At last Thursday’s press conference announcing this year’s Cannes Film Festival lineup, organizers left four in competition slots open to be filled in the run up to the festival. While speculation was that “Tree Of Life” was going to get one of those slots, as we reported yesterday, the film needs more special effects work done and won’t be making the festival. So where does that leave us?
OnTheCroisette has been actively twittering over the past little while spilling all kinds of details about the festival and the lineups with remarkable accuracy. So much so that the the mysterious user has now protected their tweets. Perhaps they’ve given themselves away? However, they did leave us with enough to ruminate on and, we think these are good guesses.
In a small handful of tweets over the past few days, OnTheCroisette has revealed a few hints. Firstly, that the remaining in-competition films could be announced as early as today, that “One of the formerly expected Hungarian directors could land in competition” and “A Southern American film is very likely to enter the competition in the coming days.”
The Hungarian director could only be Bela Tarr, who’s final film “The Turin Horse” was widely tipped to be selected for Cannes. However, a commenter in one of our post-Cannes announcement pieces mentioned that two days of reshoots are needed on the film. If indeed Tarr is trying to make Cannes, that would give him three and half weeks to shoot, edit and get the film to Cannes. The director has mentioned the film would be his last, and we’re sure that Cannes organizers are eager to have it, but the question remains if it can be done in time. If Tarr and his team move quickly, its not unlikely but the clock is against them. There is one other Hungarian film vying for a slot, Kornel Mundruczo’s “The Frankenstein Project.” Perhaps organizers are waiting to see if Tarr finishes by giving Mundruczo the nod?
As for the South American film, our guess is Pablo Trapero’s Ricardo Darin-starrer “Carancho.” The Argentinian film is frankly the only film from that continent that seems to have bubbled to the top of prognosticator lists.
Finally, Olivier Assayas’ “Carlos,” which stirred up controversy last week when the film wasn’t included in any of the festival slots, is headed for an out-of-competition screening (as rumored). While we’re sure that won’t make producers happy, it seems to be a way for the rumored anti-Canal+ Board Of Directors to screen the anticipated film without having the supposed indignity of showing a “TV movie” (the project originated as a three part series for French cable channel Canal+) in competition. Also getting a berth in the Special Screening section of the festival is “5 X Favela,” an anthology of short films from young directors from the favelas trained by director Carlos Diegues.
So…if “Turin Horse” or “The Frankenstein Project” and “Carancho” are slotted that still leaves two slots open and undetermined at this point. Daniele Luchetti’s “La nostra vita” seems a likely candidate as it was another title that earned some pre-announcement buzz as did Susanne Bier’s small-town drama “The Revenge.” In any event, it’s going to be an interesting ride in the lead up to the festival.
Update: The official selections for the Cannes Critics Week sidebar has been announced:
Feature films
“Armadillo,” directed by Janus Metz (Denmark)
“Bedevilled,” directed by Cheol So Jang (South Korea)
“Belle épine,” directed by Rebecca Zlotowski (France)
“Bi, dung so !,” directed by Phan Dang Di (Vietnam – France – Germany)
“The Myth of the American Sleepover,” directed by David Robert Mitchell (U.S.A.)
“Sandcastle,” directed by Boo Junfeng (Singapore)
“Sound of Noise,” directed by Ola Simonsson & Johannes Stjärne Nilsson (Sweden – France) Short Films
“A distração de Ivan,” directed by Cavi Borges & Gustavo Melo (Brazil)
“Berik,” directed by Daniel Joseph Borgman (Denmark)
“The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Lion,” directed by Alois Di Leo (U.K.)
“Deeper Than Yesterday,” directed by Ariel Kleiman (Australia)
“Love Patate,” directed by Gilles Cuvelier (France)
“Native Son,” directed by Scott Graham (U.K.)
“Vasco,” directed by Sébastien Laudenbach (France) Special Screenings: Opening: Feature
“Le Nom des gens,” directed by Michel Leclerc (France)
“Copacabana,” directed by Marc Fitoussi (France)
“Rubber,” directed by Quentin Dupieux (France) Closing:
“L’Amour-propre,” directed by Nicolas Silhol (France)
“Cynthia todavía tienes las llaves,” directed by Gonzalo Tobal (Argentina)
“Fracture,” directed by Nicolas Sarkissian (France)