THE THEME OF CINEMA INCLUDED IN THE 2023 SELECTIONS

On Saturday May 27, the Cannes Film Festival jury, chaired by Ruben Östlund, awarded the Palme d’Or to French director Justine Triet for her film “Anatomy of a Fall”.

For its part, the Queer Palm, created in 2010 by critic Franck Finance-Madureira to reward each year a film and short films dealing with LGBT+, feminist themes or challenging gender norms, was awarded to the film of ‘Hirokazu-Kore-Eda, “Monster”.

Of the 21 works presented, 4 featured characters from actresses or comedians. They are: “The Girls of Olfa”, fiction and documentary around a true story of disappearance in Tunisia; “May December” which vaporizes middle America with acid, “Asteroid City” a sophisticated stage show with the ideas by Wim Wenders and “Towards a radiant future” where Nanni Moretti paints a funny and disillusioned self-portrait.

Cinema, a key theme this year

Elsewhere, Ken Loach in “The Old Oak”, stages a slide show in the back room of a pub, like a movie showing. In “The Dead Leaves”, Aki Kurismäki, the cinema also has an important role. And this is also the case in several films of the other selections. Among these, we noted “Close your eyes”, the film by Spaniard Victor Erice in the Cannes Première selection; “The Book of Solutions” by Michel Gondry in the cinema fortnight, a self-portrait in which he uses Pierre Niney as a mirror; In “The Web”, the Korean Kim Jee Woo retraces the adventure of a filmmaker who tries to change the end of his film. “Portraits of ghosts” by Brazilian Kleber Mendoça Filho presented a documentary, a personal tribute to the cinema of his neighborhood, while retracing the history of the theaters of Récif, a city he has never left. This film reminds us that “cinema is more than an art, it’s a way of life”. The director evokes memories (photos of stars sold on the sidewalk, meeting place, titles and dates…). The films evoke a feeling of evaporation according to the directors who wish to testify for the posterity of their art.

Different styles

Whether regulars or new contenders, contenders had to rely on their idiosyncrasies, whether it was soundtrack, special effects for “The Zone of Interest” or medieval re-enactment for “Firebrand-The Game. of the Queen”, feats have been achieved and could become a model for the cinema to come. The spectators came out of the rooms both intrigued and disappointed, lost in an environment where reality and fiction merge. Be that as it may, Cannes remains Cannes, people continue to line up to see auteur films and then talk about cinema over a coffee.

A flamboyant stair climb

For the climb of the steps on May 16, a shower of stars was there, from Leonardo DiCaprio to Robert de Niro, Lily-Rose Depp and her prestigious dad Johnny Depp who was there for the presentation of the film “Jeanne du Barry” by Maïwenn but also Jane Fonda or Virginie Elfira. and Harrison Ford for the 5th installment of Indiana Jones.

This edition of the Festival was a mix of auteur films (“Lesherbes secs”, “The zone of interest”…) and more popular cinema (Dodin Bouffant). For the regulars, there were Kore-Eda, Kaurismäki , Wenders…) and those who came for the first time (Jonathan Glazer, Tran Anh Hung..) Some more radical works were subject to controversy:’ Club Zéro”, “Le Retour” by Catherine Corsini, “L’ last summer” by Catherine Breillat. We also note the presence of many documentaries.

Awards 2023

• Palme d’Or: Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet
• Grand Prize: The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer
• Jury Prize: Dead Leaves by Aki Kaurismaki.
• Best Actor Award: Koji Yakusho for Perfect Days
• Best Actress Award: Merve Dizdar for Dry Herbs
• Best Director Award: The Passion of Dodin Bouffant by Trần Anh Hùng
• Screenplay Award: Monster
• Golden Camera Award: Pham Thien An’s Golden Butterfly Tree
• Palme d’or for short film: 27 by Flóra Anna Buda
• Un Certain Regard Prize: How to have sex by Molly Manning Walker

The films presented out of competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival

• Jeanne du Barry by Maïwenn, in the opening film
• Killers of the Flower Moon by Martin Scorsese
• The Idol by Sam Levinson
• Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by James Mangold
• Abbé Pierre – A Life of Fighting by Frédéric Tellier
• Elementary (Pixar), closing film

