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WESTERN A Film by VALESKA GRISEBACH
2017 - Drama - Germany/Bulgaria/Austria - DCP - 1.85 - 119min with Meinhard
SCREENINGS Thu May 18th 11:00 DEBUSSY Public Thu May 18th 22:00 DEBUSSY Official Fri May 19th 09:15 LERINS 4 Market
Neumann, Reinhardt Wetrek
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LOS PERROS A Film by MARCELA SAID
2017 - Drama - France/Chile - DCP - 1.85 - 94min with Antonia
SCREENINGS Thu May 18th 11:45 ESPACE MIRAMAR Public Thu May 18th 16:00 ESPACE MIRAMAR Official Thu May 18th 22:30 ESPACE MIRAMAR Public
Zegers, Alfredo Castro
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GABRIEL AND THE MOUNTAIN A Film by FELLIPE BARBOSA
2017 - Drama - Brazil/France/Kenya - DCP - 1.85 - 127min with João Pedro Zappa, Caroline Abras
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THE CAKEMAKER A Film by OFIR RAUL GRAIZER
2017 - Drama - Germany/Israel - DCP - 2.39 - 104min with Tim Kalkhof, Sarah Adler
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JUZE
2017 - Drama - India/United Kingdom/France/The Netherlands DCP - 2.39 - 93min with Rushikesh
Gauri Kamat
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Naik, Sudesh Bhise, Prashanti Talpankar,
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ON BODY AND SOUL
JOAQUIM
A Film by MARCELO GOMES (Brazil - 97min)
A Film by ILDIKO ENYEDI (Hungary - 116min)
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DEVIL’S FREEDOM
A Film by TERESA VILLAVERDE (Portugal/France - 136min)
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A Film by DANIELA THOMAS (Brazil/Portugal - 114min)
A Film by PHILIPPE VAN LEEUW (Belgium - 85min)
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MARIE CURIE–THE COURAGE OF KNOWLEDGE A Film by MARIE NOËLLE (Germany/France/Poland - 95min)
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JULIE AND THE SHOE FACTORY A Film by KOSTIA TESTUT & PAUL CALORI (France - 90min)
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CANNES 2017
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TODAY
Ismael’s Ghosts, review, page 26
NEWS Squaring up Competition title scores key deals » Page 4
Gerwig, Turturro head to Hansen-Love’s Island Journey’s End
Lionsgate UK sets off on Journey’s End BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
Lionsgate UK has picked up rights to Sam Claflin war drama Journey’s End from Metro International. The Hunger Games and Me Before You star plays the lead in the adaptation of RC Sherriff ’s 1928 play about trench warfare. Asa Butterfield, Paul Bettany and Toby Jones co-star. Saul Dibb (The Duchess) directs. The film, currently in post-production, was adapted for the screen by Simon Reade. Natalie Brenner, Metro International’s head of sales, negotiated the deal with Nick Manzi, head of production and acquisitions at Lionsgate UK. Guy de Beaujeu produces alongside Reade through Fluidity Films. Financiers include the BFI, Fluidity Films, British Film Company, Metro International, Ingenious, the Welsh government’s Media Investment Budget and Adrian Politowski’s Umedia. Zygi Kamasa, CEO of Lionsgate’s European office, said: “Adding Journey’s End to our slate continues our robust investment into diverse and quality British films.”
BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Greta Gerwig, Mia Wasikowska and John Turturro have signed for French filmmaker Mia HansenLove’s English-language debut Bergman Island, set on the Swedish island of Faro that was home to the late director Ingmar Bergman. The film is about an American filmmaking couple who retreat to the island for the summer to write screenplays for their upcoming
mer of 2018, coinciding with the centenary of Bergman’s birth. Other upcoming titles on CG Cinema’s increasingly high-profile slate include Deniz Gamze Erguven’s LA riots drama Kings, which is in post-production. First images will be shown at Cannes by sales agent IMR. The company is also casting Olivier Assayas’ next French-language feature, which will shoot by the end of 2017.
A complex tale within a tale » Page 26
FEATURES Cannes Classic Gilles Jacob on a life in film » Page 64
IN LOVE WITH LOVELESS Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North and Latin American rights to Loveless ahead of its world premiere in Competition. Wild Bunch is selling the movie and inked a UK deal with Altitude.
Hubert Boesl
Buyers circle Waititi’s Bubbles BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
ALL SMILES ON THE NIGHT Cannes jury head Pedro Almodovar, Lily-Rose Depp, Competition jurors Will Smith and Jessica Chastain, and filmmaker Asghar Farhadi on stage at the festival’s opening ceremony
Toei to make live-action anime Japan’s Toei Animation is teaming with Hong Kong-based A Really Good Film Company (ARGF) to produce an English-language, live-action film version of hot Toei anime property Saint Seiya: Knights Of The Zodiac. Based on Masami Kurumada’s bestselling manga about a group of mystical warriors, Saint Seiya is one of the world’s biggest animated franchises, with total revenue of more than $1.1bn since 1986. Toei
films. Once there, the lines between reality and fiction start to blur. Hansen-Love’s long-time producer Charles Gillibert is launching financing on the project at Cannes under his CG Cinema banner. A sales agent has yet to be set. The production, which was developed with the support of Sweden’s Filmregion StockholmMalardalen through its Gotlands Filmfond, will shoot in the sum-
REVIEW Ismael’s Ghosts
Animation has produced more than 250 TV episodes and six features, released in more than 80 countries. ARGF has joined Toei Animation as its development and China co-production partner for the project and will be handling Greater China distribution. Yoshi Ikezawa and Joseph Chou of Toei Animation will serve as producers, along with ARGF founder Jeffrey Chan. Liz Shackleton
WestEnd looks sharp with Grace Jones documentary BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
WestEnd Films has boarded world sales rights to doc-biopic Grace Jones: Bloodlight And Bami, directed by Sophie Fiennes. The cinéma vérité-style documentary, more than five years in the making, explores the performance, private and public worlds of the pop-culture icon, known for her diverse career as a singer, model and actress. The film is currently in post-production.
The acquisition comes under the banner of the company’s female audience brand, WeLove, aimed at developing and producing femalespecific content and promoting female talent. Producers are Katie Holly of Blinder Films, alongside Fiennes, Shani Hinton and Beverly Jones. Backers are BBC Films, the BFI, the Irish Film Board and Roads Entertainment. WestEnd will screen footage in Cannes.
As Screen went to press, Netflix and Amazon were among buyers circling a splashy fullfinance deal for animation Bubbles, from Hunt For The Wilderpeople director Taika Waititi. If the deal, which was being negotiated with CAA, happens overnight, it would be the biggest in the market so far. Waititi will co-direct the stopmotion feature, a coming-of-age story about Michael Jackson’s celebrity pet chimpanzee, with Mark Gustafon. Currently in early stages, the film is being produced by Andrew Kortschak and Walter Kortschak of End Cue with Dan Harmon’s Starburns Industries. Rocket Science is handling international sales. Netflix, the front runner for the project, continues to make waves in the market and the festival, following the controversy over the inclusion of two of the streaming giant’s films in Competition. Jury president Pedro Almodovar read out a statement about SVoD platforms at yesterday’s jury press conference, stating: “I don’t perceive the Palme d’Or being given to a film that is then not seen on the big screen.”
NEWS
Nikkatsu, Kaninga, Comme des Cinémas sail on Sea BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Japan’s Nikkatsu Corporation is teaming up with France’s Comme des Cinémas and Indonesia’s Kaninga Pictures to co-produce Koji Fukada’s new project The Man From The Sea. Nikkatsu is also handling international sales on the film, which will be filmed entirely in Indonesia with production scheduled to start this summer. Indonesian production outfit Palari Films, headed by Meiske Taurisia and Muhammad Zaidy, is on board as the local production partner. Fukada, who won the jury prize in Un Certain Regard last year for Harmonium, was inspired to write The Man From The Sea when he visited Indonesia in 2012. The story follows a
man who is found washed up on a beach in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, suffering from amnesia and speaking in broken Indonesian and Japanese. Masa Sawada’s Comme des Cinémas also co-produced Harmonium; Naomi Kawase’s Radiance, which screens in Competition; and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Journey To The Shore, which won the best director prize in Un Certain Regard in 2015. Jakarta-based Kaninga previously produced Mouly Surya’s Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts, which is screening in Directors’ Fortnight. Nikkatsu’s Cannes slate also includes Asian territories on Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Before We Vanish, which plays in Un Certain Regard.
Celluloid Dreams gangs up on Kitano BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Celluloid Dreams is joining forces with Takeshi Kitano once again to sell Outrage Coda, the third instalment in Kitano’s high-octane gangster-thriller trilogy, in which he reprises his role as veteran Yakuza lieutenant Otomo. The accord continues a long-running collaboration between Office Kitano and Hengameh Panahi’s Paris-based Celluloid Dreams, which has handled international sales on 14 features by the Japanese director. The film follows on from Outrage (2010) and Outrage Beyond (2012), which revolved around the fierce war between rival gangs the
Takeshi Kitano in Outrage Beyond
Sanno and the Hanabishi. Outrage Beyond ended in the defeat of the Sanno clan and Outrage Coda sees Sanno member Otomo return from exile in Korea and attempt to rebuild his gang. Masayuki Mori and Takio Yoshida are producing the film, a Bandai Visual, TV Tokyo, Warner Bros
Pictures Japan, Tohokushinsha Film Corporation and Office Kitano production. Warner Bros Japan and Office Kitano are releasing it in Japan on October 7 and Celluloid Dreams will be introducing it to international distributors in Cannes, with a launch at a festival later this year.
Buyers are hip to The Square The Coproduction Office has scored a slew of preCannes sales on Ruben Ostlund’s Competition title The Square ahead of its world premiere on Saturday. Latest deals include for Spain (Avalon), Argentina (CDI) and Poland (buyer not announced). Previous deals include for the US (Magnolia), UK (Curzon/ Artificial Eye), Germany (Alamode) and France and Benelux (Bac). Philippe Bober’s company has been a longtime sales partner for Ostlund’s films, starting with Involuntary in 2008, and continuing with Play and Force Majeure. Wendy Mitchell
Mongrel takes bite of Mobile BY JEREMY KAY
Mongrel Media has acquired Canadian rights to Directors’ Fortnight entry Mobile Homes, starring Imogen Poots, ahead of Sunday’s world premiere in Cannes. Vladimir de Fontenay’s second feature centres on a young woman who takes
Mobile Homes
refuge in a trailer park with her eight-year-old son. Callum Turner and Callum
Keith Rennie also star in de Fontenay’s adaptation of his short film, which screened at SXSW and Clermont-Ferrand in 2013. Mongrel Media acquired rights from producers Frédéric de Goldschmidt, Eric Dupont and Mike MacMillan. Mongrel International handles international sales.
Neon, Vice Lexica mans Spacewalk pinch Korine’s Lexica Films, the foreignCovert Media’s president of international Liz Kim language label that Covert Beach Bum BY JEREMY KAY
Neon and Vice have prebought US rights to Harmony Korine’s The Beach Bum, which will star Matthew McConaughey. Production is scheduled to begin in the autumn. Rocket Science handles international sales and introduced the project to buyers at the EFM in Berlin. Korine will direct the irreverent comedy from his own screenplay.
4 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Media launched last year, will be in Cannes tempting buyers on Russian titles Spacewalk and About Love. Genre master Timur Bekmambetov produced Spacewalk, Bazelevs’ adventure thriller about the Cold War space race that is nearing $10m at the Russian box office since it opened in April through 20th Century Fox. Dmitriy Kiselev directed the film, which is screening in the market.
Schwan announced the additions on Wednesday and said: “We are thrilled to be working with Timur and his team at Bazelevs on this extraordinary film about a historic moment involving national heroes.” About Love follows an unhappily married woman who falls for a charming married man. Vladimir Bortko directed and Nataliya Bortko produced. Jeremy Kay
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COMING SOON Spoiled house cat Marnie is lured into a secret agent job that finally brings her out on the streets. She teams up with a bunch of runaway animals – a donkey, a dog and a rooster – to track down a gang of notorious thieves.
MARKET PREMIERE 1 FRI | MAY 19 | 14:00 RIVIERA MARKET PREMIERE 1 MON | MAY 22 | 16:00 RIVIERA MARKET PREMIERE
A mesmerizing portrait of Julian Schnabel, one of the most eclectic, iconic New York artists, a Oscar®-nominated filmmaker, a father and family man, including commentary from family, friends and fellow travellers such as Al Pacino, Willem Dafoe, Bono, Emmanuelle Seigner, Vito Schnabel.
A high-profile 3D animation feature film about a smart cat and her quirky friends who finds themselves in a bigger-than-lifeadventure. Directed by Academy Award®-winning brothers Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein (“Balance”), MARNIE’S WORLD brims with verbal gags, action and adventure, and offers great entertainment for the whole family. FIRST SCENES AVAILABLE
COMING SOON A film about intense emotions, in which the viewer’s gaze will be focused on the main characters, reflecting a world of contradictions that are so typical of youth. Directed by Academy Award® nominated Esteban Crespo (“That Wasn’t Me”) starring María Pedraza, Pol Monen, Natalia Tena, (“Game of Thrones”), Greta Fernández (“The next Skin”) and Gustavo Salmerón.
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Award-winning helmer Cris Jones (“The Funk”) blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction. The first time feature film stars Xavier Samuel („The Twilight Saga: Eclipse“, “Adore”) as the ambivalent but fascinating Otto Bloom.
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The young Nestrian Finny and his best mate Leah, a Grymp, accidently fall of the ark and are swept out to sea. Out on their own on a raft, they make friends with a jellyfish and go through a narrow escape with a shark. When the kids get separated by a storm, Finny finds a whole colony of Nestrians under water, Leah and Jelly land on a beautiful island. If only the newfound land wouldn’t shake that regularly and smoke from the mountain top ... In this second instalment of the internationally successful 3D animation “OOOPS! NOAH IS GONE …” our courageous youngsters once again go through many thrilling adventures and eventually safe all animals of the ark.
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This uplifting adventure, celebrating multiculturalism in modern day Ireland, stars Sarah Bolger (“In America”, “Tudors”), Art Malik (“Wolfman”, “Homeland”), Colm Meany (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”) and David Kross (“The Reader”).
Comedy vet Sven Unterwaldt (“Mommy, I Shrunk my Teacher”, “Otto’s Eleven”, “7 Dwarves”) directed It’s Your Turn Honey as a dark satire about a couple who are the exact opposite of helicopter parents. It’s the big screen debut for multiple German Comedy Prize winner Carolin Kebekus.
An extraordinary extraterrestrial animated feature film project from the producers of worldwide successes “Niko” and “Ooops! Noah is Gone …”, written and directed by Academy Award® winners Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein, “Luis” is a turbulent adventure for the whole family, full of hair-raising mix-ups and surprising twists. FIRST SCENES AVAILABLE
COMING SOON MY FAIRY TROUBLEMAKER & ME is a thrilling, charming, highend 3D animated feature film, co-produced by Fabrique d’Images, Luxemburg, (“Ooops! Noah is Gone ...” and “Luis and the Aliens”). The screenplay, full of action, humor, magic and heart lets us lough about our little weaknesses and shows that with a real friend everything is possible. Great entertainment for the whole family!
NEWS
Other Angle has Chouquette BY MELANIE GOODFELLOW
Paris-based Other Angle has boarded sales on dramatic comedy Chouquette, the directorial debut of veteran producer Patrick Godeau, who is in Cannes this year with Un Certain Regard opener Barbara. “I’ve wanted to direct a film since I was 14 years old but ended up working in every other aspect of cinema,” explains Godeau, whose recent credits also include Camping 3 and The Lady In The Car With Glasses And A Gun. Loosely adapted from a novel by Emilie Freche, Chouquette stars Sabine Azéma as a 60-something woman living alone in a mansion whose grandson and estranged husband’s former lover turn up on her doorstep. Wild Bunch Distribution will release the film in France in August. Other titles on the Other Angle slate include In & Out, Grounded and Just Divorced.
Tribeca hit The Endless turns up deals for AMP BY ANDREAS WISEMAN
London-based sales outfit AMP International has boarded international rights to US sci-fi horror The Endless, the Tribeca buzz title that was acquired by Well Go USA for North America after a bidding war. The film tells the story of two brothers who return to the cult from which they fled a decade ago,
to find there might be some truth to the group’s beliefs. Written, directed by and starring Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the film is produced by David Lawson of Snowfort Pictures, Leal Naim and Thomas R Burke of Love & Death Productions, along with Benson and Moorhead. Deals already closed include to the UK
(Arrow Films), Scandinavia, Benelux and Iceland (NonStop Entertainment), Eastern Europe (M2 Films), Taiwan (Moviecloud) and the Middle East (Front Row). AMP’s director of global sales and acquisitions James Norrie commented: “Justin and Aaron have crafted an insanely original piece of genre filmmaking.”
Quake shakes for TrustNordisk BY WENDY MITCHELL
TrustNordisk continues to rack up deals for its disaster film The Quake. Sales include to Poland (Mowis Serwis Dystrybucja Spolka), former Yugoslavia (Cinem a n i a G ro u p i c o n ), S p a i n (Selectavision) and Myanmar,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia (CM Holdings). Previously reported sales include to German-speaking territories (SquareOne), Latin America (California), China (DDDream) and South Korea (AtNine). D i r e c t o r Jo h n A n d r e a s
Andersen will shoot The Quake this autumn. The $6.4m project marks a return to the disaster genre for Fantefilm, producers of hit The Wave (also a big seller for TrustNordisk), this time inspired by a 1904 earthquake in Oslo. The Norwegian Film Institute is backing.
Concourse bags Haunted Concourse Film Trade, the global sales and financing arm of Matthew Shreder and James Andrew Felts’ Concourse Media, has acquired worldwide sales rights to the feature animation My Haunted House. Animation veteran Alex Williams directs the feature about a boy who lives in a haunted house with his supernatural family. The UK’s Tigon Entertainment is producing My Haunted House in association with Vancouverbased studio Liquid Media Group (LMG), which has a first-look deal with Concourse finance partner Productivity Media. Bob Thompson is the producer in charge of animation. “We have been seeking a strong animation title for several market cycles,” Shreder said. “This team is one of the strongest in animation.” Jeremy Kay
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NEWS
Truffle Pictures scares up Heiress horror Caroline Couret-Delegue’s UK sales outfit Truffle Pictures is launching supernatural horror The Heiress at Cannes. The Redeeming Features production follows two cousins haunted by a female entity. Chris Bell directs, with Jezz Vernon and Nate Wiseman producing alongside Danny Prescott. The film is casting ahead of a September shoot. Already announced on the Truffle slate is Junior Foster’s documentary Ten Count, also from Redeeming Features and currently in post-production. It follows ex-Premier League footballer Leon McKenzie as he challenges his industry to address the stigma of mental health among sports stars. Vernon and Wiseman produced. Tom Grater
nWave’s bye to Studiocanal BY GEOFFREY MACNAB
Belgian 3D animation specialist nWave Pictures is set to end its longstanding relationship with Studiocanal. The news was confirmed this week by company CEO Ben Stassen. The Son Of Bigfoot (aka Bigfoot Junior) is the final film nWave is partnering on with Studiocanal. It will be released in August across Europe, including in Studiocanal’s directdistribution territories France, UK and Germany. During the past seven years,
nWave and Studiocanal have partnered on projects such as A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures (2010) and The House Of Magic (2013) — Europe-originated animated features with budgets in excess of $20m that have sold around the world. nWave is expected to finalise the separation this week and is looking to buy back Studiocanal’s shares in the company. “We are going to be looking for new partners,” Stassen revealed. nWave’s next feature, The
Queen’s Corgi, has been put into production without Studiocanal backing. It does not have a sales agent attached. However, nWave is able to draw on its reserves and to raise finance through the Belgian tax shelter. “We will need to find an equity partner or a long-term partner or we will start pre-selling the film. The worst-case scenario is that we will have to start pre-selling the film at AFM or at the latest in Berlin in February,” Stassen said. Studiocanal was unavailable for comment.
Wide buoyed by Pororoca Wide Management has sealed a first pre-sale on Romanian director Constantin Popescu’s missing-child family drama Pororoca to Paris-based distributor New Story. Bogdan Dumitrache, whose credits include Sieranevada, plays an accountant who loses his young daughter during a routine trip to the park. Other titles on Wide’s Cannes slate include The Father. Melanie Goodfellow
Epic moves in with Lodgers deals BY JEREMY KAY
The Lodgers
Epic Pictures has closed key deals heading into Cannes on ghost story The Lodgers starring David Bradley and Eugene Simon from Game Of Thrones. Director Brian O’Malley shot the Irish Film
Board, Tailored Films and Epic Pictures co-production late last year in Ireland. Deals have closed in Poland (Best Film), the Middle East (Eagle Film), Mexico (Sky Media) and Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Ecua-
dor (BF Distribution). Rights have also gone in Taiwan (MovieCloud), Malaysia (Suraya), Indonesia (CGV), Vietnam (Skyline) and South Korea (Unicon). Production took place at County Wexford’s ‘haunted’ Loftus Hall.
