The poster for the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. Image courtesy of the festival. Copyright (c) Brigitte Lacombe. Graphic design Annick Durban
While many Stateside insiders are sleeping overnight, organizers of the Cannes Film Festival will unveil the main lineup for their 2010 event tomorrow morning in Paris. Journalists will gather at the Grand Hotel for the late morning announcement in France, paving the way for next month’s festival in Cannes. An 11 a.m. call time at a Paris hotel will include the announcement of the festival’s Official selection and a press conference by fest chief Thierry Fremaux.
UPDATE: The Cannes Film Festival lineup was announced on Thursday morning at indieWIRE. For the latest on Cannes, follow us at @iWcannes on Twitter.
Set for May 12th - 23rd in the South of France, the Festival de Cannes will open with Ridley Scott’s previously announced new film, “Robin Hood” (starring Russell Crowe). Filmmaker Tim Burton, fresh from an exhibition of his movies and artwork at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has already been tapped as the head of the jury for this year’s festival.
Now in its 63rd year, the Festival de Cannes is without question the most important film festival in the world and has become a crucial launching pad for international cinema. Industry insiders, journalists and bloggers have been buzzing for months about the roster for this year’s event, ahead of tomorrow morning’s announcement.
A couple of weeks ago, indieWIRE published a 40 film wish list and today, in anticipation of tomorrow’s big announcement, indieWIRE’s offering a list of fifteen films tipped for the fest. The exclusion of any of these would be a surprise at this point.
Meanwhile, the inclusion of Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” and Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” would either cause surprise or disappointment for observers. Malick may hold out to keep tweaking his film, according to some, while Nolan’s film might not be ready, others say. Whether or not the two will make the roster remains among the biggest questions on the eve of the announcement.
15 to Watch for Tomorrow
“Another Year,” directed by Mike Leigh
Reunites Leigh with “Drake” actors Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent and Lesley Manville,” as indieWIRE’s Peter Knegt wrote on iW’s recent wish list. He added, “The only official information of any kind indicates that viewers can expect an ‘Intimate portrait of people’s lives’. While that easily could be said about any Leigh film, it doesn’t make ‘Another’ any less exciting to anticipate.” [Peter Knegt]
“Aurora,” directed by Cristi Puiu
The film is part of the Romanian director’s “Six Stories from the Outskirts of Bucharest,” an homage of sorts to Rohmer’s “Six Moral Tales,” a series of thematically connected but standalone films that the director has described as “love stories.” While the story and cast have been largely kept under wraps, it’s reported that “Aurora” is a crime drama with Puiu taking the lead role, a divorcee and father of two who quits his job to make a major change. [Basil Tsiokos]
“Biutiful,” by Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu
Following his Best Director win for “Babel” at the 2006 edition of Cannes, Oscar nominee Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu is expected to bring his first film entirely in Spanish since his breakout “Amores Perros.” And his first time working with Spain’s hottest export, Javier Bardem. Not much is known about the plot, apart from Bardem playing a man embroiled in shady dealings who is confronted by a childhood friend, who now happens to be a policeman. [Nigel Smith]
“Carlos,” directed by Olivier Assayas
Assayas will be hitting the Croisette with a five hour film version of a TV series. Starring Edgar Ramirez and Alexander Beyer, it centers on Venezuelan revolutionary Ramirez Sanchez, who lead a terrorist organization that raided OPEC headquarters in 1975 before being caught by French police. [Brian Brooks]
“The Certified Copy,” directed by Abbas Kiarostami
Set in Italy, the Iranian master’s latest stars Juliette Binoche, the 2010 Cannes Film Festival’s poster star. According to an IMDb description, “In Italy to promote his latest book, a middle-aged English writer meets a young French woman and jets off to San Gimignano with her.” [Eugene Hernandez]
“Fair Game,” directed by Doug Liman
With stars Naomi Watts and Sean Penn expected to walk the red carpet, the drama/thriller is based on a true story that rocked the Bush presidency. Watts plays outed CIA agent Valierie Plame whose status was revealed by a White House source in retaliation for her husband’s outspoken criticism of the administrations justification for invading Iraq. [Brian Brooks]
“Kaboom” by Gregg Araki
A sci-fi story centered around the sexual awakening of a group of college kids, “Kaboom” stars (ridiculously attractive) up-and-comers or near-unknowns including Roxanne Mesquida, Thomas Dekker, Rooney Mara, and Haley Bennett, in addition to Araki alum James Duval (“Totally Fucked Up,” “Nowhere”). [Peter Knegt]
“Miral,” directed by Julian Schnabel
Schnabel’s latest stars Freida Pinto, Willem Dafoe and Alexander Siddig. This time around, Schnabel focuses the lense on another true story. “Miral” takes a look at Hind Husseini and her quest to build an orphanage in Jerusalem in the wake of the establishment of Israel in 1948. [Brian Brooks]
“Potiche,” directed by Francois Ozon
Ozon’s new one is an adaptation of a French play set in a bourgeois province in 1977 and starring a veritable who’s who of the country’s best thesps, including Gerard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Ludivine Sagnier, Cecile De France, and Jeremie Renier. [Basil Tsiokos]
“Shit Year,” directed by Cam Archer
Watch for this one in a Cannes sidebar section that won’t be announced tomorrow. With the involvement of Ellen Barkin and Melora Walters, “Shit Year” should make for an accomplished sophomore effort. The film promises a tour de force performance from Barkin, playing a has-been Hollywood actress having a hard time facing retirement who begins an affair with a much younger actor, played by Luke Grimes (TV’s “Brothers & Sisters”). [Basil Tsiokos]
“Socialisme,” directed by Jean Luc Godard and others
Called, “A symphony in three movements,” this film seems to be a project by a number of directors including the revered Jean-Luc Godard. Singer/artist Patti Smith is supposedly starring. [Brian Brooks]
“Tamara Drewe,” directed by Stephen Frears
Frears latest is a comedy about a writer who returns to the English countryside where her childhood home is going up for sale. [Brian Brooks]
“The Turin Horse,” directed by Bela Tarr
According to Ion Cinema, Tarr’s latest is, “freely inspired by an episode that marked the end of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s career.” Watch for it in Cannes [Eugene Hernandez]
“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” directed by Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone’s sequel to “Wall Street” was recently moved to a late September slot, fueling speculation that shift was made to accommodate a Cannes worldwide premiere. [Nigel Smith]
“You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,” directed by Woody Allen
Starring Naomi Watts, Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Brolin and Freida Pinto, not too much is known about “Stranger,” though the film’s Facebook page (that’s right) reads: “A little romance, some sex, some treachery, and apart from that, a few laughs. The lives of a group of people, whose passions, ambitions and anxieties force them all into assorted troubles that run the gamut from ludicrous to dangerous.” Sounds like quintessential Woody. [Peter Knegt]
UPDATE: The Cannes Film Festival lineup was announced on Thursday morning at indieWIRE. For the latest on Cannes, follow us at @iWcannes on Twitter.
by Eugene Hernandez (April 15, 2010)
