Cannes Diary #5: Genies, Spies, Influencers, and Xenophobia

by Elisa Giudici

Sometimes I wish people who plan the daily schedule of festivals would love their audiences more. Placing a Cristian Mungiu movie at the end of very long day of screenings is a challenge. Even the most hardy of festivalgoers might have trouble. Why not use a more energetic movie for the 10 PM slot like Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness? Sorry for whining a little, but sometimes the real struggle is to give every movie the right chance to shine. Revising titles after seeing them at festivals throughout the years, I've noticed that late night spots sometimes result in harsher reviews than the film deserved.

After the jump three main competition films plus the buzzy Three Thousand Years of Longing from George Miller starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton... 

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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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Cannes Prizes Pt 1: Sidebar Glories and Oscar Dreams

Congratulations to this poodle below from The Meyerowitz Stories who won the coveted Palme Dog

The Palme Dog is not an official prize from the festival itself but it's always fun to see who wins. Past years winners have been the utterly adorable bulldog from Paterson (2016), the Maltese from Arabian Nights (2014), Uggie from The Artist (2011) and so on. The Palme Dog people also gave an honorary to the bomb sniffing dogs working Cannes to ensure the safety of the industry professionals attending. 

But wait that's not all. Two of the official Cannes juries also named their winners in advance of tomorrow's main closing night ceremony. Read about them after the jump...

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Cannes Poster Unveiled

Claudia Cardinale is this poster girl for the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival (May 17th-28th). 

The Italian star, whose credits include classics like 8½, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Leopard, Big Deal on Madonna Street, and Rocco and His Brothers is 78 now. She's still a regular on film festival red carpets. This photo of her was taken in 1959 when she was just 21 (and people are not happy that it's been reportedly airbrushed to make her thighs smaller.)

More news: Another Italian goddess Monica Bellucci has been named the Mistress of Ceremonies; Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu (4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days,  Beyond the Hills) will preside over the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury; and the Main Competition Jury president is Spain's Pedro Almodóvar. We don't yet know what the films he'll be judging are (and who will be on his jury) but speculated titles include Alexander Payne's Downsizing, Todd Haynes Wonderstruck, Michael Haneke's Happy End, and Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled. 

European Film Award Nominations. Good news for 8 Oscar contenders

The Precursors are coming! The Precursors are coming! Though the European Film Awards hardly have Oscar on their minds when they vote (bless them) it's all part of the grand circus of November-February honors to commemorate each film year. Several European films hoping to score Oscar nods in the Foreign Language Film race have reason to be hopeful given their warm embrace here.

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