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NEWS
Screen Media finds its way with Maze BY JEREMY KAY
Cairo-based distributor MAD Solutions has acquired Arab world rights to Turkish director Andac Haznedaroglu’s refugee drama The Guest: Aleppo-Istanbul, starring Saba Mubarak as a Syrian woman attempting to reach Greece with the children of neighbours who have perished in the fighting. Melanie Goodfellow
Pure Flix spreads Christ hit BY JEREMY KAY
Faith-based Pure Flix has closed a raft of sales on current box-office hit The Case For Christ and is screening the film at the Marché, along with early footage from Samson starring Billy Zane. The Case For Christ screens tomorrow and Sunday.
Pure Flix/Quality Flix has closed deals in the UK (Kaleidoscope), Australia (Crossroads), Germany (Great Movies), Latin America (California Filmes), Poland (Rafael Films), Philippines (Rafaella Films), South Korea (CBS) and Africa (CMD).
Screen Media International has boarded Slamdance audience award winner Dave Made A Maze and Sundance selection Lemon, and is kicking off talks for both on the Croisette. Janicza Bravo’s Lemon follows a man whose life unravels after his blind girlfriend leaves him. Brett Gelman, Gillian Jacobs and Michael Cera star, and
Magnolia Pictures will distribute in North America later this year. Bill Watterson’s Dave Made A Maze stars Nick Thune, Meera Rohit Kumbhani and Adam Busch. The film centres on a frustrated artist who builds a fort in his living room. Gravitas Ventures handles North American rights and plans a release later in the year. “Both titles have already
Kane proves able in Cannes BY JEREMY KAY
Australia’s Dicentium Films and Toronto-based Unstable Ground have joined forces to produce horror project
Mark Of Kane. Producer Justin McConnell of Unstable Ground is in Cannes to meet sales agents on the adaptation of Michael Prescott’s
been well received at independent film festivals,” Screen Media International president Almira Ravil said. “We also believe they will work well for our TV and digital clients overseas.” Seth Needle, Screen Media’s senior vice president of worldwide acquisitions, negotiated both deals, and joins Ravil on the ground in Cannes scouring for films.
cult novel Kane. The project went through Fantasia Film Festival’s Frontieres International Co-Production Market in 2014. Production is due to start later this year in Australia.
Buyers take a bite out of Pear Ahead of Cannes, LevelK has closed a raft of deals on Danish 3D animation The Incredible Story Of The Giant Pear. The film has been acquired for more than 20 territories including France and Benelux (Ninety-Seven Film Production), Korea (Yejilim Entertainment), Hungary and Romania (ADS Service), Poland (Vivarto), the Middle East (Empire Networks), Estonia (Estin Film) and Bulgaria (Pro Films). At the Marché tomorrow LevelK will host director Philip Einstein Lipski to discuss the project in two exclusive events at the Scandinavian Terrace. Wendy Mitchell
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MOUNTAIN
MIRACLE AN UNexpecTed FRIEndshIp
MARKET SCREENINGS May 19th 03:30 PM, LERINS 4 May 21th 11:30 aM, LERINS 4
farbfilm verleih zeigt eine lieblingSfilm und helioS SuStainable filmS Produktion in koProduktion mit rbb hr SWr und Sky deutSchland in zuSammenarbeit mit baSiS berlin und cinePoStProduction „amelie rennt“ mit mia kaSalo Samuel girardi SuSanne bormann deniS moSchitto Shenia PitSchmann Jerry hoffmann david bredin und JaSmin tabatabai caSting uWe bünker bibiane oldenburg originalton uve hauSSig Sound deSign florian holzner miSchung anSgar frerich ProduktionSleitung cecile lichtinger regieaSSiStenz meno SellSchoPP maSke chriStina Wagner koStüm Sabine keller Szenenbild JohanneS Sternagel Schnitt andreaS radtke muSik tobiaS kuhn markuS Perner kamera martin Schlecht redaktion anJa hagemeier anke SPerl Patricia vaSaPollo margret SchePerS drehbuch natJa brunckhorSt drehbuchmitarbeit Jytte-merle böhrnSen Produzenten PhiliPP budWeg thomaS blieninger martin rattini regie tobiaS Wiemann LIEBLINGSFILM
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NEW GERMAN FILMS IN CANNES 2017 THURSDAY, 18 MAY 11:30 h Lerins 4
WELCOME TO GERMANY
Simon Verhoeven 116 min Picture Tree International
13:45 h Lerins 4
NEWS
Benelux gobbles up Cannes highlights BY GEOFFREY MACNAB
B enelux buyers have already snapped up many of the most eye-catching titles in official selection and in the Marché. Voracious Antwerpbased outfit The Searchers, which was set up in 2015, has pre -bought Todd Haynes’ Wonderstruck from FilmNation, Lynne Ram-
say’s You Were Never Really Here from IMR International, Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River from Wild Bunch and Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s A Prayer Before Dawn from HanWay. Leading arthouse distributor Cinéart has also picked up several Cannes t i t l e s. T h e s e i n c l u d e Michael Haneke’s Happy
Tokyo International Film Festival is highlighting four Japanese actresses in its Japan Now section. ‘Muses of Japanese Cinema’ will be part of Tokyo’s 30th anniversary edition (October 25-November 3). Pictured clockwise from top left: Sakura Ando, Yu Aoi, Hikari Mitsushima and Aoi Miyazaki. Liz Shackleton
WENDY – THE MOVIE Dagmar Seume 90 min Beta Cinema
15:30 h Lerins 4
VAMPIRE SISTERS 3
– JOURNEY TO TRANSYLVANIA Tim Trachte 97 min ARRI Media International
17:15 h Lerins 4
THE BLOOM OF YESTERDAY
Chris Kraus 125 min Beta Cinema
Media Asia marches on Army BY LIZ SHACKLETON
Hong Kong-based Media Asia Films has picked up international rights to The Founding Of An Army, directed by Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs) and starring Liu Ye and Zhu Yawen. Produced by China Film Group (CFG), Bona Film Group and other Chinese
14 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
companies, the historical film is the third instalment in a trilogy that includes The Founding Of A Republic (2009) and The Founding Of A Party (2011). Scheduled for Chinese release on July 29, it tells the story of the origins of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Like other recent propa-
Wizart conjures up Journey deals BY GEOFFREY MACNAB
INTERNATIONAL VILLAGE GERMAN PAVILION · #125 phone +33-(0)4-92 59 01 80 www.german-films.de
End, sold by Les Films du Losange, Fatih Akin’s In The Fade from The Match Factory, Jacques Doillon’s Rodin from Wild Bunch, Naomi Kawase’s Radiance from MK2, Good Time starring Robert Pattinson from Memento Film International and BPM (Beats Per Minute), which is being sold by Films Distribution.
Russian powerhouse Wizart has announced a series of deals for animated feature Fantastic Journey To Oz, including a sale for China to YL Pictures. The film will open in Chinese cinemas in early summer on more than 7,000 screens. YL Pictures has distributed Jurassic World, Furi-
ous 7 and Point Break in China. Fantastic Journey To Oz was made by Russian studio Melnitsa. Vladimir Toropchin directed, and Anton Zlatopolsky and Sergey Selyanov produced. Other sales on the title include Turkey (Kurmaca Film), Hungary (ADS Service) and India (RunawayLuminosity Distribution).
ganda-driven Chinese films, such as The Taking Of Tiger Mountain and Operation Mekong, The Founding Of An Army has been made in a commercial style with a star-studded cast. Media Asia is introducing it to buyers in Cannes and screening 10 minutes of new footage.
Electric breaks Bad Electric Entertainment has scored key sales on Dean Devlin’s upcoming thriller Bad Samaritan. Atlas has taken rights for Germany, Imagem for Latin America and Eagle for the Middle East. David Tennant and Robert Sheehan star as car valets who use their business as a front to break into homes. Jeremy Kay
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FILM NATION HANWAY FILMS LES FILMS DU LOSANGE MK2 PATHÉ ROCKET SCIENCE TEMPESTA WILD BUNCH YOUNG FILMS
THANKS FOR BEING WITH US! FESTIVAL DI CANNES
FESTIVAL DI CANNES
In Competition
In Competition
HAPPY END
LE REDOUTABLE
by Michael Haneke
by Michel Hazanavicius
FESTIVAL DI CANNES
Out of Competition
HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES by John Cameron Mitchell
CUORI PURI
L’INTRUSA
by Roberto De Paolis
by Leonardo Di Costanzo
CUORI PURI H DISOBEDIENCE H FINDING YOUR FEET HAPPY END H HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES L’ INTRUSA H LIFE, ITSELF H ON CHESIL BEACH LE REDOUTABLE H THE BIG SICK H VICEROY’S HOUSE
GOOD LUCK ! www.cinemasrl.com
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NEWS
CANNES BRIEFS Saban gets 24 Hours Saban Films has acquired US rights to Brian Smrz’s assassin thriller 24 Hours To Live starring Ethan Hawke and China’s Xu Qing. Thunder Road’s Basil Iwanyk and Fundamental Films’ Mark Gao and Gregory Ouanhon produced and Fundamental Films fully financed. Sierra/Affinity is handling international sales and screening the film in Cannes.
Myriad steps into Shadow Myriad Pictures has boarded international sales on romance Shadow Girl staring Zosia Mamet and Scott Speedman. The film is about a young photographer who becomes invisible after her mother’s death and meets a disgraced former mixed martial arts champion who is the only person who can see her. Myriad chief Kirk D’Amico serves as an executive producer for Daylight Media.
Russian indies’ fury at 140,000% levy hike BY GEOFFREY MACNAB
Independent Russian distributors have reacted with alarm to proposals by the Russian Ministry of Culture that they should pay an $88,000 (rub5m) levy for release certificates. Every non-Russian film showing in cinemas would be subject to this levy, which could potentially be introduced over the summer, and local indie distributors are concerned it could put them out of business. The charge represents a massive increase on the current fee for certification, which is $62 (rub3,500). “The levy used to be a nominal fee but $80,000 or $90,000 for us is potentially devastating,” Jamie Susser, head of acquisitions at Volgafilm, told Screen. “That is often the total MG we are paying for a film.”
16 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Her sentiments are echoed by Nadezda Motina, head of acquisitions and distribution at Capella Film, which has released titles including Lion, and Anatoly Sergeev, head of acquisitions at Kinologistika. “It will limit our opportunities to work with European and Asian titles, and to present the latest titles from the biggest festivals in the Russian market,” said Motina. It promises to be a slow Cannes for these distributors. Either they will not buy films at all or they will have to persuade sales agents to accept vastly reduced prices for their movies. “I just don’t see how I can acquire films,” said Susser. Volgafilm’s recent acquisitions include Son Of Bigfoot, Paddington 2 and Woody Allen’s Wonder Wheel.
The independent Russian distributors are trying to enlist the support of Unifrance, IFTA and other prominent film organisations as they lobby against the proposed new measure. “We are trying to get the international community on board to support us,” said one buyer. The distributors are also trying to persuade the Ministry of Culture to lift or reduce the levy on films that receive limited screenings. If the increased levy is introduced, the distributors predict choices for Russian cinemagoers will be severely curtailed, with fewer independent and arthouse films from abroad released. Roughly 85% of Russia’s box office comes from blockbuster titles whose distributors can easily afford the new surcharge.
Thai scheme helps UK film Thailand Film Office has announced that the first project to benefit from Thailand’s new incentives programme will be UK director Vicky Jewson’s Close. Scheduled to start shooting in June, the film is about elite female bodyguards. Close will be produced by UK-based Jewson Film/Whitaker Media, founded by Jewson and Rupert Whitaker to produce films featuring female protagonists. The company’s credits include Born Of War (2014). Launched by Thailand Film Office in January, the incentives offer a 15%-20% rebate for qualifying productions with a local spend of more than $1.5m (baht50m). In the first quarter of 2017, 239 foreign productions filmed in Thailand, bringing in revenue of more than $25m. Liz Shackleton
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CANNES 2017 POST-PRODUCTION
Nick Cheung’s third film as director following Hungry Ghost Ritual and Keeper Of Darkness
THE TROUGH (Former Title: Taste of Crime) GENRE Action DIRECTOR Nick Cheung
CAST Nick Cheung Xu Jinglei Yu Nan
IN DEVELOPMENT
STORM CLOUD
GENRE Martial Arts ORIGINAL STORY Ma Wing Shing PRODUCER Ma Wing Shing DIRECTOR Yip Wai Shun
PRE-PRODUCTION
BACK TO THE PAST GENRE Period Action
CAST Louis Koo
Address: 2/F Milkyway Building, 77 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 3565 6311 Fax: (852) 3956 8377
PALAIS 01 Stand 19.08 Christy Choi - Distribution Director Email: christy@onecoolfilm.com Mobile: (852) 9225 9212 IN PRODUCTION
WARRIORS OF FUTURE GENRE Sci-fi Action
CAST Louis Koo Sean Lau
PRODUCTION BUDGET USD45M
POST-PRODUCTION
IN YOUR DREAMS
GENRE Drama PRODUCER Carina Lau DIRECTOR Tam Wai Ching CAST Carina Lau Ng Siu Hin
COMPLETED
LOVE REVOLUTION
GENRE Action / Adventure DIRECTOR Sam Leung CAST Natsuna Hiroshi Shinagawa Candy Lo Sam Lee
Email: info@onecoolfilm.com Website: www.onecoolfilm.com onecoolfilm onecoolpictures onecoolfilmproduction
DIARY
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Edited by Tom Grater & Orlando Parfitt
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In conversation with...
Takuya Kimura and Takashi Miike on the set of Blade Of The Immortal
VANESSA REDGRAVE (Sea Sorrow, Special Screening)
Miike remains at cutting edge with Immortal Japanese director Takashi Miike is in Cannes this year with his 100th feature credit (including TV features), Blade Of The Immortal, which premieres today out of competition. The film follows a ronin (masterless samurai) who is cursed with immortality. Jeremy Thomas’s Recorded Picture Company reteamed with the director on the title after previously working on 13 Assassins. HanWay Films handles sales; Warner Bros Japan will release locally and Studiocanal has UK rights.
Catching up with Screen ahead of Cannes, Miike revealed he is a big fan of the festival. “I always send off my films to Cannes with surprise and excitement. There is nothing more encouraging for myself and for my team than being invited here,” he said. The director has a storied relationship with the festival, having played in Competition on two occasions: in 2011 for Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai and in 2013 for Shield Of Straw. He says the former is his favourite Cannes mem-
ory, when Hara-Kiri became the first 3D film to screen in Competition at the festival: “Imagine a theatre audience in tuxedos and evening dresses all wearing 3D glasses, watching a samurai movie… it is a happy sight.” The seemingly evergreen Miike often churns out two feature films a year, and his output shows no sign of slowing down. How does he maintain the stamina? “I do not find myself full of energy; I just don’t know what else to do.” Tom Grater
#CannesChatter Agnes Varda and her Visages, Villages co-director JR make their way across the beach en route to Cannes, where their documentary premieres on Friday (May 19). FWB at work in Nairobi
Borders gives a lesson in film
@jr On our way to Cannes film festival with @agnes.varda for our film Visages Villages in Official Selection #HorsCompetition #Cannes2017 ❤
20 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Films Without Borders (FWB), the charity that works with young people from troubled backgrounds by helping them make short films, is launching a film hub in Nairobi. Run in partnership with Nairobi City County Government and supported by Swarovski, the hub will be built within walking distance of the Kibera slums. Young people from the Nigerian capital will be able to participate in free FWB workshops and film-related activities. Tom Grater
Vanessa Redgrave first came to Cannes in 1966 when she won the best actress prize for Morgan — A Suitable Case For Treatment. Fifty-one years later she returns with her directorial debut, Sea Sorrow, a very personal documentary about the refugee crisis. The film screens today as a Special Screening in official selection and is sold by Autlook. Why is the story of refugees so important to you? It started in my childhood. Like many children, I was an evacuee as we were called in those days. I think it’s unforgettable when you get separated from your parents. What do you want the audience to take away from Sea Sorrow? First, I like the film to enter inside them. Most people don’t know the history, or have forgotten it. We all need reminding continually. At the same time, I hope that the film will give people the feeling of, “I can’t carry on with my life and not do something.” You have a long history with
Cannes. Why are you excited to premiere your film here? My very first award was in Cannes: Morgan was the first film I made. So it’s a special connection for me. With respect to many other film festivals like Toronto or London, Cannes is a very special place. I’m awfully glad that Carlo [Nero, Redgrave’s son and producer], [UK politician] Alf Dubs and our little film company will be there with our film. Will you direct again? Not for a minute! I’m 80 and had a heart attack two years ago, I don’t think I’ve got much time left. I will spend the time I have helping this film to be seen. We will work on how we can show it in schools as well, I think young people need to see it. There’s not been a proper education on the Holocaust. Part of the horror of the Holocaust was that no European country opened its doors wide to the Holocaust refugees. We need to be steady and choose love and be very firm and stand up to the wrong and not let fascists win. That’s all that is required, really. Wendy Mitchell
TODAY’S VR SCREENINGS (Marché du Film) Today’s VR screenings at the NEXT VR Theatre include ‘the YouTube of Dreams’ (10am-11am), a presentation of ARTE’s latest VR experiences (11am-12pm), a focus on Dutch VR from the Netherlands Film Fund (12pm-1pm), a sneak peak of some of France’s upcoming VR productions from Centre National du Cinéma (5pm-6pm), a scientific VR showcase (4pm-5pm) and a cyber warfare experience (5pm-6pm).
