Interview: Director and star of the essential new film 'Happening'

by Nathaniel R

HAPPENING French poster (left), Actress Anamaria Vartolomei and Director Audrey Diwan in Venice (right)

Last year The Film Experience had two teammates in Venice for the first time. The Power of the Dog emerged as the buzziest title given its legendary director and a never better star. Another legendary director guided his celebrated muse to a Best Actress win with Parallel Mothers. But the revelation of the festival, since no one saw it coming, proved to be the intimate drama Happening from French writer/director Audrey Diwan. Elisa and I both raved about it in our festival coverage. When the festival came to a close Happening triumphed taking home the top prize, the Golden Lion. It's finally in US movie theaters courtesy of IFC Films. You shouldn't miss it.

The film, based on Annie Ernaux's memoir, is about a young gifted student who experiences an unwanted pregnancy in the 1960s. She doesn't know who to turn to for help or what can be done (abortion was then  illegal in France). The filmmaker Audrey Diwan also came, initially, from the world of literature "I know this character. I've been reading about her forever since Annie Ernaux's work is always autobiographical." Diwan's own journey as an artist wasn't as clear to her at first. "I told myself I had to take my time in order to figure out exactly what matters to me and what I have to say." That patience and her clarity of vision has served her well in her breakthrough feature. I recently sat down with her and Happening's 23 year old tremendous leading lady Anamaria Vartolomei for a chat about their movie...

Click to read more ...

Drive My Cannes: The New Competition Lineup!

Direct from France, please welcome longtime reader / first time contributor Arnaud Trouvé to talk about the Cannes festival and share the new lineup... uPDATE 04/23: new additions indicated below under red headlines

Ruben Östlund's "Triangle of Sadness" © SF Studios

by Arnaud Trouvé

My first encounter with the Cannes Film Festival was in 1998, when Roberto Benigni kissed Martin Scorsese’s feet after winning the Grand Prix for Life is Beautiful (which he mistakenly took for the Palme d’Or). Cannes ceremonies are always broadcast live on French TV and my interest grew rapidly over the years. Flash-forward to 2009: the Paris visual effects company I’m working for had to deliver over a hundred shots for an upcoming production destined for the Croisette. "It has to be ready for Cannes," was the motto as we worked on a very tight schedule. This production happened to be Gaspar Noé’s Enter The Void and we managed to screen it in Competition at the last minute, with no opening or closing credits!

A decade later, the announcement of the Cannes lineup is still an annual event for cinephiles around the world. And after a bonkers ceremony in the summer of 2021 that saw the victory of Titane, the festival is ready to get back to its usual May slot. Let’s have a look at its anticipated official selection unveiled today by artistic director Thierry Frémaux...

Click to read more ...

César Nominations: 'Lost Illusions' and 'Annette' score but 'Titane' struggles

by Nathaniel R

France's own Oscar-like ceremony the Césars will take place this year on February 25th and they've just released their list of nominations. In a mild surprise this past summer's Palme d'Or winner Titane did not do well in the nominations scoring in only 4 categories (Director, Female Newcomer, Cinematography, and Visual Effects). Instead the nominations were led by the costume drama Lost Illusions (15 nominations) which premiered at Venice. Other quick items of note: Canadian writer/director/actor Xavier Dolan, a perennial favourite at Cannes, picked up his first César nomination (Best Supporting Actor). Adam Driver also received an acting nomination for the musical Annette (it's very rare for US stars to be nominated there). Cate Blanchett will be receiving the Honorary César this year. 

The nominations and a few comments are after the jump. If we've written about the film, it's linked up, and since we love French cinema we've covered quite a few of these...

Click to read more ...

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?

Click to read more ...

Links: French Exit, Barb and Star, and More...

• Sundays with Cate Murtada on Michelle Pfeiffer in French Exit which has finally been released
• ...TFE and my own take in case you're finally seeing the movie (which I'm hoping to watch again very soon now that I'm acclimated as a huge fan of the novel)
• Vogue on Pfeiffer's expensive wardrobe in the picture
• THR "Searching for Shelley Duvall" -someone we missed this profile from Seth Abrahamovitch. Duvall, who has been absent from the public eye for years and years talks with him about fleeing Hollywood and The Shining.
• AV Club revisiting a musical number from Muppets Treasure Island that speaks to the now “Cabin Fever”
•  Coming Soon speaking of musical numbers. A new musical animated short called “Us Again” will premiere before Disney’s Raya and teh Last Dragon in its theatrical run next month.

More after the jump including Bridgerton news, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, Frankenstein movies, and yet another remake of The Three Musketeers...

Click to read more ...