the opening film... and is Lisandro's film not a maybe, or just not showing?

Now that the news is out, what I mean is, it's not a "maybe", Lisandro Alonso's film is definitely in Quinzaine.

Now for the opening announcement...

[Awesome Welles]

Does anyone have any crash-course tips for attending films at Cannes? As in, is it impossible to find lodging this late in the game? How quickly to tickets to screenings sell out? That sort of thing...

I know that accomodation is usually sold out very quickly and that many people have to find accomodation away from all the action. So unless you know anyone with a house on the Croisette you'll be hard pushed to find accomodation now. With regards to tickets I have no idea as I only this small amount of information from my old company directors who went to Cannes every year.

[Nothing]

i believe you need to attend as press or an industry professional to get access to official selection screenings, although critics' week and director's fortnight sell tickets. for the lumiere screenings you then need to either queue up early each day in the hope of getting the invites or, ideally, have a better kind of accreditation (as a technical or artistic professional - director, editor, etc) where you can go through a different desk and get better seats / more choice. on the final sunday they rescreen a lot of the films without needing an invite (would still need accreditation, i believe). it's not as hard as it sounds.

[MichaelB]

I haven't been to Cannes since 1999, but I certainly recall the accreditation procedure - you have to provide proof that you're legit before they'll give you the all-important pass to secure tickets for competition screenings (that said, I didn't have much concrete proof the last time I went, and I still got a pass).

And it's certainly true that there's a hierarchy dependent on status: I didn't even bother applying for the evening competition screenings and generally went for the obscenely early 8am ones. (The first time I went, my job was to watch as many market films as possible: parties weren't an issue!)

One of the most prized passes is the one that gets you into marketplace screenings as well as competition ones, though these are strictly for industry professionals only: journalists need not apply (unless the distributor specifically invites them, of course). I have very fond memories of waltzing past Alexander Walker into the auditorium as he tried - and, I think, failed - to talk his way into a particular market screening.

[ellipsis7]

Yes, it's a labyrinthine process, of badges, categories and levels of access... For several years I obtained accredition in advance as a delightfully named Personalite Etrangere, which was issued by the Paris office of the Festival if you made the right approach... I think it also had something to do with the French government, so it was pretty good for access and there was a little office in the Palais dedicated to that one category which had an allocation of tickets to all the Competition screenings, so if you got there in time, and visited regularly you could cover most films at one or other of their showings...

Other ways to Competition & Un Certain Regard films at Cannes, include Press Accreditation, which gives access to the couple of Press Screenings in advance of the Official Screenings, or in a more roundabout way getting Market accreditation and hoping to catch a Market Screening or two in one of the fleapits along the Croisette...

Seats are allocated to ticket holders on a first come first served basis, so if demand is high it pays to arrive early... Time of day matters too.. Go for a 8.30 am screening may find you half awake after the party the night before but you'll be pretty sure of finding a seat...

[Jeremy]

Don't give up hope yet. There's another French film in Competition that hasn't been announced yet.

Could this be Claire Denis? I haven't read anything about the status of this other than its opening in September in France.

There are several other contenders for sure, such as Brisseau, Michel Houellebecq or Rithy Panh.

[Nothing]

Brisseau would be good, although I found Exterminating Angels a bit disappointing.

[Jeff]

Here is an article about the (temporary?) absence of Fernando Meirelles' Blindess from the lineup. This is, of course, what Grimfarrow is referring to.

[miless]

I cannot seem to get that link to work.

[Jeff]

I cannot seem to get that link to work.

Here is the text of the article:

At Cannes, 'Blindness' unseen?
But the film's debut may yet be announced
By Steven Zeitchik

April 25, 2008

When the Festival de Cannes unveiled the bulk of its lineup Wednesday, a call went up among industryites and critics: No "Blindness"?

The Fernando Meirelles drama, based on a novel from Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago about a city struck by a plague of blindness, seemed custom-tailored for the festival. The English-language film is an ambitious drama from a global auteur who has debuted at Cannes before. And domestic-rights holder Miramax (Focus Features holds international rights) rode the Cannes strategy to perfection last year with "No Country for Old Men."

Most important, unlike Guillermo Arriaga's "The Burning Plain" and other auteur films that won't be at the fest, "Blindness" is actually finished. So what gives?

Miramax, of course, could be holding back its big September release to roll it out through a combination of such summer/fall festivals as Venice, Toronto and New York, a gambit that worked for its September 2006 release "The Queen."