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market screenings fortunata (lucky) sergio castellitto
friday 19.05.17
sunday 21.05.17
12:00 / gray 1
17:30 / palais d
the open door (la puerta abierta) marina seresesky
20:00 / olympia 9
it’s the law! (l’ora legale) Ficarra & picone
11:30 / olympia 9
monday 22.05.17 12:00 / riviera 1
(priority to buyers)
wife & husband (moglie e marito) simone godano
two irenes (as duas irenes) Fabio meira
saturday 20.05.17
09:30 / gray 2 17:30 / gray 2
15:30 / gray 2
SPOTLIGHT CANNES AT 70
Cannes decades 1956-1965
I
n response to global political tensions, the decision was taken to eliminate any kind of censorship across festival selections in 1956. This revoked an article that allowed for the removal of any selected film under certain circumstances. And Cannes broke yet more new ground in 1957 when Mexican actress Dolores del Rio became the first-ever female jury member. Two years later, new minister of cultural affairs, André Malraux, formalised Cannes’ burgeoning film market, which has since become integral to the festival and the largest event in the global industry. At the time, however, it was a decision not welcomed by all; the French Association of Film Critics (AFCC) was founded as a direct reaction to this commercialisation. After organising a screening of Shirley Clarke’s The Connection at the 1961 festival, the AFCC created the annual International Critics’ Week the following year, to showcase first and second films from international directors. Since its inception, it has brought now-legendary filmmakers such as Jacques Audiard, Wong Kar Wai, Gaspar Noé, Francois Ozon and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu to international attention. In 1964, the Palme d’Or was once again renamed the Grand Prix du Festival, with Jacques Demy’s The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg being the winner of the prize that year. The following year, after his recent death, the festival named Jean Cocteau s honorary president in perpetuity. ■
WINNERS PALME D’OR & GRAND PRIX Palme d’Or 1956 The Silent World (Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle, France) 1957 Friendly Persuasion (William Wyler, US) 1958 The Cranes Are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov, Soviet Union) 1959 Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus, France) 1960 La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, Italy) 1961 The Long Absence (Henri Colpi, France); Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, Mexico) 1962 Keeper Of Promises (Anselmo Duarte, Brazil) 1963 The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, Italy) Grand Prix du Festival 1964 The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, France) 1965 The Knack… And How To Get It (Richard Lester, UK)
Sophia Loren and her husband, producer Carlo Ponti, at the festival in 1959
22 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Jean-Claude Moreau
Jean-Denis Maillart © ADAGP
Pon’t
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CANNES POSTERS ACROSS THE DECADE
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As we celebrate the 70th edition of Cannes, Nikki Baughan looks at the years 1956 to 1965, which saw the first woman juror, the advent of Critics’ Week and a mixed reaction to the launch of the market
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REVIEWS
» Ismael’s Ghosts p26 » Patti Cake$ p28
» An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power p28
Reviews edited by Fionnuala Halligan finn.halligan@screendaily.com
Ismael’s Ghosts Reviewed by Lisa Nesselson A jubilantly complex tale within a tale — possibly within yet another tale — Arnaud Desplechin’s Ismael’s Ghosts (Les Fantomes d’Ismael) exudes the lived-in familiarity of a director who knows his characters inside out and the daring and panache of someone whose creations are still full of surprises, even for him. If you are going to name a protagonist Carlotta and help yourself to Bernard Herrmann’s music, you had better be out to entertain with a sure hand. Desplechin delivers with flying colours thanks to an excellent cast and a sometimes serious, sometimes funny story that never lets up or becomes predictable. After opening Cannes out of competition simultaneously with its bound-to-be popular run in France, these ghosts seem destined to haunt arthouses far and wide. Any attentive moviegoer should be able to navigate this free-standing episode even though it is salted and peppered with re-occurring elements from other Desplechin outings. It would be criminal to delineate which aspects should be taken at face value and which are best filed under narrative sleight-of-hand, but here is the basic armature. Filmmaker Ismael (Mathieu Amalric, in his seventh escapade with Desplechin) describes himself as a widower. He married Carlotta (Marion Cotillard) when she was just 20 years
26 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
OPENING FILM, OUT OF COMPETITION Fr. 2017. 115mins Director Arnaud Desplechin Production companies Why Not Productions, France 2 Cinema International sales Wild Bunch, sales@ wildbunch.eu Producer Pascal Caucheteux Screenplay Arnaud Desplechin, Julie Peyr, Léa Mysius Cinematography Irina Lubtchansky Editor Laurence Briaud Production design Toma Baqueni Music Grégoire Hetzel Main cast Mathieu Amalric, Marion Cotillard, Laszlo Szabo, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Louis Garrel, Alba Rohrwacher, Hippolyte Girardot
old. A few years later she vanished without a trace. No body or evidence of foul play was found. Her eighty-something father Henri Bloom (Laszlo Szabo), a noteworthy film director, has been grieving her loss for two decades, as has Ismael, who was finally obliged to have the authorities legally classify Carlotta as ‘missing’, reluctant to have her declared ‘dead’. Since he is a creative type from Central Casting, Ismael drinks to excess, smokes quite a bit and takes multiple pills to combat the horrific nightmares that plague his sleep. Ismael and Henri are close. They have in common the torment of not knowing what became of the same loved one, but Ismael also admires Henri’s strengths as an artist. Almost 20 years after Carlotta’s disappearance, Sylvia (Charlotte Gainsbourg) meets Ismael at a party. She is a seemingly austere and prim astrophysicist (yes, really) and is the only character who makes an occasional contribution via voiceover. Ismael — seen through her eyes and ours — is both dashing and insufferable. Meanwhile, a group of male career diplomats together in a restaurant are speculating about the whereabouts of Ismael’s brother, Ivan (Louis Garrel, with almost unnervingly short hair), who is officially a diplomat, possibly a spy. Flashbacks take us through Ivan’s surreal job interview at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, his encounter with exotic Arielle (Alba Rohrwacher) and some of the high points of his
life representing France abroad, abetted by the fact he speaks six languages and has a knack for adding more. Ismael and Sylvia embark on a serious, mutually satisfying relationship. Then, one day on the beach at their country house, a woman claiming to be Ismael’s wife shows up out of nowhere. Cue emotional rollercoaster ride. None of this is presented in conventional linear fashion; the stories bounce around in time but are suspenseful and intriguing. An awful lot of separate strands are satisfyingly wrapped up before the closing credits roll. Some might protest that Amalric, Cotillard and Gainsbourg have all played similar roles before, and they would be right. But if you need a flustered male or a distant, possibly loony female, why not hire the best? Plus, this trio is rather good at representing the feisty carnal contours of middle age. Desplechin loves mirrors and reflections. His camera zooms or dollies in on faces until they fill the screen. His cast gives off the right doses of emotion, no matter where the camera observes from. He even toys with vintage Hollywood-style intimations of mental upheaval (rear projection! double exposure!) as Ismael rides in a train compartment to Desplechin’s birthplace, the industrial town of Roubaix. The score — an astute blend of original and source music — is an excellent companion to multiple layers of intrigue.
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FILM IN SCOTLAND
FOR THE PERFECT LOCATION Join us at Pavilion 119 – UK Film Centre and find out about our fast, free, confidential location-finding service, award-winning production companies, experienced crew and great facilities.
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REVIEWS
Patti Cake$ Reviewed by Fionnuala Halligan
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power Reviewed by Anthony Kaufman In this purposefully rousing follow-up to his 2006 documentary hit An Inconvenient Truth, former US vice president Al Gore’s message remains the same: climate change is a dangerous man-made reality and the world has a moral imperative to curtail it. Though audiences may have heard this one before, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power preaches effectively to its choir, with a decade of fresh data and increasing cataclysms — from harrowing typhoons and ‘rain bombs’ to heatwaves and flooding coastlines — to persuasively make its case. Theatrical grosses are not what they used to be for a social-issue documentary (the original film earned more than $50m at the worldwide box office), but with the help of deep-pocketed Paramount Pictures (which is releasing in the US on July 28) and Participant Media, and added controversy from a new US government that is vocally dismissive of the issue, the new film could make a solid statement commercially. Sequel’s global reach — with a climax set in Paris — should also boost its international potential. Filmmakers Bonnie Cohen and Jon Shenk (Audrie & Daisy) do their best to liven up footage of Gore’s eyeopening but dramatically inert Climate Leadership Training lectures with slickly produced sequences of real-life climate disasters, and there is a strong scene in which Gore faces off with an Indian bureaucrat, who argues they should be allowed to embrace fossil fuels for another 150 years to grow their economy in the same way the US has. This kind of vérité politicking is what eventually tilts the documentary from an educational film into more compelling territory as Gore readies for the Paris COP21 climate talks. The conference become an important focal point for Gore’s efforts and, propelled by a sense of solidarity and the culmination of decades of work, he seizes the opportunity to work the phones and the rooms to help close a climate-change deal that joins developing and Western powers in a united commitment to save the planet. Gore appears more fiery than he was 10 years ago, but privately, in the wake of the US presidential election of climate-change denier Donald J Trump, seems resigned to the fact his dreams for change are dashed for now. But Cohen and Shenk make sure to end on an inspirational note, offering a glimpse of a generation of new environmental activists following in Gore’s footsteps.
28 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
SPECIAL SCREENING US. 2017. 99mins Directors Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk Production Company Participant Media International distribution Paramount Pictures Producers Richard Berge, Diane Weyermann Executive producers Jeff Skoll, Davis Guggenheim, Lawrence Bender, Laurie David, Scott Z Burns, Lesley Chilcott Cinematographer Jon Shenk Editors Don Bernier, Colin Nusbaum Music Jeff Beal Featuring Al Gore
In the energetic, sparky Patti Cake$, an overweight white New Jersey rapper struggles to escape her deadend life and fabulously blowsy, boozy, scene-stealing mother (played by Bridget Everett). Luminous plus-size actress Danielle Macdonald in the title role will draw plentiful media attention and support for Patti Cake$, and the soundtrack also bristles. Picked up by Fox Searchlight after a bidding war at Sundance, and chosen to close Directors’ Fortnight, this is a full-flavoured film. Debut director Geremy Jasper opts for ultra-tight framing and riotous colours, seemingly influenced by New Jersey’s strip-club and latenight dive palette. This could be too strong a taste for international audiences to digest easily, although midlevel US success is all but assured. Australian actress Macdonald plays Patricia Dombrowski: she calls herself Killer P and Patti Cake$, but is derided as a “white Precious” and “Dumbo” in the resolutely working-class North Jersey neighbourhood where she lives with mum Barb and ailing Nana (an unrecognisable and enjoyable Cathy Moriarty). Jasper has said Patti is part-modelled on his own experiences, and there is a real empathy on display here for her internal and external struggles, a gift that Macdonald makes the most of in her own debut. There is the weight, of course, but Patti has to face down her crippling self-confidence issues. She may start the movie with the anthem “mylifesfuckinawesome”, daydreaming about her idol rap artist O-Z (Sahr Ngaujah), but Patti needs to muster every ounce of bravery during the course of this 108-minute take on 8 Mile. With her family facing ruinous medical bills for Nana’s treatment and Barb in a nightly dance with alcoholism, it falls to Patti to support the Dombrowski clan with a series of catering and barwork jobs at bar mitzvahs and local dives. Jasper sets out his stall from the opening fantasy sequence with O-Z, lit in jade neon green; it is clear this film is going to be an interesting visual ride. In fact Patti and her best friend Hareesh (Siddharth Dhananjay) look at Manhattan like some sort of Emerald City from the hood of their car, plotting the Yellow Brick Road that might take them there. The soundtrack is, as might be expected, rousing throughout, retro ballads crashing into hip-hop bangers.
DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT, CLOSING FILM US. 2017. 108mins Director/screenplay Geremy Jasper Production company Department of Motion Pictures International distribution Fox Searchlight Producers Michael Gottwald, Noah Stahl, Rodrigo Teixeira, Dan Janvey, Chris Columbus, Daniela Taplin Lundberg Cinematography Federico Cesca Production design Meredith Lippincott Editor Brad Turner Music Geremy Jasper, Jason Binnick Main cast Danielle Macdonald, Siddharth Dhananjay, Bridget Everett, Mamoudou Athie, Cathy Moriarty, Sahr Ngaujah, McCaul Lombardi, Wass Stevens, MC Lyte
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Film In India
India Pavilion
INTERNATIONAL VILLAGE RIVIERA 112
HOT PROJECTS JAPAN
Japan’s show of strength Japan is well represented in official selection by Naomi Kawase, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Takashi Miike, while market highlights include titles from Hirokazu Koreeda and Yojiro Takita. Liz Shackleton reports Radiance
J
apan has an exceptionally strong showing at Cannes this year, with Naomi Kawase’s Radiance in Competition, Takashi Miike’s Blade Of The Immortal playing out of competition, and titles also selected for Un Certain Regard, Cannes Classics and Critics’ Week. While Cannes’ official selection usually focuses on established Japanese filmmakers, such as Kawase and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, whose sci-fi drama Before We Vanish will premiere in Un Certain Regard, this year’s Critics’ Week line-up includes a first-time feature from female Japanese filmmaker Atsuko Hirayanagi. The US-Japan collaboration Oh Lucy! is a feature-length The Ballad Of Narayama version of her short film of the same name, which won a jury prize at Sundance in 2015 and more than OFFICIAL SELECTION 35 other awards. Meanwhile, another Cannes The Ballad Of Narayama regular, Hirokazu Koreeda, is now in post-production on his first legal Dir Shohei Imamura drama, The Third Murder, starring Winner of the Palme d’Or in 1983, ImaMasaharu Fukuyama (Like Father, mura’s The Ballad Of Narayama has Like Son), which is scheduled for been digitally restored and selected to delivery in September. As with Korescreen in this year’s Cannes Classics as eda’s previous films, Wild Bunch part of a celebration of the festival’s 70th and Japanese distributor Gaga are anniversary. In turn inspired by Keisuke sharing worldwide sales duties. Kinoshita’s 1958 classic of the same Japan’s other studios and major name, the film is set in a village where broadcasters also have a strong tradition dictates that when people line-up of releases for the rest of the year in addition to the titles reach the age of 70, their children listed below. High-profile local proshould carry them into the mountains ductions scheduled to open over and leave them to die. Sumiko Sakathe summer include Yoji moto and Ken Ogata star as the mother and son who are facing this cruel fate. Yamada’s What A Wonderful Family 2, Yu Irie’s Contact Daichi Yashiki, Toei Memoirs Of A Murderer Murderer, dai_yashiki@toei.co.jp Kentaro Hagiwara’s Before We Vanish Tokyo Ghoul,, Takashi Miike’s JoJo’s Bizarre Dir Kiyoshi Kurosawa Adventure: DiaBased on a play by mond Is UnbreakaTomohiro Maekawa, ble and Toho’s highly anticipated Ku r o s a w a’s s c i - f i drama tells the story of animation Fireworks, Should a woman in a loveless We See It From marriage who is puzzled by her The Side Or The husband’s strange behaviour, until he reveals he is an Bottom?. Before We Vanish advance scout for an alien
30 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Dir Naomi Kawase The latest drama from Cannes regular Kawase, which is playing in Competition, sees a woman who writes film voiceovers for the visually impaired team up with a photographer losing his sight to discover a previously invisible world. The cast includes Masatoshi Nagase (Paterson), Ayame Misaki (Attack On Titan) and veteran Tatsuya Fuji, whose credits include In The Realm Of The Senses, which is screening in Cannes Classics. Contact Fionnuala Jamison, MK2 Films fionnuala.jamison@mk2.com
invasion of Earth. Selected to screen in Un Certain Regard, the film stars Masami Nagasawa (Our Little Sister), Ryuhei Matsuda (The Great Passage) and Hiroki Hasegawa (Shin Godzilla). Asia contact Emico Kawai, Nikkatsu kawai@nikkatsu.co.jp RoW contact Olivier Barbier, Wild Bunch obarbier@wildbunch.eu
Blade Of The Immortal
Blade Of The Immortal Dir Takashi Miike UK producer Jeremy Thomas’s Recorded Picture Company is reteaming with Miike on this action drama about a samurai cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Adapted from Hiroaki Samura’s hit manga, the film stars Takuya Kimura (2046), Hana Sugisaki, Ebizo Ichikawa and Min Tanaka. Released by Warner Bros Japan on April 29, it is screening in Cannes in an out of competition slot.
Radiance
CRITICS’ WEEK
Oh Lucy! Dir Atsuko Hirayanagi Shinobu Terajima and Josh Hartnett head the cast of this US-Japan collaboration, which marks the feature debut of Japanese director Hirayanagi. The comedy drama tells the story of a lonely office worker who falls for her teacher when she takes up English lessons. When the teacher disappears, she sets out on a journey to find him that takes her to California. The cast also includes Kaho Minami (Kabukicho Love Hotel) and Koji Yakusho (Babel). Contact Adeline Fontan Tessaur, Elle Driver adeline@elledriver.eu
Contact Anna Chettle, HanWay Films ac@hanwayfilms.com
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HOT PROJECTS JAPAN
SELECTED PROJECTS IN THE MARKET
Her Sketchbook Dir Masaya Ozaki Rising actress Mugi Kadowaki stars in this drama, which marks the second feature as director from acclaimed film and TV writer Masaya Ozaki. The story follows a middle-school dropout who avoids human contact by immersing herself in copying her favourite manga and illustrations, until her father finds her a part-time job. Kadowaki won the best new actress prize at the 2015 Kinema Junpo awards for Love’s Whirlpool, and also starred in Naoko Ogigami’s recent Berlin title Close-Knit. Her Sketchbook is scheduled for local release on July 15. Contact Emico Kawai, Nikkatsu kawai@nikkatsu.co.jp
Innocent Curse
Side Job
Mumon: The Land Of Stealth Dir Yoshihiro Nakamura
Her Sketchbook
Innocent Curse Dir Takashi Shimizu Mugi Kadowaki also stars in the latest project from horror-meister Shimizu, director of The Grudge series, along with singer-actors Hideaki Takizawa and Daiki Arioka. Scheduled for local release in June, the film is set in a suburban town rocked by a series of child disappearances and suspicious adult deaths. A reporter refuses to believe children are killing adults and begins to investigate. Contact Shion Komatsu, Shochiku shion_komatsu@shochiku.co.jp
The Last Recipe Dir Yojiro Takita The director of Oscar-winning drama Departures, Takita is teaming with actor Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters From Iwo Jima) on this food-themed drama, which is in post-production for release on November 3. Based on a novel by Keiichi Tanaka, director of popular TV food show Iron Chef, the film tells the story of a famous chef who is tasked with tracking down a 70-year-old missing recipe. The cast also includes Hidetoshi Nishijima, Go Ayano and Aoi Miyazaki. Contact Akihiro Takeda, Toho Co a_takeda@toho.co.jp
32 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
The latest work from one of Japan’s most versatile filmmakers, Mumon: The Land Of Stealth is a period drama based on Ryo Wada’s novel Shinobi No Kuni, and tells the story of the showdown between a warlord and a rebellious ninja clan. Starring Satoshi Ohno, Satomi Ishihara and Yusuke Iseya, the film is in post-production for Japanese release in July. Contact Yuhka Matoi, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc (TBS) yuhka@green.tbs.co.jp
Narratage Dir Isao Yukisada Based on Rio Shimamoto’s award-winning novel of the same name, Narratage is a coming-of-age drama directed by a master of the genre, Yukisada (Crying Out Love, In The Center Of The World), and produced by Ogawa Shinji ((Norwegian Wood). Starring Kasumi Arimura, Jun Matsumoto and Kentaro Sakaguchi, the film follows a university student who struggles with her feelings when she is contacted by her former high school teacher, on whom she had a crush, to appear in one of his plays. Contact Akihiro Takeda, Toho Co a_takeda@ toho.co.jp
Mumon: The Land Of Stealth
Side Job
theatre director Inoue and has Arata Furuta, Izumi Inamori and Shunsuke Daitoh heading the cast.
Dir Ryuichi Hiroki Based on the director’s own novel Her Life Is Not At Fault, Hiroki’s latest feature tells the story of a young woman who escapes her mundane life as an office clerk in Fukushima, where people are still suffering from the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, by working as a call girl during the weekends in Tokyo. Scheduled for release on July 15, the film stars Kumi Takiuchi (Twisted Justice), Ken Mitsuishi (Midnight Diner) and Kengo Kora (Being Good). Hiroki is known for films that explore sexuality and the inner worlds of female characters, such as Vibrator (2003), starring Shinobu Terajima, and Kabukicho Love Hotel (2014). Contact Haruko Watanabe, Gaga watanabh@gaga.co.jp
Stray Nightingale Dir Hidenori Inoue The filmed version of Japanese theatre company Village Inc’s latest sellout production, Stray Nightingale, has been reedited for international audiences. Filmed by Village’s Geki Cine label using multiple HD cameras, surround sound and high-end post-production, the p l ay i s directed by acclaimed The Third Murder
Contact Hiroyuki Hata, Village Inc hata@village-inc-jp
The Third Murder Dir Hirokazu Koreeda Renowned for insightful family stories, Koreeda has taken on a legal drama for his latest project, which reunites him with Masaharu Fukuyama, the star of his 2013 Cannes Grand Jury Prize winner Like Father, Like Son. Currently in post-production for Japanese release on September 9, the film tells the story of a lawyer who reluctantly defends a convicted killer charged with another murder. Koji Yakusho (Babel) plays the murderer and Hirose Suzu (Our Little Sister) also stars. Asia contact Haruko Watanabe, Gaga watanabh@gaga.co.jp RoW contact Olivier Barbier, Wild Bunch obarbier@wildbunch.eu
Vigilante (working title) Dir Yu Irie Nao Omori (Museum), Kenta Kiritani (Close-Knit) and popular TV actor Kosuke Suzuki star in this drama as three brothers who decide to take the law into their own hands and form a vigilante group following the death of their father. Irie, who first garnered attention with 2009 indie sleeper hit 8000 Miles, recently directed NTV’s Memoirs Of A Murderer, which is scheduled for Japanese release on June 10. Vigilante is in post-production for release in winter 2017. Contact Daichi Yashiki, Toei s dai_yashiki@toei.co.jp ■
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New Venue : Sunshine City, Ikebukuro, Tokyo Date:October 24［TUE］ 26［THU］, 2017
TIFFCOM2017 details : http://www.tiffcom.jp/en/ Office at Marché du Film : PALAIS 01– 23.01 Contact : inquiry@tiffcom.jp
PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
Tokyo’s headline act Expect something different from the new-look Tokyo International Film Festival in October. The festival and content market TIFFCOM aim to bring Japan closer than ever to the rest of the world
T
okyo International Film Festival (TIFF) will celebrate its 30th edition with a refreshed look and feel for both audiences and industry. The anniversary edition (October 25-November 3) will be steered by newly appointed festival director, Takeo Hisamatsu, a film industry veteran with a multifaceted career at Shochiku, one of Japan’s four major studios. His mission is to position TIFF as a widereaching entertainment platform bringing together independent, arthouse and commercial films under a vision that can be summed up in three words: expansive, empowering and enlightening. The eye-catching anniversary visual by creative director Hiroshi Sasaki and art director Akihiro Hamabe, who were behind the Tokyo 2020 Olympics presentation at last year’s Rio de Janeiro closing ceremony, and acclaimed photographer Mika Ninagawa, captures the joyous atmosphere Tokyo and TIFF strive to deliver to visitors. The anniversary edition aims to connect audiences with films from a wide range of countries, regions and genres. In addition to the festival’s well-regarded stalwarts, including its International Competition strand and the annual focus on Japanese animation, new programming initiatives will centre on balancing art and entertainment. Wide appeal As well as appealing to cineastes, the aim is to cultivate more casual moviegoers with a mix of indie, arthouse and commercial titles through fan-focused screenings, meet the filmmaker events, genre-driven programme sections and a special exhibition commemorating TIFF’s history. Further special events include a collaboration with Cannes regular Naomi Kawase, whose Radiance (Hikari) screens in Cannes’ Competition. Tokyo’s position in creating connections between Japan and the world will be emphasised by establishing new opportunities for guest and audience engagement. “We want to promote more communication and interaction between the filmmakers, performers and industry,” says festival director Hisamatsu. “Empowering them will hopefully lead
34 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
TIFF 2017 celebrates the Muses of Japanese Cinema
Aoi Miyazaki Yu Aoi
Sakura Ando
‘We want to promote more communication and interaction between filmmakers, performers and industry’ Takeo Hisamatsu, festival director
to more collaboration in the future, giving them an incentive to come back to Tokyo with new films.” In line with TIFF’s vision of empowering audiences and industry guests, the popular Japan Now section, which has previously highlighted the works of acclaimed directors such as Shunji Iwai, will this year focus on a programme called the Muses of Japanese Cinema.
