Cannes 09 Lineup

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Looks like a no of heavyweight auteurs are competing for the Golden Palm this year. The festival opens on May 13 with Pixa'r "UP" (for the first time in the history of the festival) and closes on May 24th with Coco Chanel&Igor Stravinsky.

India like every year is missing in action. But, I'm sure, it hardly bothers our "creative mainstream Industry" they will still land up at the festival through the Indian Booth section and our media will report their presence as if they just conquered Mt Everest- even if most people fail to recognize them." We make films for masses not film festivals" is one of the favorite cliches of our Industry. So without further ado...let's move on to the lineup. The Director’s Fortnight and Critics Week will be announced tomorrow.

Competition:

"Bright Star," Jane Campion (Australia/UK/France).

"Spring Fever," Lou Ye (China/France).

"Antichrist," Lars von Trier (Denmark/Sweden/France/Italy).

"Enter the Void," Gaspar Noé (France).

"Face" ("Visages"), Tsai Ming-liang (France/Taiwan/Netherlands/Belgium).

"Les ferbes folles" ("Wild Reeds") Alain Resnais (France/Italy).

"In the Beginning," Xavier Giannoli (France).

"A Prophet," Jacques Audiard (France).

"The White Ribbon," Michael Haneke (Germany/Austria/France).

"Vengeance," Johnnie To (Hong Kong/France/US).

"The Time That Remains," Elia Suleiman (Israel/France/Belgium/Italy).

"Vincere," Marco Bellocchio (Italy/France).

"Kinatay," Brillante Mendoza (Philippines).

"Thirst," Park Chan-wook (South Korea/US).

"Broken Embraces," Pedro Almodóvar (Spain).

"Map of the Sounds of Tokyo," Isabel Coixet (Spain).

"Fish Tank," Andrea Arnold (UK/Netherlands).

"Looking for Eric," Ken Loach (UK/France/Belgium/Italy).

"Inglourious Basterds," Quentin Tarantino (US).

"Taking Woodstock," Ang Lee (US).

Out of Competition

"Agora," Alejandro Amenábar (Spain/US).

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," Terry Gilliam (Canada/France).

"L'armée du crime" ("The Army of Crime"), Robert Guédiguian (France).

Un Certain Regard

"À Deriva" ("Adrift"), Heitor Dhalia (Brazil).

"Air Doll," Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan).

"Demain des l'aube," Denis Dercourt ().

"Dogtooth," Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece).

"Eyes Wide Open," Haim Tabakman (Israel/Germany).

"Independence," Raya Martin (Philippines).

"Irene," Alain Cavalier (France).

"Mother," Bong Joon-ho (South Korea).

"Nobody Knows About the Persian Cats," Bahman Ghobadi (Iran).

"Nymph," Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (Thailand).

"Le père de mes enfants," Mia Hansen-Love (France/Germany).

"Politist, Adjectiv," Corneliu Porumboiu (Romania).

"Precious," Lee Daniels (US).

"Samson and Delilah," Warwick Thornton (Australia).

"The Silent Army," Jean van de Velde (Netherlands).

"Tales from the Golden Age," Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Ioanna Uricaru (Romania).

"Tale in the Darkness," Nikolay Khomeriki (Russia).

"Tzar," Pavel Lounguine (Russia).

"Los Viajes del Viento," Ciro Guerra (Colombia).

"Morrer Como um Homem," João Pedro Rodrigues ().

Midnight Screenings

"Panique au village" ("A Town Called Panic"), Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar ().

"Drag Me to Hell," Sam Raimi (US).

"Ne te retourne pas" ("Don't Come Back"), Marina de Van (Belgium/France/Italy/Luxembourg).

Special Screenings

"My Neighbor, My Killer," Anne Aghion (US).

"Manila," Adolfo Alix, Jr and Raya Martin (Philippines).

"Min Ye," Souleymane Cissé (Mali).

"L'épine dans le coeur," Michel Gondry (France).

"Petition," Zhao Liang.

"Kalat Hayam" ("Jaffa"), Keren Yedaya (France/Germany/Israel)


LINKS

Bong Joon Ho's Mother trailer
Park Chan Wook's Thirst Trailer
Lars Von Trier's Antichrist Trailer
Anurag Kashyap Interview
The Face of French Cinema has changed- Jean Luc Godard
Cinephile Meeting-III

* Third Issue coming up soon.

Comments

Anuj said…
Cannes has made it a habit to deem the unusual suspect the winner. Often enough, a small film from among the obvious heavyweights wins the grand prize. With such heavy auteurs(Haneke, Campion, Von Trier, Chan Wook, Almodovar, Noe, Resnais, phew) around, I think Arnold, Mendoza, or Coixet might sneak through.

Though I get a sinking feeling that this will be the year for the double whammy for Tarantino, considering the buzz. Interesting.

And yes, your observation about the conspicuous by its absence Indian cinema is so true. If we win, we will cover it for 100 years through our media, and if we lose, pooh, we never needed the West's approval.

Also check the credit lists of all the films. Even if one random forgotten Indian's on one of them, we are going to be jumping high about how the film is so good only because he/she was there. It is pathetic.
April 24, 2009 at 2:04 AM
MT said…
Very cool list. Curious to see how Von Trier and Tarantino do, they're both big question marks for me.
April 24, 2009 at 5:15 AM
nitesh said…
@ Anuj....

Let's see who bags the winner, but the lineup is surely exciting. I wont place my bet on Tarantino to win this one, but then you never know.

Checked the list properly even the Directors Fortnight and short film category...I guess we missing from everywhere.

@ Matt..

Well, I'm really excited-wish could be there at Cannes. :) Someday...howz ur movie work on?
April 24, 2009 at 8:23 PM
srikanth said…
Will these flicks ever enter India? :) Perhaps the most enviable list in a film fest I've seen - surprising, considering the fact that all of them go strong on the director's name alone.
April 26, 2009 at 8:53 PM
nitesh said…
@ Srikanth

Plenty heavyweight auteurs are competing for the top prize. So this year is definitely interesting. Beside been reading that Bruno Dummont new film didn't not make the cut.

I think some of the films will land up in India. With three major players in the market- UTV, Palador, NDTV Lumiere I'm sure we are going to some of the films on our screens, television and on DVD sooner than most countries in the world.
April 26, 2009 at 11:58 PM
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