NEON out there trying to hog the entire Best International Feature Film category!

by Nathaniel R

Dear reader, every time I've attempted to write anything regarding the Best International Feature Film race, another film was announced. Can't keep up! We're now up to 64 official submissions (the number is likely to top out in the 80s so 20ish films to go) with dozens of announcements since we last tried to get something on the main page. The big news is that France chose Jafar Panahi's It Was Just An Accident (We wonder what the average Frenchmen makes of two films in a row that aren't in French being submitted!), Spain chose Sirat by Oliver Laxe, and Brazil made it official with The Secret Agent by Aquarius / Bacarau director Kleber Mendoca Filho. All three films were sensations at Cannes and all three will be distributed by NEON in the US over the next two months.  NEON is poised to utterly dominate conversations around this Oscar race since they now have five super-buzzy contenders for this category including previously announced titles from major auteurs: Norway's Joachim Trier is back with Sentimental Value and South Korea's Park Chan-wook is in the house with No Other Choice. 

At this writing (Friday, Sept 19th, around 3:00 pm) 26 of the 62 films have secured distributions so more on when they're arriving after the jump...

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Cannes Diary 07: Palme d'Or Winner "It was just an accident"

by Elisa Giudici

Jafar Panahi's "It was just an accident"

In awarding the Palme d'Or to Jafar Panahi, Jury President Juliette Binoche was keen to emphasize that the prize was not awarded due to the notorious political and judicial circumstances surrounding the Iranian filmmaker, but rather for the profound humanity that permeates his cinema. The reference, quite evidently, was to those who venomously suggest that the oppressive conditions Panahi and his colleagues have battled for decades somehow aid their entry into the festival's honor roll. Yet, the issue is far more complex, much like the narrative of It Was Just an Accident itself...

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