Hikari Mitsushima
This will be a celebration and showcase of four contemporary Japanese actresses whose stature is increasing across the globe: Sakura Ando, Yu Aoi, Hikari Mitsushima and Aoi Miyazaki. Mitsushima and Ando both rocketed to international attention in 2008 in Sion Sono’s genre-busting epic Love Exposure, which explored the ordeals of love-struck teenagers at the hands of a religious cult. Since then, both have starred in a range of commercial hits and festival favourites, including Mitsushima’s role as the ailing wife of a samurai in Takashi Miike’s Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai, which screened at Cannes in 2011, and Ando’s heartbreaking performance in Yang Yong-hi’s Berlinale Forum selection Our Homeland in 2012. The works of Miyazaki and Aoi have received similar acclaim. Miyazaki won a Yamaji-fumiko award for her role in Lee Sang-il’s mys-
tery thriller Rage, which screened at Toronto International Film Festival last year. Aoi made her mark in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2012 Venice title Penance and Yoji Yamada’s Tokyo Family, which premiered at Berlin in 2013. The Muses programme will feature special screenings as well as ‘meet the filmmaker’ sessions with the four actresses. TIFF continues to invest in the future by nurturing emerging directors from Asia. The Asian Future section will showcase new talent from the region, while the Japanese Splash programme will highlight a cross-section of recent Japanese films. The Asian Three Fold-Mirror omnibus film project, launched in 2016 in partnership with Japan Foundation Asia Centre, aims to promote regional collaboration. The inaugural production, a collaboration between Philippines’ Brillante Mendoza, Cambodia’s Sotho Kulikar and Japan’s Isao Yukisada, premiered at last year’s festival. A second omnibus project with new filmmakers will be announced during the festival and will premiere at the 2018 event. “It is important to keep the door open for emerging filmmakers for them to be able to fly to the international arena through TIFF,” says Hisamatsu. Business class Building bridges between Japan and the global industry is a top priority for Hisamatsu. He aims to provide increased business engagement with TIFF’s programme as well as create closer ties between the festival and Tokyo’s TIFFCOM content market. Stephan Holl, CEO of German sales and production outfit Rapid Eye Movies, testifies to the benefits of the close-knit relationship between the festival and the market. As a producer of Khavn De La Cruz’s Philippines-Germany co-production Ruined Heart, which screened in Official Competition at TIFF in 2014, Holl was able to exploit the festival-market synergy by gaining easy access to the Japanese sales companies and licensors vital to Rapid Eye’s position as the leading distributor of Japanese titles in German-speaking territories. “As a distributor, Rapid Eye has a long-lasting relationship with Japanese
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COM is expanding its business matching and seminar programmes. “In recent years, we have witnessed the increase in IP-related negotiations in addition to film-driven deals,” explains Shiina. “We are planning to set up IP-connected exhibition booths, seminars and events to increase business matching at the Ikebukuro venue.” Held under the umbrella of the Japan Content Showcase marketplace for music, film, TV and animation, TIFFCOM has been growing steadily. In 2016, 356 exhibitors from 21 countries and a registered 1,539 buyers held around 6,800 meetings and made deals in excess of $53m over the three-day event.
The 30th TIFF’s eye-catching visuals
‘Being selected to TIFF’s competition was a perfect spotlight for Ruined Heart’ Stephan Holl, Rapid Eye Movies
filmmakers, producers and sales companies and thus for many years TIFF and TIFFCOM have been valuable events in our business calendar,” Holl explains. “As a producer, being selected to TIFF’s com-
petition was a perfect spotlight for Ruined Heart and it helped the film to find distributors in various countries including Japan.” TIFFCOM, the festival’s affiliated market (October 24-26), is also seeing some exciting changes. It is moving from its Odaiba home to the new venue of Sunshine City Convention Centre in the vibrant downtown neighbourhood of Ikebukuro. Renowned for its nightlife, shopping and leisure facilities, the area will provide ample networking and dealmaking opportunities for delegates. The market partially overlaps with TIFF to ensure the industry is able to get
the best out of the festival and the business experience. “We will connect the venues with a shuttle bus as well as implement a joint identification process to have a stress-free commute between market and festival locations to better serve the professionals,” says Yasushi Shiina, CEO of TIFFCOM and former director general of TIFF. “Visiting buyers will also be able to participate in the festival’s opening and special events to have the best experience of Japan and Tokyo.” To cater to the global growth in IP-driven content such as comic books and original novels, TIFF-
For further information 8 www.tiff-jp.net 8 www.jcs.tokyo/en/
INTERVIEW NAOMI KAWASE
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apanese director Naomi Kawase has been a frequent visitor to the Croisette, with her fourth feature The Mourning Forest (2007) winning the Grand Prix, and Hanezu (2011) and Still The Water (2014) selected for Competition. Her previous film, An (2015), premiered in Un Certain Regard and was well received across the world. Her latest Competition feature Radiance (Hikari) tells the love story of elderly photographer Masaya (Masatoshi Nagase), who is losing his sight and, Misako (Ayame Misaki), a young writer of film versions for the visually impaired. Kawase and Tokyo International Film Festival will hold a special collaboration at TIFF’s 30th anniversary edition. Hikari is a co-production with France, what challenges did you encounter working with an overseas partner?
A film’s story will be narrow if it’s only produced from the Japanese perspective. For Hikari it became more objective and global thanks to the
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collaboration with the French who can build an objective story even if they do not understand the language. Our collaboration gave birth to a film with a common language that is understood worldwide. Whilst there is a time difference between Japan and France, working with excellent creators in both countries has become a possibility thanks to digital file-sharing. Therefore, I have continued to join forces with France for over 10 years since the The Mourning Forest. How do you see today’s Japanese film industry as a female filmmaker?
There are prospects and possibilities for Japanese female film-makers. There are plenty of talented directors who can emerge to the world stage. It is regrettable, though, if they have to let go of this opportunity because of the cost of subtitling, an inability to communicate in English or for
the reason of never trying in the first place. I guess I’ve helped to prove their potential through Aya Igashi’s Tokeru, a short film to which I am related as it won at Nara International Film Festival in 2016, and is selected for this year’s Cinefondation. What does the Cannes festival mean to you and what are your expectations for Hikari at this year’s event?
It has been 20 years since I was awarded with the Caméra d’Or for best new director. It was at the 50th anniversary year of Cannes Film Festival. It is an unlimited pleasure for me to be able to participate in Competition. Definitely, I am a film director raised in Cannes. Without Cannes, I could have been making films in a small corner of Japan, Naomi Kawase and I might
Radiance
have lived far away from filmmaking. In that sense, Cannes is the place that has enriched my life, and I would like to continue to walk sincerely on the path I have been given. Cannes is also a place to reunite with friends across the film world, whether directors, producers, actors and many others in the industry. As TIFF celebrates its 30th anniversary, how do you see its role from the perspective of a film-maker?
I just want to provide the world with the abundance of films and not to care about nationality, gender, age or the environment where you were born and raised. Nobody can do it yet, but with film or even with other expressions I want it to lead to a world without war. I hope the festival can play a big role as a place where you can share these ways of thinking with as many people as possible and get power to fulfil these dreams. At the same time, it should be a place where you can send messages to the next generation regardless of whether or not they are part of the industry.
May 18, 2017 Screen International at Cannes 35
NAOMI KAWASE PHOTOGRAPHED BY LESLIE KEE; ©2017 “RADIANCE” FILM PARTNERS/KINOSHITA, COMME DES CINEMAS, KUMIE
Filmmaker Naomi Kawase has graced Cannes many times, and returns this year with a picture in Competition. She discusses what the festival means to her
HOT PROJECTS INDIA
Rise of India’s indies Despite the absence of Indian feature films in this year’s official selection, India’s independent production scene is in overdrive, with a slew of films ready for festival directors to consider. Liz Shackleton reports
W
hile India does not have any features in Cannes’ official selection, Directors’ Fortnight or Critics’ Week this year, there are several Indian independent films in production or post-production that are likely to appear at festivals either later this year or in early 2018. The list below includes titles from established filmmakers, such as Nandita Das and Iran’s Majid Majidi, as well as feature debuts from promising new talents. In an encouraging sign for the sustainability of India’s indie filmmaking sector, the list also includes second and third features from directors whose debuts won acclaim on the festival circuit, such as Devashish Makhija (Oonga), Aditya Vikram Sengupta (Labour Of Love) and Anup Singh (Qissa: The Tale Of A Lonely Ghost).
Beyond The Clouds
Ajji
Beyond The Clouds
Dir Devashish Makhija
Dir Majid Majidi
One of the first features from Indian music company Saregama, which stepped into the production of independent feature films last year, Ajji is the story of a 60-year-old woman seeking justice and revenge for the rape of a child when the local police refuse to intervene. Makhija made his feature debut with Oonga, about the plight of Indian tribals, in 2013 and has also directed a string of highly praised shorts. Currently in the final stages of post-production, Ajji was produced by Saregama and Yoodlee Films and stars Sushama Deshpande, Sharvani Suryavanshi and Saadiya Siddique. Paris-based Charades has picked up international rights.
The first Hindi-language feature from Iranian director Majidi (Children Of Heaven), Beyond The Clouds is a comingof-age story about the relationship between a brother and a sister. Majidi, who has a loyal following in India, shot the film in Mumbai using a wholly Indian cast and crew. Ishaan Khatter heads the cast, while behind-the-scenes talent includes Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) and DoP Anil Mehta (Lagaan). Produced by India’s Zee Studios and Eyecandy Films, the film is in post-production for delivery in the autumn.
Contact Carole Baraton, Charades sales@charades.eu
Contact Vibha Chopra, Zee Studios International vibha. chopra@zee.esselgroup.com
Bombay Rose
Ajji
36 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
feature from Rao, whose short animation Printed Rainbow won the Kodak short film award and two other prizes in Critics’ Week in 2006. Also employing her hand-painted style of 2D animation, Bombay Rose revolves around two migrant children and the clash between romance and harsh reality on the streets of Mumbai. Currently in production, it is scheduled for delivery in 2018. Contact Marina Fuentes, C International Sales marina.fuentes@cintsales.com
The Hungry
Dir Gitanjali Rao Co-produced by India a n d U K-b a s e d Cinestaan Film Company and France’s Les Film d’ci, Bombay Rose marks the first
Bombay Rose
The Hungry
Titus Andronicus, which is in post-production for delivery in early summer. Coproduced by Cinestaan Film Company and Film London, the film was developed using Film London’s low-budget Microwave scheme as its model, with the film-makers undergoing a training programme funded by the British Council. The cast also includes Arjun Gupta, Neeraj Kabi and Sayani Gupta. Contact Marina Fuentes, C International Sales marina.fuentes@cintsales.com
In The Shadows
In The Shadows
Dir Bornila Chatterjee
Dir Dipesh Jain
Naseeruddin Shah and Tisca Chopra head the cast of this UK-India co-production, a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s
Manoj Bajpayee (Gangs Of Wasseypur) plays the lead role in this psychological drama about a lonely man trapped within the walls of the old city of Delhi, as well as within his own mind. In the »
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HOT PROJECTS INDIA
final stages of post-production, the film also stars acclaimed actors Neeraj Kabi (Ship Of Theseus), Shahana Goswami (Midnight’s Children) and Ranvir Shorey (A Death In The Gunj). The feature debut of Jain, who has written and directed a string of award-winning shorts, In The Clouds is produced by Shuchi Jain of UKbased Exstant Motion Pictures and Swiss producer Lena Vurma. Contact Shuchi Jain, Exstant Motion Pictures shuchijain.film@gmail.com Lena Vurma, Dragonfly Films vurma@dragonflyfilms.de
Jonaki Dir Aditya Vikram Sengupta The second feature from Labour Of Love writer-director Sengupta is an abstract work delving into the mind and memories of an elderly woman in a coma. Veteran actress Lolita Chatterjee plays the 80-year-old lead in the Bengali-language feature, which is currently in production. Vikram Mohinta is producing with Samir Sarkar of Magic Hour Films and Paris-based Catherine Dussart Productions (CDP). Labour Of Love, about a young couple in Kolkata, won the Fedeora award for best debut film in Venice Days 2014 and a National Film Award in India. Sengupta is also working on Memories And My Mother, to be co-produced by CDP. Contact Vikram Mohinta mohinta.vikram@gmail.com
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Nandita Das on the set of Manto
Manto Dir Nandita Das Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays controversial Indian writer Saadat Hasan Manto in Das’s highly anticipated biopic, which is currently in production. Known as South Asia’s greatest short-story writer, Manto wrote extensively about the partition of India and was tried for obscenity six times but never convicted. Produced by HP Studios, Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Filmztoc, the biopic also stars Rasika Dugal (Qissa: The Tale Of A Lonely Ghost) as Manto’s wife and follows his later years
38 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
The Monster
in Lahore. Das, who is also producing the film, is an acclaimed actress who made her directing debut with Firaaq (2008). Contact Jean-Pierre Le Calvez, HP Studios jp.lecalvez@hp.com mantofilm@gmail.com
The Monster Dir Dnyanesh Zoting Currently in post-production, fantasy drama The Monster (Raakshas) tells the story of an eight-year-old girl whose father is making a documentary about the protests of a tribal village against a development project. After reading a fairy tale about a monster in the forest, she begs her father not to visit the village again, but he goes anyway and disappears. While her mother launches a search, the girl uses the plot of her fairy tale to bring him back. Produced by Holy Basil Productions and Navalakha Arts, the Marathi-language production is Zoting’s first feature and was developed through the Drishyam Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Contact Sanjay Ram, Basil Content sanjs.ram@gmail.com
The Song Of Scorpions
the film, which also includes Waheeda Rehman, Shashank Arora and Tillotama Shome. Singh’s last film, Qissa: The Tale Of A Lonely Ghost, premiered at Toronto in 2013 and won a slew of awards. Currently in post-production, The Song Of Scorpions is produced by Switzerland’s Saskia Vischer, Shahaf Peled and Michel Merkt, along with France’s Thierry Lenouvel. Contact Saskia Vischer info@saskiavischer.com
The Sweet Requiem Dirs Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam The second narrative feature from acclaimed documentary filmmakers Sarin and Sonam recently wrapped following a gruelling shoot in Ladakh and Delhi, India. The story follows a young Tibetan woman living in exile in Delhi whose life is unexpectedly shattered when she runs into a man from her past. Produced by White Crane Films and Infinitum Productions, the film stars Tenzin Dolkar and Jampa Kalsang. Sarin and Sonam’s first feature, Dreaming Lhasa (2005), was executive produced by Jeremy Thomas and Richard Gere, and premiered in Toronto. Contact Shrihari Sathe, Infinitum Productions ssathe@gmail.com
Dir Anup Singh Set in the Thar desert of Rajasthan, Singh’s The Song Of Scorpions is about a woman who can overcome the poison of scorpions through music. When the man whose advances she has spurned has her attacked, she sets out on her own mission of healing and revenge. Golshifteh Farahani and Irrfan Khan head the cast of
Unknown Faces Dir Atanu Mukherjee Produced by Drishyam Films, Mukherjee’s debut feature Unknown Faces (Rukh) stars Adarsh Gourav, Manoj Bajpayee and Smita Tambe in the story of a young man attempting to uncover the truth behind his father’s sudden death. Although his mother tries to shield him from the truth, he
The Song Of Scorpions
Unknown Faces
uncovers a series of disturbing secrets, including his father’s bankruptcy. Mukherjee, who previously worked as an editor on films such as Monsoon Shootout, developed the project through the Drishyam Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Drishyam Films also produced Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan, which screened at Un Certain Regard in 2015, and Amit Masurkar’s Newton, which premiered at this year’s Berlinale. Contact Ritika Bhatia, Drishyam Films ritika@drishyamfilms.com
Village Rockstars Dir Rima Das Selected for Hong Kong Goes To Cannes, due to its participation in the Works-inProgress Lab of this year’s Hong KongAsia Film Financing Forum (HAF), Das’s Assamese-language drama follows a free-spirited 10-year-old girl who fights gender stereotypes in a remote village in Assam by forming a rock band with a group of local boys. A self-taught filmmaker who has made shorts and documentaries, Das made her feature debut in 2016 with Man With The Binoculars, which screened at Tallinn Black Nights and Mumbai film festivals. Contact Rima Das, Flying River Films s rima.films@gmail.com ■
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SPOTLIGHT FILM FACILITATION OFFICE
Making India easier India’s Film Facilitation Office brings together 36 regional governments to make the country a more film-friendly place for international producers. Wendy Mitchell reports Pawan Sharma/IANS
I
ndia is “a large country to navigate”, says Vikramjit Roy, head of India’s Film Facilitation Office (FFO), with profound understatement. Which is why an organisation such as the FFO is so crucial to making the country a more film-friendly place for both local and international filmmakers. The FFO was created in late 2015 by India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and is housed under the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). The FFO functions as a central agency that can help with obtaining shooting permissions and sourcing locations and crew across all of India’s seven union territories and 29 states. “We want the FFO to be a single-window mechanism to position and promote India as a film-friendly destination and ensure there is a film-friendly ecosystem developing within the country,” says Roy. The ministry was inspired to create the FFO in part because of prime minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, “an open invitation to the world
The FFO has facilitated shoots of international projects such as Victoria And Abdul and (inset) Swedish TV drama The Most Beautiful Hands Of Delhi
‘India realises the benefits of promoting India as a film destination. The FFO is a step in this direction’
Bazaar in Goa to listen to direct feedback and suggestions from local and international filmmakers; another session will be planned for Film Bazaar in November. “Awareness is the key and the FFO is conducting workshops with film-makers, officials and other parties to make the process smoother,” says Rathore.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
International appeal The FFO has processed 31 applications for international projects to shoot in India since January 2016. These include feature films such as Stephen Frears’ Victoria And Abdul and Neil Biswas’s Darkness Visible, as well as TV projects including Swedish drama The Most Beautiful Hands Of Delhi and US reality show The Challenge. “The major countries of origin for international productions in India are the UK, France, Bangladesh, Argentina, Germany, US, Italy and Norway,” adds Rathore. The country already has co-production treaties with Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Spain and the UK. India does not yet offer a financial incentive for filming, but Roy says that could come in due time. He wants to ensure the coun-
to benefit from India’s strengths”, explains Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, the minister of state for information and broadcasting. For filmmakers, India’s strengths include unique and diverse locations, a robust talent pool and rich film history, and relatively low production costs. “India realises the benefits of promoting India as a film destination,” Rathore says. “The setting up of the Film Facilitation Office as a single-window facilitation mechanism for permissions for filming across India and promoting India as a filming destination is one strong step in this direction.” Another step in the right direction is listening directly to the needs of filmmakers at home and abroad. Symposiums were held in 2015 and 2016 at Film
40 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
try has strong foundations first. “Once we create a film-friendly environment, the second step will be incentives. We don’t want to rush things,” says Roy. Since the FFO was launched, 36 nodal officers have been appointed at the state level and more in departments that govern customs, airports, railways, the environment, archeological sites and animal welfare. These nodal officers become the main contact for filming in their geographic region or area of expertise. “An international filmmaker or a local filmmaker can have a single con-
‘We want to ensure there is a film-friendly ecosystem within the country’ Vikramjit Roy
tact to help deal with issues,” says Roy. A further innovation has been to encourage each Indian state to compete for the most filmfriendly state award from the national government. “It’s for a state/regional government that is taking all the right steps to develop the film industry, to create incentives for people to come and shoot, to foster local talent and to set up a single-window clearance,” says Roy. The award for 2016 went to Gujarat in the west of the country and for 2017 it has gone to Uttar Pradesh in the north east. A web portal to take the FFO’s application process online is also being lined up for a 2018 launch. “The portal will become a single-window facilitation and clearance mechanism for the international film community who are looking to shoot their films in India,” says Rathore. The website will also likely host a database of locations across India as well as information about crews, policies and cos production treaties. ■
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FILMAX INTERNATIONAL IN CANNES: RIVIERA A1
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Andrew Humphries
SALES FOCUS US
Nick Meyer, CEO of Sierra/Affinity
Alex Walton, CEO of Bloom
Glen Basner, CEO of FilmNation
Helen Lee-Kim, partner and head of international, Good Universe
Always be selling Kicking off an in-depth look at how the role of the sales agent around the world is changing dramatically, four leading US executives sit down with Screen International’s Americas editor Jeremy Kay
T
o regard Glen Basner (CEO, FilmNation), Nick Meyer (CEO, Sierra/Affinity) Helen Lee-Kim (partner and head of international, Good Universe) and Alex Walton (CEO, Bloom) as simply sales agents is to miss the point. As Netflix and Amazon Studios transform the landscape, and audience demographics, tastes and the way people consume content continue to evolve, the executives are looking deeply at their businesses and striving to innovate. Everyone participating in the lively conversation at the Mr C Beverly Hills hotel in late April emphasised the need to accept the disruptors as critical elements in the ecosystem — and indeed elements that can create
42 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
new opportunities across the industry. Each of their companies has enjoyed success with theatrical fare that has elevated cinema-going. FilmNation has Oscar-nominated Arrival, which has grossed nearly $200m worldwide. Sierra/Affinity’s Manchester By The Sea is a $75m global hit starring Oscar winner Casey Affleck. Good Universe teamed with 21 Laps, No Trace Camping and WME Global to sell worldwide rights on Kin to Lionsgate. Bloom’s upcoming slate includes George Clooney’s Suburbicon starring Matt Damon and Julianne Moore, and Scott Cooper’s Hostiles with Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike. There is hunger for more theatrical success, as well as a broader desire to champion premium content across its many forms.
