Cannes 2008: the official selection
Let's go for the 61st edition of Cannes film festival, which will take place from May 14 to 25. Thierry Frémeaux, general delegate of the event, announced a "tightened selection" to 20 feature films in competition against 22 in 2007.
This year, it is the French actor Edouard Baer who takes the role of the master of ceremonies.
The 61st Cannes film festival is distinguished by many returns.
Five years later Mystic RiverClint Eastwood will present Changeling (Changeling).
Steven Spielberg will also be on the red carpet of the Palais des Festivals to unveil Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, screened out of competition. When he last came in 1986, he had presented The Purple Color.
Among the former winners of the Palme d'Or, the Dardenne brothers will try to be crowned a third time with The Silence of Lorna retained in competition.
Emir Kusturica, also a double winner, will be in the spotlight at midnight with his documentary on Argentine footballer Maradona.
Crowned in 1989 for Sex, lies and video, Steven Soderbergh will present in competition Che, a diptych on Che Guevara.
As for the German filmmaker Wim Wenders, after Paris, Texas in 1984, he will try to win his second Palm with The Palermo Shooting.
Woody Allen and Wong Kar-wai, regulars Cannes film festival, will not miss the call this year. The first will preview the romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona out of competition. The second will be entitled to a special session with Ashes of Time Redux, a "remix" of one of his movies released in 1994.
France will be represented by two movies in competition : A Christmas tale Arnaud Despelchin and The Frontier of Dawn of Philippe Garrel.
The French presence will be ensured by five representatives in the Un Certain Regard category. Documentary filmmaker Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire will present his first fiction, Johnny Mad Dog, about African child soldiers. Pierre Schoeller will unveil meanwhile Versailles with Guillaume Depardieu. Raymond Depardon will come to defend Modern life, the last part of his documentary trilogy Farmers profiles. Finally, Michel Gondry will be traveling as co-director of Tokyo! alongside South Korean Bong Joon-ho and Frenchman Leox Carax, who will return to the Croisette after the scandal Pola X in 1999.
The official selection of this 61st edition of Cannes film festival, will feature 54 feature films from 31 countries and 26 short films from 18 different nationalities.
In 2007, 23 movies had been held in competition.
As a reminder, in 2007, the Palme d'Or was awarded to movie Romanian 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days from Cristian Mungiu.
Feature Film Jury
Sean Penn, American actor and director, president of the jury
Alexandra Maria Lara, Romanian actress
Natalie Portman, American actress
Rachid Bouchareb, French director
Sergio Castellito, Italian actor and director
Alfonso Cuaron, Mexican director
Apichatpong Weerasethakil, Thai director
The movies in competition
24 City, Jia Zhangke (China)
Adoration, Atom Egoyan (Canada)
Changeling, Clint Eastwood (USA)
Che, Steven Soderbergh (Spain)
A Christmas tale, Arnaud Desplechin (France)
Daydreams, Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey)
Delta, Kornel Mundruczo (Hungary)
Il Divo, Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)
Gomorra, Matteo Garrone (Italy)
The Frontier of Dawn, Philippe Garrel (France)
Leonera, Pablo Trapero (Argentina)
Linha de Pass, Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas (Brazil)
The mujer sin cabeza, Lucrecia Martel (Argentina)
My Magic, Eric Khoo (Singapore)
The Palermo Shooting, Wim Wenders (Germany)
Serbis, Brillante Mendoza (Philippines)
Silence of Lorna, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne (Belgium)
Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman (USA)
Waltz With Bashir, Ari Folman (Israel)
From this selection of 19 movies who will be competing for the Palme d'Or, two are French: A Christmas Tale by Arnaud Desplechin and The Frontier of the Dawn by Philippe Garrel.
Changeling will mark Clint Eastwood's fifth participation in Cannes film festival competing after Pale Rider, White Hunters, Black Heart, Bird and Mystic River.
This drama is set in the 1920s and brings together Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Amy Ryan and Colm Feore. The feature film follows a mother involved in a case of police corruption after the kidnapping of her son. The exit of movie is expected next November 7 across the Atlantic.
The movies projected out of competition
Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull Kingdom, Steven Spielberg (USA)
Kung Fu Panda, Mark Osborne, John Stevenson (USA)
The Good, the Bad, the Weird, Kim Jee-woon (South Korea)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Woody Allen (United States, Spain)
These movies will be presented in world premiere.
The movies projected for midnight sessions
Maradona, Emir Kusturica (Spain and France)
Surveillance, Jennifer Lynch (United States)
The Chaser, Na Hong-jin (South Korea)
The movies projected during special sessions
Ashes of Time Redux, Wong Kar-wai (Hong Kong)
Of Time and the City, Terence Davies (United Kingdom)
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, Marina Zenovich (United Kingdom, United States)
It's hard to be loved by idiots, Daniel Leconte (France)
Pazzo Blood (Crazy Blood), Marco Tullio Giordana (France, Italy)
President's meeting
Actor and Director Sean Penn will open the "President's Special Session" launched this year. Sean Penn will unveil The Third Wave, a documentary by Alison Thompson about the aftermath of the tsunami that ravaged Southeast Asia in December 2004.
The Awards Ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 25th.
www.festival-cannes.fr
