CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

The 64th Festival de Cannes lineup was unveiled a few days ago, and this year even more than others, makes me green with anger that I won't be in France come May 11 - 22. Personally, I'm most excited about the prospect of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, Lars Von Trier's Melancholia and new-jack Julia Leigh with her premiere film Sleeping Beauty. That being said, there's no shortage of blue-ribbon directors that will be strutting their stuff over that week and a half block.

A special mentioning to This Must Be the Place by Paolo Sorrentino--which sees a bored, retired rock star (Sean Penn, who inexplicably continues to bag Scarlett Johansson) who sets out to find his father's executioner: an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the United States (an obvious romantic comedy). More importantly, the title brings me back to the annual Sioui excursion to Myrtle Beach, SC (otherwise known as the Mini Golf Capital of the World, while also rivaling Daytona Beach, FL, as the white-trashiest place on Earth). For ten glorious days, we would tan our pale skin on the beaches and poolside at the Cadillac Court. This must be the place indeed.

As usual, there's a steady crop of American and foreign titles that will be battling for the Palme D'Or (best film) in the 'In Competition' category, while the rest are mainly split up between 'Un Certain Regard' (films from different cultures, which hope to search out a wider audience), and 'Out of Competition' (not unlike the In Competition group, only not eligible for the grand prize).

See the list of all entries after the break. 



In Competition

La Piel Que Habito (The Skin that I Live In) - directed by Pedro Almodovar
L'Apollonide - directed by Bertrand Bonello
Drive - directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Footnote - directed by Joseph Cedar
Ichimei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai) - directed by Takashi Miike
Le Havre - directed by Aki Kaurismäki
Hanezu No Tsuki - directed by Naomi Kawase
The Kid with the Bike - directed by Dardenne Brothers
Melancholia - directed Lars Von Trier
Michael - directed by Markus Schleinzer
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Parter - directed by Alain Cavalier
Polisse - directed by Maiwenn
Sleeping Beauty - directed by Julia Leigh
La Source des Femmes - directed by Radu Mihaileanu
This Must Be the Place - directed by Paolo Sorrentino
The Tree of Life - directed by Terrence Malick
We Have a Pope - directed by Nanni Moretti
We Need to Talk About Kevin - directed by Lynne Ramsay

Out of Competition

The Artiset - directed by Michel Hazanavicius
The Beaver - directed by Jodie Foster
La Conquête - directed by Xavier Durringer
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - directed by Rob Marshall

(Midnight Screenings)
Wu Xia - directed by Chan Peter Ho-Sun
Dias de Gracia - directed by Everado Gout

(Special Screenings)
Labrador - directed by Frederikke Aspöck
Le Maître des Forges de l'Enfer - directed by Rithy Panh
Michel Petrucciani - directed by Michael Radford
Tous au Larzac - directed by Christian Rouard

Un Certain Regard

Bonsaï - directed by Christian Jimenez
The Day He Arrives - directed by Hong Sang-Soo
Et Maintenant, On Va Ou? - directed by Nadine Labaki
Halt auf Freier Strecke - directed by Andreas Dresen
Hors Satan - directed by Bruno Dumont
The Hunter - Bakur Bakuradze
Martha Marcy May Marlene - directed by Sean Durkin
Les Neiges du Kilimanjaro - directed by Robert Guédiguian
Restless - directed by Gus Van Sant
Skoonheid - directed by Oliver Hermanus
Tatsumi - directed by Eric Khoo
Arirang - directed by Kim Ki-Duk
Toomelah - directed by Ivan Sen
Oslo, August 31st - directed by Joachim Trier
L'Exercice de L'Etat - directed by Pierre Schoeller
Trabalhar Cansa - directed by Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra
Miss Bala - directed by Gerardo Naranjo
Loverboy - directed by Catalin Mitulescu
Yellow Sea - directed by Na Hong-jin