How do you adapt and build your business to survive? Glen Basner Instead of following a traditional model, we’re looking to create as many different models to distribute, monetise and exploit our films or television. So whether it’s selling traditionally, territory by territory, or doing a worldwide deal with a studio, or selling to Netflix or Amazon or anything in between, for us it’s just about matching up the right film to the right distributor and the right financial plan. And being open to and creating those new models continues to allow us to have the scale and scope of our business. Helen Lee-Kim The lines of content are all blurring. TV, film, videogames — the convergence of all that media is being driven by the consumer. It used to be that distribution was king, content was king. Today, the consumer is king. And so we’re leaning into how can we get our hands in a
‘It used to be that distribution was king, content was king. Today, the consumer is king’ Helen Lee-Kim, Good Universe
variety of these buckets and be experts on the creation of this content, whatever that content is, and then match it up with the best distribution plan. Nick Meyer The key to survival is perpetual evolution. You can’t stick with how you do things and make everything conform to you; you have to reinvent yourself rapidly, consistently, while still staying committed to the core ethic of what your business is. That means you have to be prepared to reinvent yourself all the time. Otherwise it’s almost »
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Andrew Humphries
SALES FOCUS US
(From left) Nick Meyer, Helen Lee-Kim, Alex Walton, Glen Basner
impossible to stay relevant in a landscape that’s shifting as quickly as this. Alex Walton We’ve all been moving away from just being a supplier of movies to supplying our own movies, creating our own content, owning more of our content, which gives us more control of the supply line and actual profit centre. You have to be agnostic about distribution. Who are some of the partners you have met who are outside the traditional film sphere? HLK We have a partnership with this very interesting, narrative-driven videogame company [Campo Santo]. They just won a couple of Baftas and have this videogame called Firewatch. The game plays very naturally as a three-act film. Very character-driven. It’s on a gaming platform now, but we see no reason why it can’t be a movie, a series, short-form, VR — all of those things. GB We invested in a VR platform called Littlestar. This opportunity came through an existing relationship and we used it as a way to continue to put capital to work and to get educated on VR. At some point when VR migrates into our space of storytelling, hopefully we’ll be ahead of the curve. What do buyers need to do to stay relevant to you? NM The traditional territorial distributor is at a really challenging point. Their commitment to helping make movies happen, which has been the traditional model for them, is not consistently working in the way it had. That said, their opportunity to secure the rights to
44 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
‘The importance of premium content is vital. It doesn’t matter how it’s being consumed’ Nick Meyer, Sierra/Affinity
those projects relies on them still being that independent, entrepreneurial risktaker. Output deals haven’t been good for a lot of them over the last 24 months, and that’s also caused them to be reticent if they have limited capital to continue to be aggressively pre-buying projects. And yet that entrepreneurial spirit is what’s going to allow them to have success, which is going to recirculate dollars or pounds or euros into the ecosystem. Together we have to continue to find a way for them to make those bets and have enough success for them so they continue to stay viable. GB I’m more worried about how we remain relevant to them. How do we continue to supply them with films that compel them to pre-buy — because that’s what the foundation of our business is based on — and execute so they are rewarded for taking that risk? It’s less about how they remain relevant to me, because I still find them to be foundational relationships for my company and, despite all the change, will remain foundational relationships for my company. While they’re going through change and figuring out their business… it’s my job to listen and then act. AW The majority of them are making local content. The studios were control-
ling that space for many years and the majority of the key partners, including output partners, are making their own strong TV and film. If they’re going to acquire one of our films at an early point, it needs to stand out in terms of quality for them to monetise that in their local market. Have you introduced buyers to new formats? HLK We helped Awesomeness launch their feature film business, so Awesomeness Films president Matt Kaplan came to Cannes last year and pitched how they built their business in this digital world, and their plans for this featurefilm business. Then we thought we’d explore to see if some of our all-rights guys would be interested in sticking their toe in this digital space. It was exciting to see their faces light up because they saw potential growth. They’ve licensed the movies and we bundled some short-form, which wasn’t part of the original conversation. They have these great distribution and marketing teams… and what can those teams now leverage across different platforms to complement each other? How do you engage with digital natives? HLK That demographic has always been one we’ve looked at from a film perspective. It’s just that they need to be compelled to go to the movies. GB Rather than looking to target the fiveto-10-year-old demo in five years, I’m trying to look at how people are consuming either short-form or long-form con-
tent and on what devices — and trying to match up stories that can have impact. You work or are likely to work with the disruptors-in-chief Netflix and Amazon Studios, and yet distributors including your traditional buyers struggle to compete with them. How do you reconcile that? NM It’s another home for creative content, so there’s content that’s going to traditional buyers and then there’s content that’s suited for one of these streaming services. That’s good for people in the business of telling stories and creating content. We all sit in a somewhat small pond — the traditional independent territorial distributor is a huge part of that — particularly in the feature-film business. We’re all in it, so everyone is interconnected in some way. We do business with the studios. We do business with the independent buyers. We do business with Netflix. We do business with Amazon. That’s our ecosystem. AW Our buyers are all clients of those companies, and eager to be. There’s caution that has been in the marketplace and in the short term those companies are going to be able to take risk where our buyers aren’t able to take risk in terms of new filmmakers and new talent. They can be less traditionally driven and don’t have to have the same historical, television-based business, so they’ll be breaking more talent, which has been the lifeblood of independent film, and we’ll then benefit from that and our buyers will too. GB What you hear from the US distributors at festivals is it’s a struggle to »
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Andrew Humphries
SALES FOCUS US
‘Would we want big stars in our movie versus not? Of course. But is that the only thing? Absolutely not’
(From left) Helen Lee-Kim, Glen Basner, Alex Walton
Glen Basner, FilmNation
‘We’re in an era when there’s never been a greater demand for content’ Alex Walton, Bloom
compete because the economics are completely different in how Netflix or Amazon evaluate a movie compared to how they do. If you look at Sundance, a lot of movies that could have been sold to a theatrical distributor may have ended up with Netflix because they were simply willing to invest more, or saw more value in the film. That I hear quite a bit. HLK They are an option. They’re not the only option, but they need to be weighed up against everything else. GB There’s so much fundamental change in how a distributor buys a movie from us and how they can go monetise that film. The disappearance of DVDs, the lack of competition in free TV in certain markets... there are many factors going on that are affecting the ability of distributors to monetise what they buy from us. NM The importance of premium content is vital. It doesn’t matter how it’s being consumed. If you look at the earliest days of Netflix territorially, they were buying huge amounts of library — that’s how they started to fill their hours. Not
46 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
anymore. Now they’re looking for premium content, whether they’re creating or securing.
part, but you do it because you’re protecting the artist, you’re protecting the content, you’re protecting your distributor.
What impact are non-traditional buyers having on holdbacks? AW For an international buyer to have invested in a premium title that they’re then held back on as it opens domestically on VoD or day-and-date, that’s a particular challenge to buyers outside of piracy. If a US release is seen [internationally] as television-based, getting exhibition in key worldwide markets is tough. We’re not seeing broken windows as much [yet] around the international marketplace, so it’s a real challenge for them. HLK Some are trying to evolve. In Sundance there was a film that was picked up domestically by Netflix [that Good Universe sold internationally, Mudbound] and we were very sensitive to everyone’s situation and kept them in the loop on what was happening in the US. There were a handful of distributors that realised there are shifts in the model, and they’re trying to find a way to adapt and release the title locally. NM We’ve been through a situation on a movie where the inverse happened [Wild Card]. Domestic [Lionsgate] was going to go day-and-date, but we said, “Hang on a second, [maybe] the movie can go wide internationally in markets that are a minimal piracy risk” — we had that dialogue. That takes a lot of work on our
What other elements of theatrical distribution should be addressed? HLK When you take the macro view of the theatrical model, the day somebody can crack the nut of maximising a wide release and not spend $25m or $50m to release the movie in P&A — that is the day movies we all make will have a huge resurgence in the marketplace. A24 is doing it already and hopefully BH Tilt will get in there. GB Even if they just cut back 10%-15% and can have the same result, that would be the margin on every movie. What opportunities excite you and what keeps you up at night? NM The opportunities are the ability to put great stories together and be that connective tissue between the artist and the audience and everything in between. What keeps you up at night is the same thing. How do you keep finding premium content? GB I haven’t slept well since the ’80s! You read about everything as if it’s zerosum. “Is theatrical going to be around and is Netflix going to destroy it?” I think it’s a little bit more nuanced than that. My biggest concern is what’s going to be the piece of material that excites me to push the boulder up the hill? I’m just
worried about what the next one is and the one after that and the one after that. AW We’re in an era when there’s never been a greater demand for content. There are many different ways of exploiting it, but there are more buyers out there than ever before, largely USbased and increasingly worldwide. That’s a very positive sign for the long life of storytelling, whether that’s in cinema, TV, short-form or whatever. The business is healthy. It’s evolving. HLK The movie-going experience is still a shared one. Seeing a film in a packed theatre — you can’t replicate that feeling. GB You look at the Academy Awards last year and independents did really well. But then you also look at the box office of movies like Manchester By The Sea, Nick’s film. It’s amazing and to suggest that the theatrical business is dying doesn’t make sense to me when I see the grosses. What have you learned about TV? HLK We’re very intimate with comedy and genre. We have a comedy with HBO [Brotherhood], so we’re definitely leaning into what we know but very open to everything else. GB I’ve learned that TV is changing very rapidly in terms of what broadcasters want to buy. It changes from meeting to meeting. The [need for] premium content is the same and having things be more filmic has real value. But, at the same time, it’s not analogous to making a film and, at first, I thought I’d be able to just translate and jump over. But, actually, I’ve taken a step back and have been asking questions and learning. Are stars important? GB We think the star concept is a very old-fashioned way of looking at the business. Would we want big stars in our movie versus not? Of course. But is that the only thing? Absolutely not. It is one component of many things that are required for the magic to happen. NM The movie’s the star. It starts with the story you’re telling, which generally attracts the director, producer or showrunner, which brings the cast. UK SALES AGENTS, P50
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SALES FOCUS UK
Hitting the bullseye Yves Salmon
Three leading UK-based sales agents talk to Matt Mueller about their enhanced roles as executive producers, sustaining a good relationship with buyers, and why Netflix should reveal its figures to filmmakers (From left) Alison Thompson, Cornerstone Films; Gabrielle Stewart, HanWay Films; Stephen Kelliher, Bankside Films
T
hree leading figures in the UK film sales scene came together for a robust conversation around strategies for the present and future at the Union Club in Soho, London: Alison Thompson, former Focus Features International chief and co-founder and co-president (with Mark Gooder) of Cornerstone Films; Gabrielle Stewart, who joined HanWay Films as managing director last summer from her previous position at Bloom Media; and Stephen Kelliher, director of Bankside Films.
50 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
How do you adapt and build your business to survive? Gabrielle Stewart We’re getting involved far earlier than sales companies have traditionally done in the past. Because we are linked to Recorded Picture Company, and there is a team at HanWay that works across both companies, we’re helping producers build projects — we’re really providing quite extensive EP [executiveproducer] services. We have a team that is able to help build the financing plans of producers — help them find soft money around Europe, attach casting directors, that kind of thing. Alison Thompson I don’t think the old rules apply anymore. We all work
harder than we’ve ever worked before while the ratio of films that get greenlit versus those that don’t is diminishing. One of the advantages of being a relatively new company is we’ve been able to set up the company structure in a way that is fit for purpose for 2017. There’s more multitasking, and we’re using external consultants to come on board where we need them. Stephen Kelliher The bullseye of what works in today’s market is getting smaller and smaller, and we have to use every resource available to us to ensure that we’re involved in the projects that can hit that bullseye. At Bankside, we
‘Because there is so much money now in television, it’s creating a bigger pool of talent. It’s developing directors, it’s creating new stars’ Gabrielle Stewart, HanWay Films
have a relationship with Head Gear Films, which will put equity financing into films that Bankside wants to sell, and we’ve also begun producing and » developing ourselves.
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‘I don’t think the old rules apply anymore. We all work harder than we’ve ever worked before, while the ratio of films that get greenlit is diminishing’
Yves Salmon
SALES FOCUS UK
Alison Thompson and Stephen Kelliher
Alison Thompson, Cornerstone Films
What do your buyers need to do to continue to add value to your business? AT The onus is on the filmmaking community and sales agents to deliver material that can work in the commercial space. There’s no question it is tough for independent distributors right now. But it’s a little easier now to identify films that have the potential to work. We talk a lot about cinema that we represent being event cinema, by which we mean material you can ‘eventise’ from the outset. You have the right kind of talent attached, you have a very clear idea of how you are going to position a movie in the market, what the poster might look like, what kind of editorial you can expect to get around a movie, how it will work on social media, and so forth. GS We’re having to show distributors we will be able not only to deliver a film, but a campaign that they will be able to use to release the film. We have a new head of marketing distribution, Tom Grievson, who’s new to the international business. He’s always worked on the distribution side and I felt it was important from a preproduction standpoint to have someone thinking like a distributor, working with the producers throughout production to create the campaigns and materials. More and more we will have to deliver good campaigns as well as films. SK In a world where people don’t need to go to the cinema anymore, what reason are you giving them to leave their house, to leave their Netflix account and go and see the movie in the cinema? You have to be able to identify those reasons from day one, and develop the materials that illustrate that audience to a distributor. And by giving people a reason, I mean having great films that are critically well received, that have a strong international festival profile, that everybody is talking about the week they’re released. Good is not good enough anymore; it has to be outstanding. Are there opportunities that excite you, or is it a matter of working out how to navigate this landscape? SK The dawn of Netflix and Amazon is disrupting the traditional model, absolutely, but at the same time I wonder
52 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Gabrielle Stewart
whether we are at the beginning of the glory days of VoD, where we will see it continue to grow and other players coming into the market. Despite all the disruption to the marketplace, from a sales company business perspective the deal with Netflix or Amazon is a very good deal to do. GS I also think, because there is so much money now in television, it’s creating a bigger pool of talent. It’s developing directors, it’s creating new stars. In the same way that we can be negative about the fact that it’s harder to get certain film
stars because they are now filling their schedule with high-end drama series, we can also say that we’re actually generating a bigger pool of talent that is known worldwide. AT Looking at it from a slightly different perspective, we’ve never lived through more interesting times in our world. There is so much happening and the industry is evolving so quickly that, personally, I find it immensely exciting and fun. SK I agree completely. It’s not all doom and gloom.
GS And professionals are diversifying. Traditional film producers are also doing television series, and that develops and grows their business. The studios are making less content than before and therefore they are buying more, so a lot of producers that used to work within studios are now looking to the independent world to make their films. Does a US deal still drive international sales? GS The US sale ends up being the icing on the cake. Our focus is to finance the »
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SALES FOCUS UK
‘We still set out to make films for theatrical release — that is the core ethos within the company’
(From left) Alison Thompson, Cornerstone Films; Gabrielle Stewart, HanWay Films; Stephen Kelliher, Bankside Films
Stephen Kelliher, Bankside Films
film without it and build your film for international, and then try to sell upon completion to the US. The US is a very buoyant, exciting market right now — that’s where all the upside can be found for the sales agent and the producer. SK If you want the film to be theatrically released in international territories, the primary driver is still US theatrical. They want to know how many screens, they want to know what the campaign is, they want that kind of surety. I’m sure we’ve all been in the situation where the best deal to do for a film has been some kind of premium VoD sale in the US, and that does have a negative impact on the ability to sell foreign for theatrical release. It’s the distinction between what’s perceived as a theatrical film and what isn’t as far as international territories are concerned. [But] if you do have the right script and the right package, the pre-sales market is still buoyant. AT There is still fierce competition surrounding a small number of movies. But I take a slightly different view in that I think the pre-sales model has massively diminished in value over the last five years. There are not so many movies that are now pre-sold widely prior to production. So it becomes the role of the sales agent to work on getting a sufficient number of pre-sales over the line to give financiers the confidence in the material to want to go ahead and green-light. For the vast majority of material, that is now the default position.
54 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Now that Netflix and Amazon are among your clients, what do you say to traditional buyers who fear streaming platforms might drive them out of business? SK It’s challenging. I’m not sure I know the answer to the question because the traditional all-rights distributors in many cases have already stepped up to a project and pre-bought it, only for a VoD platform to come in at a later point and say, “We want it but we’ll only take it if we can have the world.” You may then be faced with a situation where you have to go back and undo those deals, and that’s difficult. From a distributor’s point of view, they might wonder, “Is this going to happen to 30%, 40%, 50% of the movies that I buy? And what happens to my release schedule, to my release date, to the sustainability of my business if this is going to happen repeatedly?” It is a real issue. GS I’ve not yet been in that situation but certainly at Sundance I was aware of that happening — a few of the films that became hot properties at Sundance had a few international territories sold, and that process happened. I think there’s more a risk on American independent films going into Sundance because they are often the films that get picked up by Netflix or Amazon. On European cinema, I think there is less of a risk. Stephen, you did a worldwide deal at AFM with Netflix on Cargo. What made that the right deal for that film? SK There are several things you have to
take into consideration. In certain cases, there will not be a theatrical release for the film. Everyone has to be comfortable with that, including the filmmakers and the producers. And, as sales companies, we also need to assess whether an offer from a VoD platform takes into account the potential upside we would see on a film if it were released territory-by-territory in the traditional theatrical model, since their deal is a flat fee with no revenue share to producers. GS I had this experience at my previous company [Bloom] with The Siege Of Jadotville, which Netflix offered on the world when we took it to Berlin. It was a very attractive offer on what would have been quite a challenging film for distributors, and we had to have very difficult conversations with the talent and the director at the time. What would be very helpful is if there was a way for all of us and the talent involved to understand just what the figures are. Netflix don’t give away any viewing figures, and perhaps they should start doing that with filmmakers. Is the survival of the traditional theatrical model crucial to your business? AT There is no question the theatrical window for a certain kind of filmgoing experience is absolutely crucial, and it’s a very rewarding part of the business to be in. But it’s high risk. The costs of marketing in theatrical are very high and the rental terms in a number of countries are pretty onerous for distribu-
tors, so the margins of profitability are increasingly slim. GS There’s an opportunity for us in terms of independent cinema. I was just having a conversation with a distributor to whom I’d sold quite a big film in the past for a really big MG [minimum guarantee]. He said to me, “When you look at Moonlight and Whiplash, these smaller films are the ones that are really working. I don’t know if I would have bought that big film with the big movie stars for the big MG. I’m more excited by spreading my bets and buying four smaller films for more reasonable MGs with the hope that one will break out.” I see that as an opportunity for the type of films that we’re doing because actually some surprising films are the ones that are really working and making money. We do a lot more filmmaker meetings now with distributors because they want to understand what the director’s vision is. SK We still set out to make films for theatrical release — that is the core ethos within the company. When digital first came on the scene, there was this idea that so many more films were going to be distributed because there wouldn’t be the P&A costs, but actually Netflix and Amazon have focused, on the whole, on films that could have theatrical releases, so that is still where we have to position ourselves. Although your business is international, can you see Brexit posing any particular challenges? AT In the here and now, the exchange rate is challenging for the Brits and, going forward, a certain kind of cinema will potentially miss the MEDIA support. There is still a question mark over whether or not the UK can stay part of it. If we don’t, that would obviously impact the export of British films into Europe and the import of European films into the UK. GS Because the dollar is so strong at the moment, a lot of American producers are looking to Europe because it’s cheaper for them. AT And from a UK sales agent’s perspective, the exchange rate is actually quite handy because we earn in dollars. GS But that can swing around as well — that could be a temporary thing! FRENCH SALES AGENTS, P58
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PRESENTS
SALES FOCUS FRANCE
Daniela Elstner, Doc & Film International
Hengameh Panahi, Celluloid Dreams
Cécile Gaget, Gaumont
The French touch Three respected figures from France’s sales sector discuss the challenges and opportunities of the digital age, and whether the country’s strict media chronology laws are still fit for purpose. Melanie Goodfellow reports
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creen International canvassed three highly respected figures in the French film sales scene — industry veteran and Celluloid Dreams founder Hengameh Panahi; Gaumont’s head of international co-production Cécile Gaget, who also still oversees international sales; and Daniela Elstner of independent stalwart Doc & Film International, who is also president of the local sales agent industry body ADEF — on their strategies for the present and future.
