The iconic red carpet rolled out along the French Riviera saw a steady flow of A-listers last week, as the Cannes Film Festival returned for its 78th year.
Running from 13 May to 24 May, this year’s Cannes Film Festival brought an exuberant lineup from directorial debuts to documentary features and so much more. The winner of the Palme d’Or this year – Cannes’ famed golden award – was announced on the 24 May with an award ceremony with It Was Just An Accident taking one of the film industry’s most prestigious prizes.
Alongside the new Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning and a whole host of directorial debuts, (Baby Girl’s Harris Dickinson with Urchin, Scarlett Johansson with Eleanor the Great, and Kristen Stewart with The Chronology of Water), here are the eight films everyone is – and should be – talking about, that you should bookmark to see as soon as they hit cinemas later this year.
It Was Just An Accident
The winner of this year’s Palme d’Or goes to Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident. The thriller opens with a newly married couple in Iran who are expecting a baby. After they hit a dog and their car consequently breaks down, the local engineer thinks he recognises the husband as an officer who tortured him. Throughout the film, the angry engineer, alongside a small group of people, are faced between their morality and what they believe to be justice.
Sentimental Value (Affeksjonsverdi)
Elle Fanning said it best with her slogan tee “Joachim Trier Summer”, and we are following suit. If you have ever seen Worst Person In The World (if you haven’t, we would recommend) you’ll understand how Danish American filmmaker Joachim Trier has captured a poignant yearning for “normalcy” and a want for a simple yet beautiful life. In Sentimental Value, a family of artists battle between art, family, and fame. The film received a 19-minute standing ovation at its Cannes premiere (long, even by Cannes’ standards) so if that’s anything to go by, it’s set to be good.
Romeria
Spanish director and screenwriter Carla Simón affords a very personal story and film with her newly debuted Romeria. Simón explains in an interview with Cannes Film Festival that “I think that Romeria originated from frustration linked to my family story. My parents died when I was young, both from AIDS […] in the late 1980s – when it was unfortunately common in Spain.” Protagonist Marina played by Llúcia Garcia heads to Vigo in the North of Spain, along the Atlantic coast to meet the family on her late father’s side (who passed away from a drug addiction and AIDs related complications) for the first time. It has rave reviews so far.
Put Your Soul On Your Hand And Walk
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk by Sepideh Farsi is a documentary film co-produced between France, Palestine, and Iran, with Annie Ohayon Deke of 24images and Javad Djavahery of Rêves d’Eau heading up the production. The team was unable to reach Gaza due to the ongoing war and genocide. So – following a word-of-mouth recommendation – they commissioned Fatma Hassona, an incredible 25-year-old photojournalist living in the north of Palestine’s Gaza to film a year-long video diary from her perspective. A raw and unwavering eye on both the humanity and suffering experienced here, the film documents the lives of Palestinians trapped in the coastal strip under heavy fire from Israel. Incredibly sadly, Fatma Hassona was killed with her family by Israeli military airstrikes in April this year, the day after the film received its ACID (Association du Cinema Independent pour sa Diffusion) Cannes Film Festival selection.
Die My Love
As soon as it premiered at Cannes, conversations of the prestigious “Palme d’Or” started swirling around Lynne Ramsay’s film Die My Love – always a good sign – based on Ariana Harwicz’s 2012 novel of the same title. Starring Jennifer Lawrence – who plays protagonist Grace, a mother struggling with bipolar disorder that gradually worsens as her husband (played by Robert Pattison) becomes increasingly unfaithful – the film is a sensual portrayal of how pleasure and pain intermingle.
The History of Sound
This WW1 drama stars Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor as two romantic lovers and folk song aficionados just as recorded music began its rise. Mescal plays shy singer from Kentucky, Lionel, while O’Connor plays confident student David, who embark on a countryside trip to produce and enjoy folk music, and fall into an amorous relationship. A poignant longing underpins the movie – as characteristic of wartime films – as the two explore their love and all the pressures that come with it.
Nouvelle Vague
Richard Linklater is commemorating this industry-defining era of film in his new French comedy-drama. Nouvelle Vague takes its name from the emerging film styles, directors, and movies produced in France from the 1950s to 1960s, defined by unconventional jump cuts, bold visuals, and expression. Jean-Luc Godard took the helm of this movement, especially with his 1960 movie Breathless (À Bout de Souffle) following the life of a young and impulsive criminal in Paris. Nouvelle Vague narrates the story behind the making of this film, with Jean-Luc Godard as the protagonist.
The Phoenician Scheme
Cinephile or not, Wes Anderson is a familiar name to us all. An idiosyncratic style of film that has practically become its own genre at this point, Wes Anderson is behind Asteroid City, The French Dispatch, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and many more films, and has inspired a wealth of exhibitions, including an upcoming one at London’s Design Museum. Known for their precise visual symmetry, still camera shots, idle time creating an underlying sense of melancholy, it seems that the new espionage black comedy film narrating a family business and the strained family relationships within it, The Phoenician Scheme fits the same bill.
Lead image: ROMERIA © QuimVives ElasticaFilms
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