51st Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Selection

Yesterday organizers announced the selection to the pleasant surprise of many as includes many of the 2019 most expected films by extraordinary master filmmakers.  Great.

Before getting into the list, a few words about the poster.  Both naturalistic and transfigured, photographer Robert Schlaug's picture evokes a road to travel as well as an acceleration, an eye movement.  Between realism and digital artifact, the artist's intervention disrupts codes and questions our perception, recalling the spirit of the films presented over the last 50 years bye de Directors' Fortnight.

There are three Virtual Reality installations by Laurie Anderson and Hsin-Chien Huang: called Go Where You Look! Falling Off Snow Mountain; the installation has three pieces Aloft, Chalkroom and To The Moon.  Both Aloft and Chalkroom are currently installed in MASS MoCA in North Adams Massachusetts. Under its Italian title “La Camera Insabbiata” it won the award for “Best VR Experience” at the Venice Film Festival. To the Moon was commissioned by Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark. Presenting these installations together in the Cannes Film Festival provides a unique opportunity to see new relationships between the them as well as a chance to see these works in the context of a film festival that promotes mainstream as well as experimental and high cinema.  To read more about the special event go official site here.

Selection has films by well-established directors like outstanding Lav Diaz, Takashi Miike, and Bertrand Bonello plus films by new but well-known directors like Rebecca Zlotowski, Quentin Dupieux, Johnny Ma among others.  These films will allow actors like Fabrice Luchini, Anaïs Demoustier, Adèle Haenel, Jean Dujardin, and more to visit Cannes once again.

Most intesting is to notice a milestone achievement when Adèle Haenel becomes I believe, the first actor to have in the same year a film selected in the Official Selection, La Semaine de Critique and La Quinzaine! Congratulation to this young actress.  This means her films were able to pass and succeed in three different selection committees! Major achievement!  Also means how multifaceted she is when selecting her roles, as films can't be more different one from each other.

We know the Festival de Cannes organizers banned Netflix, but to the surprise of many, there is a Netflix film in the Directors' Fortnight.  If you're familiar with the festival you have to know that this is a parallel section that runs along the festival BUT is independent from it as it's organized by France's directors' guild, the Société des Réalisateurs de Film (SRF).  Seems this directors event doesn't have financing (ie money) from any of the French strong theatre owners groups or individuals (the festival does have); so, the Quinzaine can honor films, movies no matter how they're distributed or where audiences decide to watch them.  Great! The film is Wounds by Babak Anvari that premiered at 2019 Sundance.

The Quinzaine will be held from May 15 to May 25.  Female directors are in BLUE.

The Selection

Feature Films

Opening Film: Le Daim (Deerskin), Quentin Dupieux, France
Closing Film: Yves, Benoît Forgeard, France
Alice et le Maire (Alice and the Mayor), Nicolas Pariser, France
And Then We Danced, Levan Akin, Sweden, Georgia, France
Ang Hupa (The Halt), Lav Diaz,  China and Philippines
(*)  Canción Sin Nombre (Song Without a Name), Melina León, Switzerland and Peru (1st film)
Ghost Tropic, Bas Devos, Belgium
Give Me Liberty, Kiril Mikhanovsky, USA
活着唱着 Hatsukoi (First Love), Takashi Miike, UK and Japan
Huo zhe chang zhe (To Live to Sing), Johnny Ma, France and China
Koirat eivät käytä housuja (Dogs Don't Wear Pants), Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää, Finlandia and Latvia
The Lighthouse, Robert Eggers, USA and Canada
(*)  Lillian, Andreas Horvath, Austria (1st film)
Oleg, Juris Kursietis, Latvia, Belgium, Lithuania and France
On Va Tout Péter (Blow it to Bits), Lech Kowalski, France (documentary)
(*)  Les Particules, Blaise Harrison, Switzerland and France (1st film)
Parwareshgah (The Orphanage), Shahrbanoo Sadat, Denmark, Germany, France and Afghanistan
(*)  Perdrix (The Bare Necessity), Erwan Le Duc, France (1st film)
Por el Dinero (For the Money), Alejo Moguillansky, Argentina
(*)  Sem seu Sangue (Sick Sick Sick), Alice Furtado, Brazil, Netherlands and France (1st film)
Tlamess, Ala Eddine Slim, Tunisa and France
Une fille facile (An Easy Girl), Rebecca Zlotowski, France
Wounds, Babak Anvari, USA
Zombi Child, Bertrand Bonello, France

Special Sessions
Masterclass with Robert Rodriguez followed by his Red 11, USA
The Staggering Girl, Luca Guadagnino, Italy (medium-lenght film)

(*) First Film. Competes for the Camera d'Or.

Shorts and Medium Films

Deux sœurs qui ne sont pas sœurs (Two Sisters Who are not Sisters), Beatrice Gibson, UK, Germany, Canada and France
Grand Bouquet, Nao Yoshigai, Japan
Hãy Tỉnh Thức và Sẵn Sàng (Stay Awake, Be Ready), An Pham Thien, Vietnam, South Korea and USA
Je te tiens, Sergio Caballero, Spain
Les Extraordinaires mésaventures de la jeune fille de pierre (The Marvelous Misadventures of the Stone Lady), Gabriel Arantes, Portugal and France
Movements, Dahee Jeong, South Korea (animation)
Olla, Ariane Labed, France and UK
Piece of Meat, Jerrold Chong and Huang Junxiang, Singapore (animation)
Plaisir fantôme (Ghost Pleasure), Morgan Simon, France
That Which is to Come is Just a Promise, Flatform, Italy, Netherlands and New Zealand

Worth to mention that this year France's directors' guild, the Société des Réalisateurs de Film (SRF), has announced it will honor John Carpeter with its Carrosse d'Or on the opening night of 2019 edition.

To watch a video of the official announcement go facebook here, available only in French or watch the following video.  To check selection at official site go here.