Cannes '12: Cinema and Controversy

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 23:23

Written by Marian Masone

With all the film festivals that populate the yearly calendar (you’ve read about most of them here), the Festival de Cannes is the most well known. Mention the word “Cannes” to anyone in the field, and they know you are not talking about the lovely seaside town on the Rivera.

This year’s festival starts on Wednesday May 16, 2012 (and runs until the 27th), and while in France other events were holding people’s attention (like the recent elections and change in leadership) Cannes was in the back of many people’s minds nonetheless. 

Although there are other prestigious festivals before it in the calendar year, there is an air about the Cannes Film Festival that seems to start the film season -- even though it is attended by industry professionals only. 

Before the festival even begins, discussion will revolve around which film will win the coveted Palme d’or, the grand prize which last year went to Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life or any of the other awards such as Grand Prix Ex-aequo, Best Director, or the Jury Prize.

The big pre-festival discussion has been the absence of films by women directors in the competition. It will beinteresting to see how this issue is addressed by the four women in the Feature Films Jury, actress Hiam Abbass, director Andrea Arnold,  actress Emmanuelle Devos, and actress Diane Kruger. Though people haven’t been demonstrating (at least not yet), come festival time, will that continue to be the main topic of discussion? We shall see. 

Among the many films being seen, the special screenings include: 

• Alfred Hitchcock’s silent classic The Ring, accompanied by live music by Stephen Horne
• Keisuke Kinoshita’s The Ballad of Narayama
• a new restoration of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws

Over the course of Cannes’ 12 days, with films playing in venues all over the croisette, there will be many other films and topics that can take center stage – at least for the moment.

To learn more, go to http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en.html

Festival de Cannes
May 16th - 27th, 2012

Various venues
Cannes
France 

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