Trying to work out what films to see at this years International Film Festival? One of the easy ways is just to go and see the ones that got awards at the Cannes Film Festival.
Trying to work out what films to see at this years International Film Festival? One of the easy ways is just to go and see the ones that got awards at the Cannes Film Festival. There are about twenty of these films in this years programme.
The list (see below) includes two New Zealand short films that won prizes at the prestigious European Film Festival.
“This is the largest haul of Cannes award-winners in the 43-year history of the Festival. New Zealand audiences will be the first outside Europe to see such a swathe of this year’s official selection from Cannes.” says Festival Director Bill Gosden.
One of the most highly anticipated films is Palme d’Or winner The Tree of Life, from director Terrence Malick and starring Brad Pitt.
“The selection is incredibly varied and reflects a stunningly strong year at Cannes. We have the birth of the world as envisioned by one filmmaker (Terrence Malick) and the death of it as envisaged by another (Lars von Trier). It’s tempting to say we also have everything else between.” says Gosden.
The much anticipated drama Melancholia, from controversial Danish director Lars von Trier has garnered praise and condemnation. Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian described it as “One wedding and a funeral – for the entire planet. That is what Lars von Trier is serving up in his latest extravaganza: a staggeringly tiresome and facetious film, supposedly about the end of the world.” Stephanie Bunbury in the Sydney Morning Herald saying "Magnificently realised, exultant in the face of its own gloom, Melancholia is the antidote to every action movie ever made in which the end of the world was averted – and where people thought that was a good thing".
One of the unassuming and delightful films of the festival is Medianeras which tells the story of Mariana and Martìn who live across from each other in Buenos Aires apartment buildings and spend there time just missing each other.
They pass each other, not knowing about the other’s existence. She goes up the stairs as he goes down the stairs; he gets on the bus just as she gets off the bus. They go to the same video rental shop, but a video rack separates them; they sit in the same row at the cinema, but the auditorium is dark. The city brings them together, and, at the same time, keeps them apart.
It’s a film in which very little happens but each moment of their two lives are beautifully observed. It starts out as a film about the way the impersonal city isolates people it but slowly grows into a film which shows how the individual lives build the notion of a great city
The full list of Cannes titles in the Festival programme are:
Palme d’Or
The Tree of Life, dir. Terrence Malick, USA
Grand Prix ex aequo
The Kid with a Bike (Le Gamin au vélo), dirs. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Bir zamanlar Anadolu’da), dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey
Best Screenplay
Joseph Cedar - Footnote (Hearat shulayim), dir: Joseph Cedar, Israel
Best Actress
Kirsten Dunst - Melancholia, dir. Lars von Trier, Denmark
Caméra d’or (Best First Film)
Las Acacias, dir. Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina
International Critics (FIPRESCI) Prize
Le Havre, dir. Aki Kaurismäki. Finland/France
Competition Official Selection
Michael, dir. Markus Schleinzer, Austria
Sleeping Beauty, dir. Julia Leigh, Australia
Competition Short Films Official Selection
Meathead, dir. Sam Holst, New Zealand
Special Jury Prize, Un Certain Regard
Elena, dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia
Un Certain Regard Official Selection
Beauty (Skoonheid), dir. Oliver Hermanus, South Africa
The Day He Arrives (Book chon bang hyang), dir. Hong Sang-soo, Korea
Martha Marcy May Marlene, dir. Sean Durkin, USA
The Yellow Sea (Hwanghae), dir. Na Hong-jin, Korea
Best European Film, Directors’ Fortnight
Breathing (Atmen), dir. Karl Markovics, Austria
Art Cinema Award + Prix SACD (Best French Language Film), Directors’ Fortnight
The Giants (Les géants), dir. Bouli Lanners, Belgium
Grand Prize, Critics’ Week
Take Shelter, dir. Jeff Nichols, USA
Special distinction of the President, Critics’ Week
Snowtown, dir. Justin Kurzel, Australia
Best Short Film, Critics’ Week
Blue, dir. Stephan Kang, New Zealand
Auckland Jul 14 - Aug 03
Christchurch Aug 11 - Aug 28
Dunedin Aug 04 - Aug 21
Gisborne Nov 03 - Nov 16
Greymouth Oct 13 - Oct 19
Hamilton Aug 25 - Sep 11
Hawke's Bay Sep 21 - Oct 09
Kerikeri Nov 10 - Nov 20
Masterton Oct 27 - Nov 09
Nelson Sep 01 - Sep 18
New Plymouth Sep 15 - Sep 28
Palmerston North Aug 18 - Sep 04
Tauranga Sep 08 - Sep 24
Wellington Jul 29 - Aug 14
