Cannes Diary #09: Some unexpected fireworks in Cannes

TFE has been proud to bring you double-sized Cannes coverage this year for the first time, direct from Cannes itself, as well as companion screening suggestions at home. 

by Elisa Giudici

July, 14th: Bastille Day! Let me be honest with you, I totally forgot the holiday was today (time becomes an endless flow/blur during Festivals) but in the morning every hotel, resturant and administrative building was covered by a lot (a lot) of French flags. Happy to report that inbetween two screenings, I was able to see the magnificent fireworks exhibition on the sea with a spectacular view from the press room.

Even happier to report that there were fireworks in the Competition screenings, too...

Click to read more ...

Cannes at Home: Day 9

by Cláudio Alves 

Today was a busy one for Spike Lee's jury. Because this year's Main Competition is so extensive, with 24 films vying for the Palme d'Or, some days feature three consecutive screenings. Still, that doesn't seem to abate anyone's enthusiasm. Lee himself was seen giving a standing ovation to Sean Baker's Red Rocket, the American director's first film to compete at Cannes. Hungarian Ildikó Enyedi also premiered The Story of My Wife, while previous Palme d'Or winner Jacques Audiard presented his Paris, 13th District. To celebrate these selected cineastes, we shall recall some of their best efforts to date. Among our program, we even find a drama led by one of Lee's fellow jurors, the recently Golden Globe and BAFTA-nominated Tahar Rahim…

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 ...

Bening's Jury Announced for Venice

Earlier this month, we learned that Annette Bening, hot off her best performance in 20th Century Women, would be presiding over the Venice Film Festival jury. The last female president was 11 years ago so good on Venice for fixing that. Now we know who'll be debating the selections with her as well as the complete jury lineups for all sections.

That's all after the jump...

Click to read more ...