How do you adapt and build your business to survive? Hengameh Panahi More and more we’re channelling our market experience to producers to ensure their projects fit the requirements of market. We collaborate with them on script, cast, editing and
58 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
marketing, and sometimes contribute to financing. Producers are more open than before to such exchanges. This helps us ensure our buyers have access to good films. Daniela Elstner Alongside features, we’ve opened up our slate to a very specific type of TV series, kicking off with Bruno Dumont’s Li’l [ Quinquin sequel [Coincoin Extra-humans And The Extra-humans]. We’ve become skilled at doing separate deals across the different TV, VoD, SVoD and theatrical windows. The one territory/one deal way of selling is increasingly a thing of the past. Cécile Gaget Gaumont has built in-house teams covering the whole cinema chain: develop(Right) Ballerina was distributed by Gaumont
ment financing and production, sales and distribution. This savoir-faire across the whole chain attracts producers and buyers alike. The fact we distribute our French titles ourselves is also reassuring to buyers, not least because it means a marketing campaign is in place. For a couple of years now, we’ve had a person dedicated to acting as an interface between our distribution team and the buyers. The global release of Ballerina was a perfect example of this strategy in action. We created a marketing campaign and then she kept them informed of every aspect of the film’s release in France, from the artwork to how it was being scheduled in theatres, and even organised marketing meetings in Paris. Do you have to produce and/or finance as well as sell in order to survive? DE In general, I think yes. When it comes to financing films at script stage, we have to take more and more risks upfront. But the earlier we are involved, the better we sell.
‘The shared experience in a theatre still has an important impact’ Daniela Elstner, Doc & Film International
CG We’ve always worked closely with third-party producers but we’re increasingly producing ourselves. Beyond the reassurance this gives buyers when we’re involved in a project, the number of sales companies in France means there is fierce competition for the top projects. I think it’s difficult to only be a seller these days. HP I’ve always financed, produced and sold, but this has been driven by a desire to create a one-stop shop when it made sense with specific projects, rather than piling up activities to survive. What do your buyers need to do to continue to add value? HP Theatrical distribution is the key to their survival as distributors; this is »
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Netflix or Amazon, working directly with our film communities to better promote and monetise their work. But we need to stop complaining and start taking action. DE In Europe, buyers have to work more closely. Most of the distributors don’t agree but I’m convinced the more they release the same film within a short timeframe, the better it is for all of us — marketing-wise, work-wise, travel-wise for talents. Digital platform windows can also be more easily exploited when a film is released at the same time in all European territories.
‘I’ve always worked with the package of the script, director, cast and producers. The more value and guarantees you attach, the easier the pre-sales’ Hengameh Panahi, Celluloid Dreams
precisely where they create proper value and are indispensable. They need to have access to their local media and exhibition partners to ensure the best release possible, which in turn adds value to the other rights. Look at the Amazon model — they use local topnotch distributors for their theatrical releases and do the rest themselves. DE It’s not only up to our buyers to add value. It’s also our duty to work with our clients so that films work as well as possible in each territory. Selling the film is just half the job; we also need to keep buyers informed, exchange marketing ideas, tell stories around the film and secure the promotional tours of our talents to add value. Do you see your future slate in five to 10 years’ time comprising features only, or will there be a greater mix of content formats? HP If and when it makes sense to me. For instance, I’ve not started a TV division while everyone is now into TV, but I’ve been following a great IP and once I sign it I’ll produce it as a series as it’s the only way to adapt it to screen. CG The buyers in the TV and film markets remain very different, so Gaumont has separate sales teams. But in terms of Gaumont’s overall slate, yes. Aside from high-end TV and film, the company is exploring the potential of a number of other new formats, such as short fictions for mobile. Does a US deal still drive international sales? DE More than ever, especially in the age of Netflix and Amazon. If the US strategy is not set, it might even be complicated to start selling at all, depending on the type of film. HP For an American film, it’s very important in terms of positioning and also holdbacks. It’s not necessary for non-American films, but it is a big plus. CG Not necessarily. On Ballerina, the US was the last territory to sell, while IFC bought into Armando Iannucci’s The Death Of Stalin on the back of the promo reel after a number of territories had been sold. It’s more important for the
60 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
IFC bought The Death Of Stalin after seeing a promo reel
The sequel to Bruno Dumont’s Li’l Quinquin was pitched to buyers at Berlin
big independent films looking for a release on more than 2,000 screens — but they’re rare these days. Can you still sell from a script alone, or do you need more elements before you talk to buyers? CG A script with director and cast attached is the minimum these days. You need to have as many elements in place as possible. HP I’ve always worked with the package of the script, director, cast and producers. The more value and guarantees you attach, the easier the pre-sales. DE For very established directors, the script is enough. We like to take directors to markets to talk directly to buyers. We did this with Bruno Dumont in Berlin to launch his Li’l Quinquin sequel and we’re planning a similar operation with Nicolas Philibert in Cannes. Listening to directors speak about their future films is quite a magical moment, even for us sales agents. Now that Netflix and Amazon Studios are among your buyers, what do you say to your traditional buyers who fear
‘The company is exploring the potential of a number of other new formats, such as short fictions for mobile’ Cécile Gaget, Gaumont
streaming platforms might drive them out of business? CG We try to reconcile both types of distribution depending on the deal. We’ve recently combined a five-year SVoD deal with Netflix on a French romantic comedy called Wedding Unplanned with a handful of straight theatrical deals to buyers in Europe who wanted to try releasing it. We’re helping them out with the marketing material and getting it to them as rapidly as possible so they can bring it out before the Netflix window kicks in at the end of September. HP You have to embrace change and, if you don’t like the options on offer, react creatively and propose alternatives. Rather than putting our heads in the sand, we could try creating our own
How do you see the theatrical model evolving? HP We have more choices but the revenues are smaller. But in a world of multiple choices, you can decide what works best for each film and even create an individual distribution strategy to maximise its revenues. Some films are big theatrical films, others aren’t. I think it’s wiser if you can pick your format. DE The films we sell at Doc & Film are made for the big screen. I might seem old-fashioned, but I think the more we get films on the big screen, the better it is for all the other kinds of screens. The shared experience in a theatre still has an important impact. And I see it as the start of the career of a film in a territory. How will a digital single market in Europe impact your business? DE I don’t believe the digital single market is the solution for our films in Europe. We need to take into account the differences of each nation and adapt the films to the specific market. This does not mean we shouldn’t pool our efforts to make things happen at the same moment throughout Europe. HP I’d see it as a new opportunity to sell my films directly in the event I don’t have a distributor who can guarantee me a theatrical distribution — and when I do, I’ll carve out these rights from the all-rights deals and re-assess the pricing, taking into account the added value their release will bring. Does it make sense to incorporate YouTube stars and other celebrities from social and digital platforms into the films you sell to capture the millennial and Gen Z audience? HP If it’s a film for that specific audience and it makes sense, yes. Otherwise no, as they’re too savvy to be attracted to a film they won’t like just because it features these stars. CG It’s something we’re experimenting with now. We have a film coming out this summer called The Mansion featuring a number of internet stars. It’s our »
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MARKET & PRIVATE SCREENINGS
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EUTHANIZER
THE MARRIAGE
POROROCA
A film by Teemu Nikki
A film by Blerta Zeqiri
A film by Constantin Popescu
PRIVATE SCREENING
PRIVATE SCREENING
PRIVATE SCREENING
A film by Andrzej Jakimowski
A film by Egle Vertelyte
A film by Ludwig Shammasian and Paul Shammasian
PRIVATE SCREENING
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A film by Pierre Meynadier
A film by Robert Jan Westdijk
A film by Danilo Bećković
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‘What was a big plus could turn into hell if France doesn’t adjust its media chronology’ Hengameh Panahi, Celluloid Dreams
first attempt at such an operation, so I’m interested to see how it is received. What do you think of France’s strict media chronology? How should it be updated? HP What was a big plus could turn into hell if France doesn’t adjust its media chronology. Films released theatrically for at least three weeks could stay in the system, but we should open the gate for all the other films not widely released theatrically to enable them to find an audience via on-demand and streaming. DE The media chronology is a key component of France’s public financing system for film. We shouldn’t forget this system is the result of state-backed policies developed over a 90-year period.
The Mansion
The recent issues have actually been around for a relatively short period of time in the grand scheme of things. We need to take time to figure it out rather than rushing in and turning everything upside-down.
CG We need to all sit down around a table. The broadcasters are investing far less in cinema than in the past, and it’s more challenging keeping the films in theatres for several weeks. The system should be amended.
There are more than 40 international sales companies working out of France. Is there space for all of you? DE It’s one of the positive consequences of France’s protective and supportive stance towards the film industry. The fact there are 40 sales companies is a result of the country’s openness to working with filmmakers from around the world as well as a sign of the expertise that has grown up in this area in France. Few countries have the breadth and range of sales companies of France, ranging from the small independents to studios. CG It makes it highly competitive and I sometimes ask myself how they survive, but there seems to be room and content for everyone. I guess a lot of them have found their niche — an economic model that suits them so that it works. HP Yes, as we’re still surviving. France is planet cinema. It’s a culture and a passion before being a business, and as long as most of the sales companies passionately handle films they love and survive by working hard, they’ll still continue to do so and even increase s further in numbers. n
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INTERVIEW GILLES JACOB
The story of Jacob Gilles Jacob, the man who shaped the modern-day festival and Marché over more than three decades, tells Melanie Goodfellow about the changes he has witnessed and the balance of art and business
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was born in the black-and-white era; Gilles Jacob with France’s minister grew up in colour; lived through 3D; of culture Jack Lang and filmmaker have grown old in the digital age Billy Wilder in Cannes, 1982 and will die in silence to join my favourite pioneers Griffith, Stroheim, Méliès, Eisenstein and Chaplin,” quips former Cannes Film Festival chief Gilles Jacob when quizzed about the changes he has seen during his lifetime. The 84-year-old cinema veteran oversaw the official selection from 1978 to 2000, before taking on the role of president from 2001-14. “In the beginning, the festival was a society event, then a festival for stars, then for directors and then a media event,” says Jacob. “Today, it’s achieved a perfect balance between art and business.” Jacob first attended Cannes as a critic in 1964, its 17th edition. Fritz Lang was president of the jury, Henri Verneuil’s Greed In The Sun, starring JeanPaul Belmondo ing at the and Lino of cinema, and an ability to give a quasifamily firm, Ventura, opened instantaneous response on the films Jacob wrote the festival and when they were proposed. for several cinJacques Demy’s “We would see hundreds of films for ema publicaThe Umbrellas Of 20 Competition slots — it was a difficult tions throughout Cherbourg won the process,” he continues. “I would spend a The Umbrellas the 1950s, ’60s and top prize, then called lot of time explaining why we weren’t Of Cherbourg early ’70s, including the Grand Prix rather than taking a film, so as not to traumatise Cinéma, L’Express and Les the Palme d’Or. It would mark directors who were in the middle of comNouvelles Littéraires, for which he covthe beginning of a half-century relationpleting a film and, if possible, preserve ered the shutting down of the festival in ship between Jacob and the festival, in their sense of self-esteem in spite of their 1968 by Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. which he would play a major role in disappointment.” In 1977, Jacob was appointed the festishaping what Cannes has become today. One of the filmmaker discoveries he is val’s delegate general, making him “I knew the old Palais du Cinéma and most proud of is Jane Campion. “She responsible for the official selecthe new one,” he says. “During my time, was an unknown young director,” says tion. “It’s a role that carries an I developed the festival’s relationship Jacob. “A talent scout brought me three immense responsibility, givwith the broadcasters, its Marché, and of her shorts, expecting me to take just ing you the right to prohelped set up the network of sponsors, one of them. I was struck by her obvinounce the life or death of a ensuring the festival’s financial as well as ous talent. I decided to do something film,” he says. “The flipside to artistic independence.” never done before and take all three, this power was the putting one in Competition extreme attention I Journey to Cannes where it won the Palme had to pay to the Born into a bourgeois Jewish family in d’Or for best short. work on all fronts. Paris in 1930, Jacob spent his childhood “I went on to select It required taste, in hiding from the Nazis during the Secall her films therein — culture, scholarship ond World War. On his return to the apart from one which and focus at every French capital, he completed his studies was not available — moment, as well as a at the prestigious Lycée Louis-le-Grand, until she won the network of advisers where he became friends with Claude Palme d’Or in 1993 with a knowledge of Chabrol. The pair frequented the Cinéwith The Piano, international cinmatheque Francaise where they met making her the Gilles Jacob ema and the history Francois Truffaut, and, alongside workonly female direc-
64 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Jacques Levy/AP/REX/Shutterstock
‘‘
‘I would spend a lot of time explaining why we weren’t taking a film, so as not to traumatise directors’ Gilles Jacob
tor to win the prize until this day,” he says. “In 2014, we made her the president of the jury, which was another first for a female director. What a Cannes trajectory! What a destiny! When I offered her a bouquet of flowers on stage in that year, as I stepped down as president, it was a symbolic act of transmission of the keys from father to daughter, to this incredible New Zealand artist.” Jacob is optimistic about the festival’s future, as it marks its 70th anniversary at a time when big-screen cinema is being questioned. “They [cinema and the festival] share an identical future as they exist in parallel,” he says. “Sometimes brilliant, sometimes fragile, sometimes in danger, but always standing, in the face of new medias, new temptations and new forms of entertainment. The cinema theatre will always be an irreplaceable, collective s artistic experience.” ■
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TERRITORY FOCUS IRELAND
All eyes on Ireland The Irish film industry is riding high thanks to a blossoming of creative talent and the rise in international productions shooting in the country. Esther McCarthy reports
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reland’s film industry is building on the momentum of the global critical and commercial success of Lenny Abrahamson’s Room and John Crowley’s Brooklyn by nurturing a wave of emerging talent and increasing the country’s studio space and facilities. Coupled with an air of confidence, there is a determination that practical and fiscal steps are taken to ensure its longevity. “There is international demand for studio space, for soundstages,” says James Hickey, chief executive of the Irish Film Board (IFB). “We now have Ardmore Studios and Ashford Studios in County Wicklow and Troy Studios in Limerick. We believe these facilities are addressing that demand.” Into The Badlands 2, which shot almost entirely on location in Ireland, and The Professor And The Madman, starring Mel Gibson and Sean Penn, have both used Ardmore in recent months. Ashford Studios is currently the main base for History Channel’s Vikings. Element Pictures’ Ed Guiney, the Oscarnominated producer of Room, believes the industry is starting to see years of investment pay off. “There’s a kind of alchemy where the investment in the industry is to do with Irish creative talent and seeing the opportunities in film over a long period. And there’s the coincidence of there being some really talented people around,” he says. Ireland is also set to take advantage of a surge in international demand for film and TV. Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens and Episode VIII — The Last Jedi both shot at locations in Ireland, including Skellig Islands, and employed local crew and craftspeople. Government support IFB directly supports a significant number of Irish productions and co-productions. Tax credits are administered via the government’s revenue department. The Section 481 tax credit for film and TV productions shooting in Ireland allows relief of 32% on eligible expenditure up to $90m (¤70m) and there are calls to raise it further. International productions to benefit from tax credits include season three of Penny Dreadful,
66 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
‘Quote to go here over a few lines from here to here and here to here and continue over a few lines from here to here too’ Persons Name
A Date For Mad Mary
which received between $11m-$33m (¤10m-¤30m) in 2016. But challenges remain. IFB’s funding was cut significantly during the economic downturn and it is as yet nowhere near previous levels. In 2008, IFB received capital funding of $25.8m (¤20m); by 2016 that had dropped to $14.4m (¤11.2m), although it increased this year to $16.4m (¤12.7m). Yet production in Ireland hit a record $322m (¤250m) in 2016. The figure includes both international film and TV projects shooting in the country and locally produced features, TV drama and animation. Several local films have performed well at the Irish box office recently, led by Brooklyn ($4m), Room ($1.7m) and The Young Offenders ($1.4m). The latter, a comedy directed by first-time filmmaker Peter Foott, has secured a worldwide Netflix deal. Another Irish film by a first-time director, Darren Thornton’s A Date For Mad Mary, premiered to critical acclaim at Sundance in 2016. Foott says he would like to see further support for writers. “I’m very much commercially minded,” he explains. “I like to think about my audience. Everything is about the script.” Others point to the importance of attracting international productions to boost skills. “This is where the opportunities lie and Irish writers, crew and directors can gain
‘There’s international demand for studio space, for soundstages’ James Hickey, Irish Film Board
experience,” says producer Ruth Coady of Parallel Films. “The spotlight is on Ireland at the moment, we have to make the most of it.” The latest round of IFB funding decisions shows an increase in projects directed by female filmmakers. “There’s an ongoing push in terms of women’s voices,” says producer Rebecca O’Flanagan of Treasure Entertainment. “That’s something that we’re more proactively doing, and delighted to be doing.” It is not just women who are flourishing. Every aspect of Ireland’s pool of above- and below-the-line talent is growing. “There seems to be more diversity and individuality in terms of how people are going about putting their films together,” says O’Flanagan. This is fostering a sense of anticipation both at home and internationally for Irish films and talent. “There is awareness of the breadth of talent that is here,” says producer Katie Holly of Blinder Films. Crucially, Ireland’s talent base is working across both film and TV projects. “Film and TV need to go hand-in-hand in terms of creating a sustainable industry,” says Guiney. “We need to think about ways of developing more successful projects that come out of Ireland, that are ‘owned’ by Irish people. We have demonstrated the talent exists and can make an impact internationally. It’s now about doing more things ourselves, and over s time, to bring more talent through.” ■ UPCOMING IRISH TITLES, P68
(Left) The Young Offenders
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MAZE
Director: Stephen Burke (Happy Ever Afters) Cast: Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Love/Hate), Barry Ward (Jimmy’s Hall), Martin McCann (The Survivalist) Based on the true story of the 1983 mass break-out of 38 prisoners from the HMP Maze high security prison, Maze is a gripping prison break film that follows the relationship between two men on opposite sides of the prison bars.
MARKET SCREENINGS: May 20 / 9:30 / Lerins 4 (Buyers Only) May 23 / 16:00 / Lerins 3 (Buyers Only)
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M.F.A.
