Almost There: Joanne Woodward in "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds"

by Cláudio Alves

In anticipation of the upcoming 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, the next few weeks of the Almost There series will be dedicated to performances that won big at the Croisette and went on to some Oscar buzz. That being said, the first entry in this quasi-miniseries didn't convert Cannes plaudits into industry awards attention. The opposite happened. After opening commercially in the USA at the end of 1972, Paul Newman's third directorial effort, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, got slotted into the main competition of the following year's Cannes Film Festival. By the time Joanne Woodward won the festivities' Best Actress prize, her new Oscar dreams were already busted…

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74th Cannes. Directors' Fortnight Selection

The Cannes festival runs July 6th through July 17th this year (departing from the usual May) due to taking a year off given COVID-19. After the Main Competition, Un Certain Regard, and Critics Week we have the announcement of the final section: Directors Fortnight. Let's investigate that new group of films though this is the list we have the least information about.

DIRECTORS FORTNIGHT
If a film has an asterisk it's a debut and thus eligible for the Camera d'Or.

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74th Cannes. The Critics Week Films

by Nathaniel R

Déborah Lukumuena, who made her film debut in "Divines" co-stars in Opening Night film "Robuste"

In case you missed our previous Cannes rounds up we discussed the Official Competition as well as Un Certain Regard and Special Screenings. Why are we always late with these roundups? Because we like to give you more than just a list of titles that you can get at press releases (and every site) but more info on the films. The following titles are playing in Critics Week. Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu who won the Palme d'Or for the great 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days is presiding over this particular jury. Fun fact: ALL of the competition films at Critics Week this time are debuts and are thus eligible for the Camera d'Or (which has a separate jury)

Details on the films are after the jump...

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74th Cannes. Un Certain Regard, Special Screenings, and More...

by Nathaniel R

Todd Haynes' first documentary is about the seminal band, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

We've already looked at the competition lineup so here are the other key sections. It's worth noting that though the press mostly focuses on the Competition films, sometimes the buzziest titles come from other sections. There are some juries that pull from multiple sections too like the Camera d'Or jury (which honors first films), as well as two unofficial but exciting competitions, the Queer Palm and the fan favourite the Palm Dog (which names the best dog in the festival... and it's often much more competitive than you'd think with some years offering multiple win-worthy candidates). Director's Fortnight and Critics Week lineups haven't been announced yet but here are the rest of them...

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74th Cannes. The Competition Lineup!

by Nathaniel R

The official lineup for the 74th Cannes Film Festival has been announced. It's always an exciting time for cinephiles, doubly so this year since the festival had to be cancelled last season due to COVID-19. This year four actors have multiple films in contention: Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Rampling, Anders Danielsen Lie, and the probably queen of the festival France's Léa Seydoux who has three films in the main competition and another in Un Certain Regard!  We already know that Spike Lee will be presiding over the jury, since he was supposed to do that last year (though we don't know who will be on the jury with him yet).

Cannes has been criticized for years for their lack of gender parity in direction. They're likedly to be criticized again with only 4 of the 24 competition films from female auteurs but that's actually a huge improvement for the world's most famous film festival. As per usual French and English language films dominate though there are actually only three films from the USA in competition this year (Flag Day, The French Dispatch, and Red Rocket) Anyway let's look at the official lineup. More to come since there are other sections, too.

24 Official Competition Films
Who will win the Palme D'Or, Director, and Acting prizes. Care to place any bets?

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