More likely, however, is that talk of a Croisette absence is premature. The opening- and closing-night films haven't been officially announced, and several sources said that Meirelles' profile and the film's scope (as well as such stars as Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo) make it a prime opening-night candidate. Even if it doesn't end up in that showcase slot, it could go in one of several competition slots that might yet be announced. Said one executive: "I'd be very surprised if it didn't end up there."

Spielberg and Eastwood could be getting company soon after all.

[portnoy]

If it's as terrible as The Constant Gardener, the programmers might've left it out for quality control purposes.

[Jeremy]

ScreenDaily reports today:

Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles' English-language film will reportedly open the festival while Laurent Cantet's Entre Les Murs will be the third French film competition.

[ellipsis7]

Variety...

'Blindness' tipped to open Cannes
'Hunger' set to open Un Certain Regard
By ADAM DAWTREY, JOHN HOPEWELLLONDON — Fernando Meirelles’ “Blindness” is being strongly tipped to open the Cannes Film Festival, while “Hunger,” from Brit director Steve McQueen, is the leading candidate to kick off Un Certain Regard.
A drama-thriller about a city succumbing to a blindness epidemic, “Blindness” stars Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo.

It’s produced by Meirelles’ Brazilian label O2 Filmes, Japan’s Bee Vine Pics and Rhombus Media in Toronto, the source of many press reports that identify the film as the May 14 Cannes opener.

Contacted by Daily Variety, Cannes declined to comment on the rumors regarding “Blindness.”

Meirelles' pic was one of the most glaring absences from the Official Selection lineup unveiled by delegate general Thierry Fremaux last Wednesday.

Fremaux's announcement left both opening and closing film slots open.

The Cannes berth of “Hunger” appears clearer.

McQueen’s feature debut is strongly expected to open Un Certain Regard.

If so, the film’s choice as the section opener will be interpreted as a big, bold statement by Fremaux about the type of film he’d like to see packing out Un Certain Regard, for long regarded as a destination for Cannes Competition rejects.

Reportedly powerful, but very out-there, “Hunger” is an impressionistic interpretation of the last six weeks in the life of Bobby Sands, the IRA hunger striker who died in the Maze prison in 1981.

[colinr0380]

Glenn Kenny's initial thoughts on the line up. I particularly liked the Philippe Garrel comments on the theme of suicide running through the directors work (enlightening! or at least it was for me as someone who's only seen Regular Lovers so far), the comments on Sorrentino (bitchy!) and I couldn't resist a posting a teasing comment about Wenders!

[John Cope]

Also added, Laurent Cantet's Entre Les Murs and James Gray's Two Lovers, supposedly a version of White Nights if the poster at Hollywood-Elsewhere is to be believed.

[chaddoli]

I haven't seen White Nights but I know the plot and I've read the screenplay for Two Lovers, which is excellent. It seems to me that the film isn't much of a remake, perhaps just inspired by Visconti's film. Two Lovers is sort of classically plotted, with the hero torn between two beautiful women, one mysterious and maddening, the other intimate and calming. I'm glad Grey is part of the festival, after seeing We Own the Night and reading Two Lovers, I'm becoming quite a fan.

[colinr0380]

BBC report on the closing film:

The comedy drama What Just Happened, starring Robert de Niro, Bruce Willis, and Sean Penn, will close the festival.

The latest Barry Levinson film apparently.

[Antoine Doinel]

That's a surprise. It's already screened at Sundance and the reviews weren't very good.

[Antoine Doinel]

From IMDB:

Warner Bros. To Be Feted At Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival announced plans on Wednesday to pay tribute to Warner Bros. on the studio's 85th anniversary by screening a classic movie from the studio's archives during each night of the festival. The festival said that it will also premiere film critic Richard Schickel's documentary, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story, narrated by Clint Eastwood, as well as a night of Looney Tunes shorts. The tribute begins with a screening of Mervyn LeRoy's 1932 I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang and ends with 1999's The Matrix. Somewhat surprisingly, the film series does not include a screening of The Jazz Singer, the first sound film, produced in 1927 and starring entertainer Al Jolson.

[Barmy]

The Hackford White Nights is more in need of remaking than the Visconti.

[Anhedionisiac]

I thought it'd be better to post here than, say, make it a new topic.

Pablo Trapero's Leonera trailer is up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxyVs7P1WZY

[Dylan]

Two Lovers is sort of classically plotted, with the hero torn between two beautiful women, one mysterious and maddening, the other intimate and calming.

Sounds interesting, but it really doesn't sound like Visconti's film or Dostoevsky's story (both rely pretty heavily on depressing/magical realism and a touch of naivety, and of course there aren't two women). Maybe the director's inspiration is Visconti in general, as his films were for Michael Cimino?