55th Semaine de la Critique Poster

The oldest among the parallel sections of the Cannes Film Festival, La Semaine de la Critique will celebrate its 55th edition by putting the spotlight on the films and talents discovered since its 50th anniversary.

In collaboration with the Parisian agency les bons faiseurs, La Semaine chose the image which better reflects this 50+5 edition: the magnificent actress Jessica Chastain in a scene from Take Shelter, second feature film by Jeff Nichols where her performance in one of her first leading roles was particularly remarked.

Winner of the Nespresso Grand Prize at the 50th edition of La Semaine, Jeff Nichols, whose promising and very personal universe was already acknowledged, became a prominent talent with such films as Mud, in the 2012 Official Competition in Cannes, then with Midnight Special, competing for the Golden Bear at the 2016 Berlinale.

In this picture taken from Jeff Nichols’ film, the actress seems to both cunningly and serenely gauge the ground covered since the 50th edition, from Terrence Malick to Kathryn Bigelow, not to mention Christopher Nolan, J.C. Chandor or Ridley Scott.

The splendid career path of these two artists in the past 5 years marvelously illustrates what La Semaine de la Critique mainly stands for: taking up the challenge of new film and discovering emerging talents worldwide since their very first artwork.

Jeff Nichols: “To have Take Shelter included really was a career high at the time. I started to believe in the reality of this amazing career trajectory I've been on since 2011.The Nespresso Grand Prize most definitely influenced my career, it elevated both the film, and my reputation as a filmmaker, to a level that would have taken years to achieve through other avenues."

La Semaine de la Critique will be held in Cannes from May 12th to the 20th. Valérie Donzelli will preside over a jury exceptionally composed this year of 5 talents revealed by La Semaine: Alice Winocour, Nadav Lapid, David Robert Mitchell and Santiago Mitre. They will bestow the Nespresso Grand Prize, the France 4 Visionary Award and the Leica Cine Discovery Prize for best short film.

The Selection will this year be announced on the 18th of April.

Here are more samples with the graphic design.