The films presented at Cannes Premieres 2023

• Time to Love by Katell Quillévéré
• Closing Eyes by Victor Erice
• Bonnard, Pierre and Marthe by Martin Provost
• Kubi by Takeshi Kitano
• Perdidos en la noche d’Amat Escalante
• Love and Forests by Valérie Donzelli
• Eureka by Lisandro Alonso
• The midnight screenings of the Cannes Film Festival
• Omar the Strawberry by Ellias Belkeddar
• Just Philippot Acid
• Kennedy by Anurag Kashyap

The films presented in special screenings at the Cannes Film Festival 2023

1. Ghost Portraits of Kleber Mendonça Filho
2. The Sound of Time, Anselm Kiefer by Win Wenders
3. Steve McQueen’s Occupied City
4. Man in Black by Wang Bing
5. Little Girl Blue by Mona Achache
6. Bread and Roses by Sahra Mani
7. Anna Novion’s Theorem of Marguerite

The Un Certain Regard category at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival

• Los Deliquentes by Rodrigo Moreno
• How to have sex by Molly Manning Walker (Un Certain Regard Award)
• Goodbye Julia by Mohamed Kordofani
• Crowra by Joao Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora
• Simple as Sylvain by Monia Chokri
• The Mother of All Lies by Kadib Abyad
• Settlers by Felipe Galvez
• Augur of Baloji Tshiani
• Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice
• Rosalie by Stephanie Di Giusto
• The New Boy by Warwick Thornton
• If only I could hibernate by Zoljargal Purevdash
• Hopeless by Kim Chang-hoon
• Terrestrial verses by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami
• Nothing to Lose by Delphine Deloget
• The Packs of Kamal Lazraq
• The Animal Kingdom of Thomas Cailley (overture)
• Only the river flows by Wei Shujun
• One Night by Alex Lutz (closing film)

Palme d’Or

Rewarded by the Palme d’Or 2023, Justine Triet’s film “Anatomy of a fall” makes its director the 3rd sacred woman in the history of cinema. It took 12 days for the jury chaired by Ruben Östlund to view the 21 feature films in competition and choose the one that would be crowned. As with the opening ceremony, Chiara Mastroianni hosted the closing ceremony to announce the successor to the film “Without Filter” by the Swedish filmmaker and festival president this year.

“Anatomy of a fall” is the trial of a widow accused of the murder of her companion. We find the actress Sandra Hüller, also on the poster of “Zone of Interest”, Grand Prix this year in Cannes.

Sandra and Samuel have an 11-year-old visually impaired son, Daniel. All 3 have been living in the mountains for a year far from everything. One day, Samuel is found dead at the foot of their house, which leads to the opening of a suspicious death investigation. This film won the Palme d’Or this year and the director’s speech attracted controversy, accusing the government of “commodifying culture” and “breaking the cultural exception”. If the left supported her, the presidential majority attacked her for her “ingratitude”.

QueerPalm

The Queer Palm, prize which rewards films with LGBTQIA + themes, all sections combined, was awarded to the film by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda, “Monster”. The president of the jury was the American director John Cameron Mitchell. Classified in competition, this film is the story of young Mitan whose behavior is increasingly worrying. As his mother decides to confront her son’s educational team, everything seems to point to Minato’s teacher as responsible for her son’s problems. However, the truth is much more complex.

A Queer Palm for Best Short Film also went to “Boléro” by Nans Laborde-Jourdaa at Critics’ Week.

Palm dog for Messy, the star dog of “Anatomy of a fall”

Dogs are also entitled to a palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Messy, who plays Snoop, brings an additional reward to Justine Triet’s film, “Anatomie d’une chute”. He plays the guide dog of a visually impaired child. This year, we witnessed the appearance of a Grand Jury Prize, won by the dog seen in “The Dead Leaves”, that of “Vincent must die”, Susie who plays the role of Sultan, received the Prize of the incredible performance”. In addition, Ken Loach won the Grand Prix d’Honneur” from the Palm Dog jury for his entire career with a special mention for his film “The Old Oak” in competition.

Absent from the ceremony, the Boarder Collie was represented by a close cousin of the same breed. His coach left a video message from Messy.

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VERONIQUE YANG

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