Director: Natalia Leite (Bare) Cast: Francesca Eastwood (Outlaws and Angels), Clifton Collins Jr. (Pacific Rim, Star Trek), Leah McKendrick (Bad Moms), Peter Vack (Mozart in the Jungle) After being sexually assaulted by a fellow classmate, an art student takes justice into her own hands. “Intensely engaging, thought-provoking, and mesmerizing.” – Bloody Disgusting
MARKET SCREENINGS: May 19 / 15:30 / Lerins 2 May 22 / 12:00 / Lerins 3
“Perhaps the bravest, rawest rape-revenge thriller yet.” – No Film School
FLESH AND BLOOD
Director: Mark Webber (The Ever After, The End of Love) Cast: Mark Webber (Green Room), Madeline Brewer (A Handmaid’s Tale) Mixing fiction and reality, filmmaker Mark Webber captures the story of a man who returns home from prison and attempts to rebuild his life in his impoverished neighborhood in Philadelphia. “Quietly searing (...) Webber harnesses the natural dynamics of offscreen bonds, however strong or frayed they may be.” – The Hollywood Reporter
MARKET SCREENINGS: May 19 / 14:00 / Lerins 3 May 23 / 14:00 / Lerins 3
“Beautiful to behold. Gritty, revealing, realistic.” – The Iris
COLD NOVEMBER
Director: Karl Jacob (Pollywogs) Cast: Bijou Abas, Karl Jacob (Pollywogs, Applesauce), Anna Klemp, Heidi Fellner On the cusp of womanhood, 12-year-old Florence goes on her first deer hunt, a traditional rite-of-passage in her matriarchal family.
MARKET SCREENING: May 19 / 18:00 / Riviera 1
*MARKET PREMIERE*
COLUMBUS
Director: Kogonada Cast: John Cho (Star Trek, Harold & Kumar), Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen), Parker Posey (Café Society, Mascots), Rory Culkin (Scream 4) A younger girl reluctant to leave home forms a close bond with a son visiting his dying father. “Imbued with warmth and humanity (…) simply gorgeous.” – Variety
MARKET SCREENING: TODAY / 16:00 / Lerins 3
FAMILY LIFE
“A remarkable first film from new and exciting director Kogonada.” – Vanity Fair Directors: Alicia Scherson (Il Futuro, Tourists), Cristián Jiménez (Bonsai, Voice Over)
DAYVEON
Director: Amman Abbasi Exec. Producers: David Gordon Green, James Schamus, Jody Hill, Danny McBride
A lonely man fabricates the existence of a vindictive ex-wife withholding his daughter in order to gain the sympathy of the single mother he has just met.
Mourning the death of his older brother, 13-year-old Dayveon becomes drawn to the camaraderie of a local gang.
“A sharply observed and poignant parable.”
“A gorgeous mix of emotional sincerity and pure cinema.” – RogerEbert.com
MARKET SCREENING: TODAY / 14:00 / Lerins 3
“A bold and imaginative debut.”
- The Hollywood Reporter
SALES: Ryan Kampe rk@visitfilms.com +1 646 548 4700
Morgane Dubief md@visitfilms.com +1 917 530 6815
– Hammer to Nail
Lydia Rodman lsr@visitfilms.com +1 617 835 6307
ACQUISITIONS: Ania Trzebiatowska at@visitfilms.com +1 323 360 7277
FESTIVALS: Joe Yanick jy@visitfilms.com +1 440 479 9879
CANNES BOOTH: Lerins M4 www.visitfilms.com info@visitfilms.com
TERRITORY FOCUS IRELAND
IN PROFILE THE NEXT WAVE OF IRISH FILMS
Looking forward to 11 projects that have recently been completed or are in post-production Black 47
enforces rules on the twins who live there. The film is in post-production.
Dir Lance Daly
Contact Epic Pictures Group sales@epic-pictures.com
Daly’s drama, set during the Irish Famine in the mid-19th century, is the story of an Irish soldier who returns from fighting in the Afghan War with the British army to find his family and country devastated. Produced by Fastnet Films, Black 47 stars Barry Keoghan (a former Screen Star of Tomorrow) with Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent and Sarah Greene. The film is now in post-production. Contact Altitude Film Sales info@altitudefilment.com
Mary Shelley Dir Haifaa Al-Mansour Wadjda director Al-Mansour’s first English-language film is a period love story about how the young Mary Godwin met and fell in love with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Elle Fanning and Douglas Booth star in the film, which is produced by Parallel Films’ Alan Moloney. Contact HanWay Films info@hanwayfilms.com
The Third Wave
The Breadwinner
Maze
Dir Nora Twomey
Dir Stephen Burke
The solo directorial debut from Twomey, who co-directed The Secret Of Kells, is the animated story of an 11-year-old Afghan girl named Parvana who gives up her identity in a bid to provide for her family and save her father’s life. The project drew the attention of Angelina Jolie, who came on board as an executive producer. Contact WestEnd Films info@westendfilms.com
The Breadwinner
The Delinquent Season Dir Mark O’Rowe Screenwriter and playwright O’Rowe, whose credits include Intermission and Boy A, makes his directorial debut with this drama set in suburban Dublin. Starring Cillian Murphy, Andrew Scott, Eva Birthistle and Catherine Walker, the story follows two couples whose apparently solid marriages come under strain. The film is now in postproduction. Contact Protagonist Pictures info@ protagonistpictures.com
Good Favour Dir Rebecca Daly
Michael Inside
This prison-set drama is based on the true story of the mass breakout of Irish Republican inmates from Belfast’s high-security Maze prison in 1983. Writer-director Burke’s credits include Happy Ever Afters. The drama, now in post-production, focuses on the exchanges between a senior Republican and a prison officer.
The latest feature from Daly, who made a splash with her previous
68 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Contact Visit Films
feature Mammal, centres on a young man who is taken in by a remote Christian community in central Europe. The film, backed by the Irish Film Board (IFB) is in post-production. Contact Visit Films
info@visitfilms.com
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer Dir Yorgos Lanthimos Colin Farrell reunites with The Lobster director Lanthimos for this drama from Element Pictures, which screens in Competition. The film, which also stars Nicole Kidman, tells the story of a surgeon who forms a bond with a teenage boy, to disastrous effect. HanWay Films is worldwide sales agent, with A24 as US distributor. Contact HanWay Films info@hanwayfilms.com
Kissing Candice Dir Aoife McArdle The debut feature from McArdle, who has previously directed music videos for U2 and Bryan Ferry, is a drama
driven by the vivid dreams of the film’s titular character, a violent teenage girl. Disillusioned by the community she has grown up in, she finds favour with a new crowd. Kissing Candice was produced via IFB’s Catalyst Project, which was designed to foster low-budget feature filmmaking. Contact Andrew Freedman, Venom Film freedman@venom.ie
info@visitfilms.com
Michael Inside Dir Frank Berry Berry’s third feature following the acclaimed I Used To Live Here and Ballymun Lullaby is a drama about a man who is spending three months in prison for holding drugs for a friend. His life changes dramatically while behind bars. It is now in post-production. Contact Subotica
info@subotica.ie
The Third Wave Dir David Freyne
The Lodgers
The Lodgers Dir Brian O’Malley O’Malley follows up his gothic horror Let Us Prey with this feature set in a house in 1920s rural Ireland. Each night, the property becomes the domain of a sinister presence that
Ellen Page and Sam Keeley head the cast of this debut feature from Freyne, which won the best story pitch prize at Edinburgh International Film Festival Talent Lab in 2012 and is now in postproduction. The horror film unfolds after a cure has been found to a devastating virus that turned people into bloodthirsty zombies. There is a deep division between those who were unaffected and those still haunted by their violent actions. Contact Bac Films
sales@bacfilms.fr
Esther McCarthy
www.screendaily.com
WORLD PREMIERE SCREENING
CAST Spencer Locke (Resident Evil) Faran Tahir (Iron Man) Scott Mechlowicz (Demonic) Chris Mason (Between Two Worlds) DIRECTOR Royce Gorsuch
FRIDAY, MAY 19 – 9:30AM – LERINS 2 MONDAY, MAY 22 – 11:30AM – PALAIS J
RIVIERA, BOOTH L14 | +33-4-92-99-33-12 Clay Epstein clay@filmmodeentertainment.com Mobile: +1 (818) 426-6359 Mathilde Epstein mathilde@filmmodeentertainment.com Mobile: +1 (310) 266-9987 John Buffalo john@filmmodeentertainment.com Mobile: +1 (805) 387-5996
SCREENINGS Edited by Paul Lindsell
JURY GRID, PAGE 96
paullindsell@gmail.com » Screening times and venues are correct at the time of going to press but subject to alteration
FESTIVAL
AND PRESS
08:30 SICILIAN GHOST STORY See box, right
WONDERSTRUCK
(US) 115mins. Dir: Todd Haynes. Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Oakes Fegley, Millicent Simmonds. Ben and Rose are children from two different eras who secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known, while Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his home and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out on quests to find what they are missing, which unfold with mesmerising symmetry. Competition Lumiere Ticket required, press & Debussy
08:45 LET THE SUNSHINE IN
(France) 95mins. Dir: Claire Denis. Cast: Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Josiane Balasko, Philippe Katerine, Gerard Depardieu, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. Isabelle, a Parisian artist, divorced with one child, is looking for love — true love — at last. Directors’ Fortnight Theatre Croisette
10:00 ISMAEL’S GHOSTS
(France) 110mins. Dir: Arnaud Desplechin. Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel. Filmmaker Ismaïl Vuillard’s life is sent into a tailspin by the return of a former lover just as he is about to embark on the shoot of a new film. Out of Competition Salle Du 60Eme
FESTIVAL & PRESS 08:30 SICILIAN GHOST STORY
(Italy) 122mins. Dir: Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza. Cast: Julia Jedlikowska, Gaetano Fernandez, Corinne Musallari. In a little Sicilian village on the edge of a forest, Giuseppe, a boy of 13, vanishes. Luna, his classmate who loves him, refuses to accept his
11:00 BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL
(Japan) 120mins. Dir: Takashi Miike. Cast: Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki. Based on the cult manga of the same name about a samurai cursed with immortality. Out of Competition Bazin Press
WESTERN
(Germany) 119mins. Dir: Valeska Grisebach. Cast: Meinhard Neumann, Reinhardt Wetrek. A group of German workers set off to a construction site in the border region between Bulgaria and Greece.
70 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
LOS PERROS
mysterious disappearance. She rebels against the silence and complicity that surrounds her, and to find him she descends into the dark world that has swallowed him up and which has a lake as its mysterious entrance. Only their indestructible love will be able to bring her back alive. Critics’ Week Miramar
This foreign land and its breathtaking landscape awaken the men’s sense of adventure, but they are also confronted with their own prejudice and mistrust due to the language barrier and cultural differences. The stage is quickly set for a showdown when the men begin to compete for recognition and favour from the local villagers. Un Certain Regard Debussy Press
11:45 LEBANON FACTORY
(Lebanon) 72mins. Eight young directors from Lebanon showcase their talents. Directors’ Fortnight Theatre Croisette
(France) 94mins. Dir: Marcela Said. Cast: Antonia Zegers, Alfredo Castro. Mariana is 42 years old, a member of the Chilean upper class that takes privilege for granted. Scorned by her father and neglected by her husband, Mariana still has the means to occupy her days with fertility treatments, running an art gallery and learning to ride a horse. Her riding instructor, Juan, is 20 years her senior, a former cavalry officer known as The Colonel who is under investigation for human rights abuses committed decades before. When Mariana embarks on an affair with her enigmatic teacher, she’s directly confronted with the outrages of the dictatorship for the first time and her increasing interest threatens to tear down the invisible walls protecting her family from the past. Critics’ Week Miramar
12:00 LOVELESS
(Russia) 128mins. Dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev.
Cast: Aleksei Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova. After ‘Leviathan’, Andrey Zvyagintsev once again depicts a brutal and pitiless humanity — fragile, broken — in this uncompromising portrait of the struggles of a loveless family. Competition Lumiere Ticket required
13:00 THE QUINCE TREE SUN
(UK) 140mins. Dir: Victor Erice. Cast: Antonio Lopez, Maria Moreno, Enrique Gran. Each year, an artist tries to paint the quince tree in his garden, facing the struggles in his life anew through the canvas. Cannes Classics Bunuel
14:00 BARBARA
(France) 94mins. Dir: Mathieu Amalric. Cast: Jeanne Balibar, Mathieu Amalric. An actress, Brigitte, is playing Barbara in a film that soon begins shooting. Brigitte works on her character: her voice, the songs and scores, the imitation of her gestures, her knitting, the lines to learn. Things move along. The character grows inside
her. Invades her, even… Yves, the director, is also working — via encounters, archival footage, the music. He seems inhabited and inspired by her… but by whom? The actress or Barbara? Un Certain Regard Bazin Press
LOVELESS
(Russia) 128mins. Dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev. Cast: Aleksei Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova. Competition Salle Du 60Eme
14:30 BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS
(US) 122mins. Dir: Werner Herzog. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Avi Lerner. Herzog’s cult reimagining of the Harvey Keitel original thriller. Directors’ Fortnight Theatre Croisette
16:00 THE BALLAD OF NARAMAYA
(Japan) 133mins. Dir: Shohei Imamura. Cast: Ken Ogata, Takejo Aki. Adaptation of the classic samurai novel. Cannes Classics Bunuel
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»
SCREENINGS
LOS PERROS
(France) 94mins. Dir: Marcela Said. Cast: Antonia Zegers, Alfredo Castro. Critics’ Week Miramar
WONDERSTRUCK
(US) 115mins. Dir: Todd Haynes. Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Oakes Fegley, Millicent Simmonds. Competition Lumiere Ticket required
17:00 JUPITER’S MOON
(Hungary) 123mins. Dir: Kornel Mundruczo. Cast: Merab Ninidze, Gyorgy Cserhalmi, Zsombor Jeger, Moni Balsai. A young illegal immigrant becomes a slave to his power to fly in a world where miracles are trafficked for small change. A cautionary thriller about
(France) 94mins. Dir: Mathieu Amalric. Cast: Jeanne Balibar, Mathieu Amalric.
ACID Arcades 1
Penelope Cruz. Classic drama focusing on an Argentinian nurse and struggling single mother.
WONDERSTRUCK
Cinema De La Plage Plage Mace
(Russia) 128mins. Dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev. Cast: Aleksei Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova.
Un Certain Regard Debussy Press
Competition Lumiere Ticket required
(France) 95mins. Dir: Claire Denis. Cast: Juliette Binoche, Xavier Beauvois, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Josiane Balasko, Philippe Katerine, Gerard Depardieu.
(US) 115mins. Dir: Todd Haynes. Cast: Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Oakes Fegley, Millicent Simmonds.
disillusionment and faith. Competition Debussy
19:00 LOVELESS
SICILIAN GHOST STORY
(Italy) 122mins. Dir: Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza. Cast: Julia Jedlikowska, Gaetano Fernandez, Corinne Musallari. Critics’ Week Miramar
19:15 SEA SORROW
(UK) 74mins. Dir: Vanessa Redgrave. Documentary charting the life of a Syrian refugee. Out of Competition Salle Du 60Eme
19:30 BARBARA
LET THE SUNSHINE IN
Directors’ Fortnight Theatre Croisette
20:00 BEFORE SUMMER ENDS
(France) 80mins. Dir: Maryam Goormaghtigh. After five years as a student in Paris, Arash has not really adapted to life in France and decides to return to Iran. Two friends convince him to travel with them
for the last time through France, hoping that the trip will change his mind.
Competition Olympia 1 Market + Festival badges allowed/no press
20:15
22:00
Cannes Classics Bunuel
21:30 ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER
(Spain) 104mins. Dir: Pedro Almodovar. Cast: Cecilia Roth,
Out of Competition Lumiere Ticket required & Olympia 1
(Japan) 120mins. Dir: Takashi Miike. Cast: Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki.
JUPITER’S MOON
LOS PERROS
(Hungary) 123mins. Dir: Kornel Mundruczo. Cast: Merab Ninidze, Gyorgy Cserhalmi, Zsombor Jeger.
(France) 94mins. Dir: Marcela Said. Cast: Antonia Zegers, Alfredo Castro.
Competition Bazin Press
Critics’ Week Miramar
NATIVE SON
ALL THAT JAZZ
(US) 123mins. Dir: Bob Fosse. Cast: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange. The sordid life of Joe Gideon, a womanising, drug-using dancer.
BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL
(France) 80mins. Dir: Maryam Goormaghtigh.
(Argentina) 107mins. Dir: Pierre Chenal. Cast: Richard Wright, Gloria Madison. Based on and starring the author of a novel that tells the story of 20-yearold Bigger Thomas, an African-American living in poverty in a poor area on Chicago’s South Side in the 1930s.
ACID Arcades 2
Cannes Classics Bunuel
WESTERN
(Germany) 119mins. Dir: Valeska Grisebach. Cast: Meinhard Neumann, Richard Wetrek. Un Certain Regard Debussy Press
22:30 BEFORE SUMMER ENDS
»
72 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
www.screendaily.com
SCREENINGS
MARKET SCREENINGS
09:15 ALL EYEZ ON ME See box, right
ROCK’N ROLL
(France) Pathe International. 123mins. Dir: Guillaume Canet. Cast: Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard. Guillaume Canet is told by a young co-star that he’s no longer ‘rock ’n’ roll’ and can’t sell films any more. He then tries to prove her wrong and gets help from his girlfriend, Marion Cotillard. Olympia 3
09:30
MARKET 09:15
78/52
ALL EYEZ ON ME
(US) Dogwoof. 91mins. Dir: Alexandre Philippe. A documentary about the single most extraordinary and mysterious scene in cinema history: the iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’. ‘78/52’ tells the story of the man behind the curtain and his greatest obsession.
(US) Voltage Pictures. 145mins. Dir: Benny Boom. Cast: Demetrius Shipp Jr., Danai Gurira, Kat Graham, Annie Ilonzeh, Dominic L Santana, Jamal Woolard.
Palais D
ANA, MON AMOUR
(Romania) Beta Cinema. 127mins. Dir: Calin Peter Netzer. Cast: Mircea Postelnicu, Diana Cavalioti, Adrian Titieni, Vasile Muraru. The story of a couple facing co-dependency and repression. Gray 1
Cast: Luis Tosar, Javier Gutierrez, Alain Hernandez, Alba Galocha. Professional burglar Victor joins a dangerous gang of delinquents made up of former army members from Eastern Europe, a closed group that’s forced to recruit a new member when one of their own is killed. The plan: a bank robbery — and it will be Victor’s duty to break into the vault. Gray 2
CONTENTS PANDA PRIVATE SCREENING 1
Contents Panda. 99mins. Palais G
(France) Films Distribution. 30mins.
