58th Semaine de la Critique Selection

A few minutes ago organizers announced via social media the Festival de Cannes parallel section that always has unconventional films to say the least.  As of this moment the info is available only in French but imagine soon will be available in English. Update: all info is available in English too!

The Poster

Before diving into the selection will share info about the magnificent poster showcasing Félix Maritaud - winner of the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award - in a photo by Aurélie Lamachère in collaboration with les bons faiseurs agency.

Shot during the blue hour, the actor is one with the disturbing love-hungry character he embodies in Sauvage, Camille Vidal-Naquet’s first feature, which competed in the 2018 edition of La Semaine de la Critique.  Félix Maritaud plays Léo with candid animalistic energy; almost graceful, he’s an angel haunted by his demons.

The Jury

Also interesting is this year jury president as is none other than Ciro Guerra, whom is a newcommer (only 4 features and 4 shortflms) with tremendous success and international acclaim. The director will bestow La Semaine de la Critique’s Grand Prize for best feature, the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for short film and the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award for best actor or actress.

Along with him during this mission are the French-British actress Amira Casar - who came to La Semaine de la Critique with the delightful film Filles perdues, cheveux gras (Hypnotized and Hysterical - Hairstylist Wanted) - the French producer of Danish origin, Marianne Slot, co-producer of all Lars von Trier’s films, and also Lucrecia Martel, Thomas Vinterberg, Sergei Loznitsa, Naomi Kawase and Benedikt Erlingsson, whose feature film Woman at War was part of last year’s La Semaine de la Critique competition - the Congolese film journalist and critic Djia Mambu and the Italian screenwriter and director Jonas Carpignano, revealed at La Semaine de la Critique where he screened both his short film - A Ciambra- and his first feature - Mediterranea.  To learn more about the jurors go to official site here.

Next Step

Since 2014, La Semaine de la Critique has been helping young talented short filmmakers make their feature with its Next Step programme - strictly limited to the directors whose short films were selected by La Semaine de la Critique. After presenting their short film in Cannes in May, filmmakers are invited in Paris in December to take part in a workshop. Over five days, they receive advice from international consultants on developing their feature film, not only on screenwriting, but also soundtrack and market release.

The workshop is evolving for the next edition of La Semaine de la Critique with the creation of a competition: a professional jury composed of 3 professionals will award a director the Next Step Prize with a €5,000 endowment and an invitation to the Cannes Festival for the most promising short film. This year, Rosa Attab - Development Director at Why Not Productions; Mathilde Henrot - co-founder of FestivalScope and programmer of the Locarno Festival, Gaëlle Mareschi - Director of International sales at Kinology and co-founder of Fluxus Films. The Next Step Prize will be awarded on the Nespresso beach on Saturday 18 May.

The Selection

This year organizers received 1,605 short films and watched 1,050 features; among the 11 selected features, there are 8 first films and three second films.

This edition has 11 feature films and 15 short films; as always there are seven (7) feature films in Competition, which leaves four (4) films in Special Screenings.  There are ten (10) short films in Competition and five short films in two Special Screenings.

Most surprising is to find films from Latin America, well, to be exact: Central America, as there are 2 films, one feature and one short from Costa Rica and one feature by a Guatemalan director, César Díaz.   That's three films from a region that not often has films in Cannes, much less three, even when they are in a paralell section.  Great.

To read about each film at the official site go here. Female directors are in BLUE.

Feature Films Competition

(*) Abou Leila, Amin Sidi-Boumédiène, Algeria and France
(*) Ceniza Negra (Land of Ashes), Sofía Quirós Ubeda, Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile and France
Hvítur, Hvítur Dagur (A White, White Day), Hlynur Pálmason, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden
(*) J’ai perdu mon corps (I Lost My Body), Jérémy Clapin, France
(*) Nuestras Madres (Our Mothers), César Díaz, Belgium and France
(*) القديس المجهول The Unknown Saint, Alaa Eddine Aljem, Morocco, France, Qatar, Germany and Lebanon
Vivarium, Lorcan Finnegan, Ireland and Belgium

Special Screenings
Opening Film: Litigante, Franco Lolli, Colombia and France
Closing Film: (*) Chun jiang shui nuan (Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains), Gu Xiaogang, China
(*) Les héros ne meurent jamais (Heroes Don't Die), Aude Léa Rapin, Bosnia Herzegovina, France and Belgium
(*) Tu mérites un amour (You Deserve Love), Hafsia Herzi, France

(*) First Feature Film Competiting for the Camera d'Or

Short Films in Competition

Dia de festa (Party Day), Sofia Bost, Portugal, 17'
Fakh (The Trap), Nada Riyadh, Egypt and Germany, 20'
Ikki illa meint, Andrias Høgenni, Denmark and Faroe Islands, 21'
Journey Through a Body, Camille Degeye, France, 31'
Kolektyviniai sodai (Community Gardens), Vytautas Katkus, Lithuania, 15'
Lucía en el limbo, Valentina Maurel, Belgium, France and Costa Rica, 20'
The Manila Lover, Johanna Pyykkö, Norway and Philippines, 26'
Mardi de 8 à 18 (Tuesday From 8 to 6), Cecilia de Arce, France, 26'
南方少女 She Runs, Qiu Yang, China and France, 20'
Ultimul Drum Spre Mare (The Last Trip to the Seaside), Adi Boicu, Romania, 12'

Special Screenings
Demonic, Pia Borg, Australia, 28'
Naptha, Moin Hussain, UK, 18'
Please Speak Continuously and Describe Your Experiences as They Come to You, Brandon Cronenberg, Canada, 9'
Invisível Herói (Invisible Hero), Cristèle Alves Meira, Portugal and France, 28'
Tenzo, Katsuya Tomita, Japan, 59'

Invitation to the Morelia International Film Festival
Selection of 4 short films
El Aire Delgado (The Thin Air), Pablo Giles, Mexico 30'
La Chica Con Dos Cabezas (The Girl with Two Heads), Betzabé García, Mexico, 13'
San Miguel, Cris Gris, Mexico and USA, 19'
Satán, Carlos Tapia González, Switzerland, 17'

Video with Charles Tesson, Semaine de la Critique Artistic Director, presentation of the 2019 selection.