All the fun of the festival

As we mentioned in our news roundup, the 61st Cannes Film Festival begins on 14^th May. As usual there will be a broad selection of films on show encompassing the mainstream, the indie, the wonderful and the just plain weird with anyone and everyone who has a film to plug turning up (Lurid green thongs optional.)

President of the feature film competition this year is left wing Hollywood darling Sean Penn (who also appears in the festival’s closing film What Just Happened?). Natalie Portman and Alfonso Cuaron are the other more familiar names on a jury featuring industry figures from as far afield as France, Mexico and Thailand. As mentioned in the previous post, the competition will be launched by Fernando Merirelles’ Blindness, with 22 films in all competing for the coverted Palme D’Or, presented this year by Robert De Niro.

As well as the main prize there’s also the ‘Un Certain Regard’ (a varied mix of world cinema) and short films competitions to keep an eye on, as well as the films "out of competition" which include Woody Allen’s latest Vicky Cristina Barclelona. Indie National of course will be keeping you up to date with the winners. But away from the highbrow contenders (and Indiana Jones), the most fun to be had at Cannes is arguably found in Marché du Film. This commercial counterpart of the festival is the largest film market in the world, and is the reason why sights like Jerry Seinfeld in a giant bee suit jostle with the luminaries of art cinema on the beachfront. Purists may turn up their noses, but this cinematic meat market is vital for getting interest in your project, especially for smaller films. But that’s what’s so fascinating about Cannes: from high art to cold hard cash – all aspects of the film industry crammed into one location for 11 days.

Interestingly, festival organisers claim that the tone of this year’s festival is provided by the work of David Lynch. Apparently, the poster artist Pierre Collier has “designed an aesthetic environment for festival goers that can be seen outside and inside the Palais, as though declaring it the land of film.” Hopefully for festival goers this doesn’t mean that searching for the ladies loos will become a nightmarish journey through America’s dark side (possibly featuring lesbian dwarfs) , but then, you never do know what to expect at Cannes.

The rise of Canadian cinema

Gone are the days when Hollywood was all people talked about when it came to films. The rise of Bollywood and Nollywood have contributed to filmmaking being a truly global enterprise, but could Canada (Collywood?) be the next big thing?

Canadian film is entering a ‘golden age’, according to the Stephen Hunt in the Calgary Herald. And he could well be right. As he points out, Canadian directors and actors are being recognised, with Sarah Polley’s Away From Her which was nominated for multiple Oscars, as well the runaway success of Juno, the marmite must-see film of the year. Juno was directed by and stars two Canadians, and is just one of the recent successes for the industry.

Show Canada is an event which tries to get more independent Canadian films into cinemas. Naturally, this year they are hoping for great things. John Dippong, of Telefilm Canada, which funds homegrown productions says the success is down to Canada simply producing better films. He adds: “As an industry, right across the country, we’re maturing. We’ve basically got a really strong product this year.”

Not only that, but our friends across the Atlantic seem have the Midas touch when it comes to film festivals – Adoration, by Canadian director Atom Egoyan will be in the running at Cannes, and even better, joint Brazilian/Canadian-made flick Blindness, directed by Fernando Meirelles, (best known for City of God) will open Cannes. The festival has only opened with a Canadian production once before, in 1980 with Fantastica. However, last year’s celebration of the moving image closed with the Canadian Days of Darkness. Looks like Cannes is starting as it means to go on, and if the quality of film is anywhere near that of Juno (whatever you think of it) Canada is clearly a nation to watch – literally.

Indie Newsweek - 30th April 2008 - Page to screen and back again

So Guillermo Del Toro has finally been confirmed as director of the forthcoming The Hobbit prequels. After weeks of speculation and not-so secret discussion between almost everyone involved, it has been announced that the Mexican behind 2006’s stunning Pan’s Labyrinth will definitely helm the two films, expected to see release dates in 2011 and 2012.

Although it’s all change on the director front, much of the team behind the huge-selling original film trilogy are expected to return. Sir Ian McKellen’s Gandalf and Andy Serkis’ Gollum are back, and Peter Jackson will return for screenwriting duties with Lord of the Ring's scripters Phillippa Boyens and Fran Walsh. With effects maestros Weta also on board, and New Zealand once again standing in for Middle Earth, it would seem the project survived the protracted studio wrangling surprisingly intact…

Also making the journey from page to screen is Blindness, which will open the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Adapated from an acclaimed novel by Jose Sarmago, the thriller follows the lives of a city’s residents devastated by a sudden epidemic of blindness. Starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, Blindness is directed by Fernando Meirelles, whose biggest UK hit was 2005 political thriller The Constant Gardener. The film will kick off a festival which also includes new films from Charlie Kaufman, Clint Eastwood and – yes – the first look at Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Finally, following Issue 3’s look at the art of poster design (see Hands On, April 2008), we thought it’d be worth pointing you in the direction of the forthcoming Now Showing, an exhibition representing over 70 years worth of film in the form of specially commissioned prints.
Forty assorted “creative types” – from comic illustrator Nathan Fox to magazine designer Corey Holms – were invited to create “their own interpretation of a cult, classic or obscure film poster from the past, whether it be a literal or abstract solution.” Among the films tackled are Blade Runner, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Rear Window. None of them can be described as easy choices, since the films already have strong visual identities in their own right, but the organisers describe this as part of the appeal: “This project certainly wasn’t about redesigining ‘bad’ film posters; that was far from its objective. Most contributors taking part picked films that already had beautifully executed solutions. Having said that, there is never just one solution to a creative brief, as some of the classic films proved.” The exhibition runs from 29th May to 13th June at the COSH Gallery, Soho.