DAYBREAK
Gray 4
(Albania) Wide. 85mins. Dir: Gentian Koci. Cast: Ornela Kapetani, Kasem Hoxha, Suzana Prifti. When Leta and her one-yearold son are thrown out of their apartment, they move in with Sophie, an old lady Leta looks after. In order to keep her job and their new roof, Leta has to keep Sophie alive — at any cost. Palais H
ESCAPE PLAN
(Spain) Film Factory Entertainment. 105mins. Dir: Inaki Dorronsoro. 74 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
FILMS DISTRIBUTION PROMO REEL
GANGSTERDAM
(France) StudioCanal. 100mins. Dir: Romain Levy. Cast: Kev Adams, Manon Azem, Rutger Hauer. Suffering from a lack of selfconfidence, Ruben has already failed his exams once and is too shy to admit he has feelings for Nora. His childhood friend Durex, who is possibly the most annoying guy in the world, isn’t much help on either front. When Ruben finds out that Nora has a side job as a drug dealer, and is about to leave for Amsterdam to bring
The epic story of Tupac Shakur, the legendary rapper, poet, actor and revolutionary who sold more than 80 million albums worldwide, making him one of the bestselling music artists in history. Lerins 3
back a new type of drug, Ruben plucks up the courage to go with her. The trip to Amsterdam is the perfect chance for Ruben to finally seduce Nora, but unfortunately for him, Durex decides to tag along for the ride. Olympia 6
MAURICE
(UK) Cohen Media Group. 140mins. Dir: James Ivory. Cast: James Wilby, Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves, Ben Kingsley, Denholm Elliott, Simon Callow, Billie Whitelaw, Barry Foster, Judy Parfitt. A poignant attack on the stifling conformity and repression of English society on the eve of the First World War. Palais C
PAST LIFE
(Israel) Bleiberg Entertainment. 109mins. Dir: Avi Nesher. Cast: Nelly Tagar, Joy Rieger, Doron Tavory, Evgenia Dodina, Tom Avni, Muli Shulman, Rafael Stachowiak, Katarzyna Gniewkowska. Tracks the daring late 1970s odyssey of two sisters — an introverted classical musician and a rambunctious scandal
sheet journalist — as they unravel a shocking wartime mystery that has cast a dark shadow over their entire lives. Lerins 4
RED SHOES & THE 7 DWARFS
(South Korea) Finecut Co. 7mins. Dir: Sungho Hong. The true story behind ‘Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs’. What if the seven dwarfs were actually seven cursed princes? Snow White, the beauty in red shoes, appears in front of the seven dwarfs, who must be kissed by the most beautiful woman in the world to break the curse. As they get into an absurd competition over her kiss, the once arrogant, looksobsessed princes gradually realise the true meaning of beauty. Lerins 1
ROMANS 8:37 (W/T)
(South Korea) UP/Opus Pictures. 133mins. Dir: Shin Yeon-Shick. Cast: Lee HyunHo, Seo Dong-Gap. Joseph, a much soughtafter church minister, finds himself embroiled in a conflict with his predecessor, Rev Park, who had been tampering with church property. Rev Park’s personal attacks against Joseph become vicious, citing Joseph in various episodes of violence, plagiarism, heresy and even sexual molestation. Joseph turns to Gi-sup for help. When Gi-sup realises those around him have all been Joseph’s victims, he faces a tough decision about waging war on Joseph, his hero, until now. »
Gray 5
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Arc_AnimalCrackers_ScreenInt_AD_DAY2.qxp_Layout 1 2017-05-11 11:26 PM Page 1
Screening Today AT CANNES
MAY 18 18:00 – LERINS 1
CANNES OFFICE LERINS M3
l
T +33 (0)4 92 99 32 25 www.arclightfilms.com
SCREENINGS
SUMMER 1993
(Spain) New Europe Film Sales. 96mins. Dir: Carla Simon. Cast: Laia Artigas, Paula Robles, Bruna Cusi, David Verdaguer, Fermi Reixach. Spain, summer 1993: following the death of her parents, six-year-old Frida faces the first summer with her new adoptive family in the Catalan province. Before the season is over, the girl has to learn to cope with her emotions and her parents have to learn to love her as their own daughter. Palais B
SUNBEAT
(France) Alfama Films. 95mins. Dir: Clara Laperrousaz, Laura Laperrousaz. Cast: Ana Girardot, Agathe Bonitzer, Clement Roussier. For the holidays, Gabriel and Iris return to their family house in Portugal with their daughters Emma and Zoe, irresistible six-year-old twins. In the heart of a solar landscape, between bathing in the river and their kids’ laughter, the couple’s past resurfaces. Palais J
THE TEACHER
(France) BAC Films. 106mins. Dir: Olivier Ayache-Vidal. Cast: Denis Podalydes, Pauline Huruguen, Abdoulaye Diallo. A literature professor is transferred from a prestigious high school to a tough, underprivileged suburb. He prepares himself for the worst. Arcades 3
THE TRIP TO SPAIN
(UK) Goalpost Film. 110mins. Dir: Michael Winterbottom. Cast: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon. Rob and Steve are back. Six meals in six different places on a road trip through Spain from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean coast, visiting Cantabria, the Basque region, Aragon, Rioja, Castile La Mancha and ending in Andalucia. Olympia 7
THE WOUND
(South Africa) Pyramide International. 88mins. 76 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
UKFC_SCREEN_HPV_107X304_DAY2_5.indd 2
15/05/2017 18:08
Dir: John Trengove. Cast: Nakhane Toure, Bongile Mantsai, Niza Jay Ncoyini. Xolani, a lonely factory worker, joins the men of his community in the mountains of the Eastern Cape to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood. When a defiant initiate from the city discovers his best-kept secret, Xolani’s entire existence begins to unravel. Riviera 2
WIZ KIDS: MAKING SCHOOL A BETTER PLACE
(France) Jour2Fete. 90mins. Dir: Antoine Fromental. The headmaster of a public middle school in a diverse Parisian suburb has decided to implement an alternative teaching programme based on intensive acting classes and rugby training — 2016 is the final year for the two classes spearheading the experiment. Lerins 2
09:45 DABKA (INTO THE FIRE)
(US) Bankside Films. 116mins. Dir: Bryan Buckley. Cast: Al Pacino, Evan Peters, Melanie Griffith. In 2008, rookie journalist Jay Bahadur forms a half-baked plan to embed himself among the pirates of Somalia. He ultimately succeeds in providing the first close-up look into who these men are, how they live and the forces that drive them.
women’s shoe store, have an unlikely friendship with 11-year-old Kamilla. On the first day of the 1992 LA riots, the trio must defend their store and contemplate the meaning of family, their personal dreams and the future. Palais I
THIS IS OUR LAND
(France) Le Pacte. 114mins. Dir: Lucas Belvaux. Cast: Emilie Dequenne, Andre Dussolier, Guillaume Gouix. Pauline, a nurse in the north of France, gets involved in a far-right political party. Riviera 1
10:00 ALTITUDE PROMO REEL
(UK) Altitude Film Sales. 90mins. Palais K
BIG TIME
(Denmark) Autlook Filmsales. 75mins. Dir: Kaspar Astrup Schroder. Cast: Bjarke Ingels. Follows Danish architect Bjarke Ingels over a period of five years while he is struggling to complete his largest projects yet, the New York skyscraper called W57 and World Trade Center 2, projects that will change the skyline of Manhattan. Gray 3
DREAM CHANNEL
(US) Next. 60mins. Venture into your dream world and discover what’s at stake.
Olympia 5
Next VR Cinema
ENDANGERED SPECIES
IT’S ALL ABOUT KARMA
(France) Wild Bunch. Dir: Gilles Bourdos. Cast: Alice Isaaz, Vincent Rottiers, Suzanne Clement, Eric Elmosnino. Three families determined to see those closest to them happy. How far would you go to protect your loved ones from the ones they love?
(Italy) Rai Commins. 90mins. Dir: Edoardo Falcone. Cast: Fabio De Luigi, Elio Germano, Eros Pagni, Daniela Virgilio. Giacomo, an extravagant rich heir, deeply believes in reincarnation. Forty years after the loss of his father, he believes he has seen him again when he meets Mario Pitagora, a man far from being spiritual, interested only in money and heavily in debt. This absurd encounter will change the lives of both. A surprising comedy about friendship.
Arcades 2
GOOK
(US) Kinology. 94mins. Dir: Justin Chon. Cast: Simone Baker, Justin Chon, Curtiss Cook Jr. Eli and Daniel, two Korean-American brothers who own a struggling
»
Lerins 1
www.screendaily.com
MARKET PREMIERE TODAY THURSDAY, MAY 18 • PALAIS F • 11:30AM Christia Visser, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Brendon Daniels
TESS
Directed by Meg Rickards
WORLD PREMIERE TOMORROW FRIDAY, MAY 19 • PALAIS H • 9:30AM Xavier Samuel, Morgan Griffin
BAD BLOOD Directed by David Pulbrook
WORLD PREMIERE TOMORROW FRIDAY, MAY 19 • PALAIS H • 11:30AM
LAST RAMPAGE:
Robert Patrick, Heather Graham, Bruce Davison, John Heard
THE ESCAPE OF GARY TISON Directed by Dwight Little
Based on the best-selling book by James W. Clarke
MARKET PREMIERE SATURDAY MAY 20 • PALAIS G • 12:00PM Joanne Froggatt, Tom Riley
STARFISH Directed by Bill Clark
THE LITTLE FILM COMPANY APARTMENT C42 | RELAIS DE LA REINE | 42/43 LA CROISETTE, CANNES robbie@thelittlefilmcompany.com
Screen Intl.- Cannes Daily Trade Ad THE LITTLE FILM COMPANY FP 4/c Bleed RUN: 5/18
SCREENINGS
PERMISSION See box, below
10:05 FILMS DISTRIBUTION PROMO REEL
(France) Films Distribution. 30mins. Gray 4
10:35 FILMS DISTRIBUTION PROMO REEL
(France) Films Distribution. 30mins. Gray 4
11:00
between Italy and France. Marco, a former leftwing activist sentenced for murder and exiled in France for 20 years thanks to the Mitterrand doctrine, is accused of having ordered the attack. The Italian government requests his extradition. Forced to flee with Viola, his 16-year-old daughter, his life will change forever, as well his family in Italy, who have to pay for Marco’s past faults. Riviera 2
BARBARA
(France) Next. 60mins. ARTE supports talented creators as a co-producer and, as a broadcaster, features ambitious documentaries, creative new programmes and original movies and series for TV and digital platforms. Thanks to immersive narration using VR, ARTE promotes creativity, innovation and new storytelling.
(France) Gaumont. 94mins. Dir: Mathieu Amalric. Cast: Jeanne Balibar, Mathieu Amalric. An actress, Brigitte, is playing Barbara in a film that soon begins shooting. Brigitte works on her character: her voice, the songs and scores, the imitation of her gestures, her knitting, the lines to learn. Things move along. The character grows inside her. Invades her, even… Yves, the director, is also working — via encounters, archival footage, the music. He seems inhabited and inspired by her… but by whom? The actress or Barbara?
11:30 AFTER THE WAR
(Italy) Pyramide International. 92mins. Dir: Annarita Zambrano. Cast: Giuseppe Battiston, Barbora Babulova, Charlotte Cetaire. Bologna, 2002: opposition to the Labor Law explodes in universities and the murder of a judge reopens old political wounds
Palais D
CRAZY FOR FOOTBALL
(Italy) Rai Com. 75mins. Dir: De Biasi Volfango. The story of the first national Italian five-a-side football team participating in the Psychiatric Patients World Cup in Osaka. Palais B
ARTE VR EXPERIENCES
Next VR Cinema
Explores the theme of historical memory in Spain, focusing on the repression of lesbians and gays under Franquismo. What happened to LGBT people during the Franco regime?
Arcades 1 Priority badges only
BONES OF CONTENTION
(US) Doc & Film International. 75mins. Dir: Andrea Weiss. Cast: Laura Garcia Lorca, Emilio Silva, Antoni Ruiz.
THE DIVINE ORDER
(Switzerland) TrustNordisk. 96mins. Dir: Petra Volpe. Cast: Marie Leuenberger, Max Simonischeck, Rachel Braunschweig, Sibylle Brunner, Marta Zoffoli. Switzerland, 1971: Nora is a young housewife and mother who lives with her husband and their two sons in a peaceful small village. Here, in the Swiss countryside, little or nothing is felt of the huge social upheavals that the movement of May 1968 has caused. Nora’s life, too, has been unaffected; she is a retiring, quiet person, well liked by everyone — until she begins to campaign publicly and pugnaciously for women’s right to vote, an issue that will be put before the male voters on February 7, 1971. Olympia 9
MARKET 10:00 PERMISSION
(US) Film Constellation. 98mins. Dir: Brian Crano. Cast: Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis. Anna and Will are each other’s first everythings: first kiss, first love, first and only relationship. As Will is
about to propose, their best friend suggests they should date somebody else before spending the rest of their lives with each other. What starts as a permissive sex joke leads to an experiment that will test their relationship to its core. Palais E
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78 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
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SCREENINGS
WELCOME TO GERMANY
(Germany) Picture Tree International. 116mins. Dir: Simon Verhoeven. Cast: Senta Berger, Heiner Lauterbach, Florian David Fitz, Palina Rojinski, Elyas M’Barek, Eric Kabongo. Recently retired teacher Angelika decides, against her skeptical husband Richard’s wishes, to take in a refugee. Soon after, young Nigerian Diallo moves into the Hartmann home and a whirlwind of complications ensues. Lerins 4
11:45 FURIOUS
MARKET 11:30 JAWBONE
(UK) Independent. 92mins. Dir: Thomas Napper. Cast: Johnny Harris, Ray Winstone, Michael Smiley. Former youth boxing
HAVE A NICE DAY
(China) Memento Films International. 77mins. Dir: Liu Jian. A hard rain is about to fall on a small town in Southern China. In a desperate attempt to find money to save his fiance’s failed plastic surgery, Xiao Zhang, a mere driver, steals a bag containing one million from his boss. News of the robbery spreads fast within the town and, over the course of one night, everyone starts looking for Xiao Zhang and his money. Olympia 3
ISOLATION
(Iran) Derakhshan Aftab-E Alamtabmins. 90mins. Dir: Morteza Ali Abbas Mirzaei. Cast: Amirali Danaei, Nader Falah, Ali Ostadi, Siamak Safari. A husband whose wife is killed following a chase is allowed out of prison for 72 hours for her funeral.
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Dir: Chen Hung-I. Cast: Chang Ning, JC Lin, Kiwe Baby, Lin Wei Yi, Zheng Ren Shuo. A student and political activist becomes the new housemate of a solitary painter. He is brusque and disillusioned, she is filled with hope. Outside, Taiwan is heading towards new presidential elections. Palais H
LITTLE HARBOUR
(Slovakia) Loco Films. 85mins. Dir: Iveta Grofova. Cast: Vanessa Szamuhelova, Matus Bacisin, Katarina Kamencova, Johanna Tesarova. Inspired by true events: the extraordinary story of two children raising abandoned twin babies. Arcades 3
MY NAME IS LENNY
THE LAST PAINTING
(UK) Embankment Films. 110mins. Dir: Ron Scalpello. Cast: Josh Helman. The true-life story of one of Britain’s most notorious bare-knuckle fighters, Lenny McLean, also known as ‘The Guv’nor’.
(Taiwan) Wide. 107mins.
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JAWBONE See box, above
(France) Europacorp. 93mins. Dir: Dominique Farrugia. Cast: Gilles Lellouche, Louise Bourgoin, Manu Payet, Marilou Berry, Julien Boisselier. Yvan and Louise are getting divorced. The separation unfolds pretty calmly, for them and their kids, until the two exes realise that they can’t afford to get their own places. So after years of living as husband and wife, they have no choice but to become roommates.
peacetime proves equally distressing. He finds postwar Helsinki rampant with homophobic persecution, and men around him even being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his liberating art, specialising in homoerotic drawings of muscular men, free of inhabitions. His work — made famous by his signature ‘Tom of Finland’ — became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution.
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ROOM(H)ATES
champion Jimmy McCabe, after hitting rock bottom, returns to his childhood boxing club and his old team, gym owner Bill and cornerman Eddie.
80 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
(Russia) Central Partnership Sales House. 100mins. Dir: Ivan Shurkhovetskyi. Cast: Ilya Malakhov, Polina Chernyshova. Mid-13th-century Russia is fragmented into principalities that fall one by one before the westward Mongol expansion. Only one Russian principality dares to resist, protected by a fearless commander and his small squad. Palais I
12:00 ASINAMALI
(South Africa) National Film & Video Foundation Of South Africa. 100mins.
Dir: Mbongeni Ngema. Cast: Kevin White. In the prison yard on Robin Island, a man named Nelson Mandela told Msizi Dube: “Go and do it for all of us, for all our people. So one day we may join you in a free South Africa.” After Dube was released, residents of Lamontville Township demonstrated against proposed rent increases, with a cry of ‘Asinamali’ — we have no money. Dube was later gunned down but his cause and mission had touched the hearts of millions. This story takes place 10 years later in a prison, where a group of inmates are asked to create and perform a stage play for the governor and his associates. These seven inmates, crammed together in a small cell, use their free time at night creating the stage play as a way of escaping the reality of where they are. Palais E
DUTCH VR
(Netherlands) Next. 60mins. The Netherlands Film Fund, in association with Submarine Channel, presents a selection of four of the best Dutch recent VR films. Next VR Cinema
SERPENT
(South Africa) Voltage Pictures. 88mins. Dir: Amanda Evans. Cast: Sarah Dumont, Tom Ainsley. A romantic escape into nature turns into the ultimate moment of reckoning when a husband and wife are trapped in a tent with a deadly snake. Lerins 2
TESS See box, right
TOM OF FINLAND
(Finland) Protagonist Pictures. 115mins. Dir: Dome Karukoski. Cast: Pekka Strang, Lauri Tilkanen, Werner Daehn, Jessica Grabowsky. Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home after a harrowing and heroic experience serving his country in the Second World War, but life in Finland during
MARKET 11:30 TESS
(South Africa) The Little Film Company. 90mins. Dir: Meg Rickards. Cast: Christia Visser, Brendon Daniels. Sassy 20-year-old Tess sells her body on
Cape Town’s streets. But her life turns upside down when she falls pregnant. Though Tess tries to run, her past torments her as she fights back, battling her demons, searching for the truth. Palais F
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SCREENINGS
IN AND OUT
(France) Other Angle Pictures. 86mins. Dir: Bruno Chiche, Pierre Francois MartinLaval. Cast: Louise Bourgoin, Stephane De Groot, Aure Atika. Two couples, Pierre and Aimee and Eric and Penelope, have been friends for years. Only problem: Penelope and Pierre have fallen in love. They decide to call it quits when things start getting too out of control. But the universe decides to play a trick on them and after a final night of passion, Pierre and Penelope wake up to find they’ve switched bodies! To keep their secret, they have to live as each other. And that’s when the trouble begins. Olympia 5
KING OF HEARTS
(France) Cohen Media Group. 102mins. Dir: Philippe De Broca. Cast: Alan Bates, Genevieve Bujold, Pierre Brasseur, Jean-Claude Brialy, Michel Serrault. During the First World War, Scottish soldier Private Plumpick is sent on a mission to a village in the French countryside to disarm a bomb set by the retreating German Army.
13:30 BAD LUCKY GOAT
MARKET 13:30 CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT
(Italy) Reel Suspects. 85mins. Dir: Andrea De Sica. Cast: Vicenzo Crea, Ludovico Succio, Fabrizio Rongione, Yuliia Sobol. Giulio, a 17-year-old from a well-to-do family, is sent to a boarding school in the Alps, where iron-clad rules limit all contact with the outside. He makes friends with Edoardo, who is rather
odd. Their friendship is sealed by frequent escapes at night, where they begin to frequent a nightclub hidden in the forest. This is where they meet prostitute Elena. Suddenly, they discover the transgressions they have kept hidden are actually part of the school’s educational programme. And yet there must be a way for them to become truly free. Palais B
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LEVELK SCREENING 1
LevelK. 90mins. Gray 3
MY ART
(US) Mongrel International. 86mins. Dir: Laurie Simmons. Cast: Laurie Simmons, Robert Clohessy. A 65-year-old single artist living in New York City has a good life: a stable teaching job, successful friends and a loyal dog named Bing. As her dream of a respectable place in the art world becomes more elusive, her frustration with her lack of recognition feels alarmingly urgent. Riviera 1
ON BODY AND SOUL
(Hungary) Films Boutique. 116mins. Dir: Ildiko Enyedi. Cast: Alexandra Borbely,
Geza Morcsanyi, Reka Tenki. Two introverted people find out by chance that they share the same dream every night. They are puzzled, incredulous, a bit frightened. As they hesitantly accept this strange coincidence, they try to recreate in broad daylight what happens in their dream. Lerins 1
ON WINGS OF EAGLES
(China, Hong Kong, US) Archstone Distribution. 98mins. Dir: Stephen Shin, Michael Parker. Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Shawn Dou, Richard Sanderson. Eric Liddell — considered China’s first gold medalist and one of Scotland’s greatest athletes — returns to war-torn China. Palais C
82 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
PATRIA ‘THE LEGEND OF OTGER DE CATALO AND THE NINE BARONS OF FAME’
(Spain) Dejavu Films. 110mins. Dir: Charansonnet Joan Frank. Gray 5
SOME LIKE IT VEILED
(France) Films Distribution. 87mins. Dir: Sou Abadi. Cast: Felix Moati, Camelia Jordana, William Lebghil, Anne Alvaro, Miki Manojlovic. Armand and Leila are in love. Together they plan to go to New York for an internship. But a few days before their departure, Mahmoud, Leila’s big brother, comes back from a long-term stay in Yemen, during which he has changed drastically. Wanting to reframe Leila’s life, which he judges
indecent, Mahmoud decides to confine his sister and keep her apart from her boyfriend. How can Armand free Leila? Armand has no choice — if he wants to sneak into Leila’s apartment he will have to wear a niqab. The next day, a new woman in a niqab walks through Paris… her name is Sheherazade. Olympia 4
STILL/BORN
(Canada) Jinga Films. 90mins. Dir: Brandon Christensen. Cast: Christie Burke, Jesse Moss, Rebecca Olson, Michael Ironside. When Mary loses one of her twins in childbirth, she spirals into madness thinking her other child is in danger from an evil supernatural entity. Palais G
THE WANDERERS
(Romania) Content Cloud. 109mins. Dir: Dragos Buliga. Cast: Armand Assante, Lior Ashkenazi, Razvan Vasilescu, Oana Marcu, Raluca Aprodu, Bae Jung, Ho Jae Sun. Vampire hunter Louis Moudon and journalist Robert Landau travel to a secluded village in Transylvania to reveal the mystery surrounding a weird event that happened recently at Zalesky Castle. They are guided by the
young Romanian Sorana and joined by the team of a sensationalist Korean TV reality show. The secret they untangle is deeper and more terrifying than they expected. The villagers seem to be tormented by the appearance of a young girl. The priests of the village are trying to protect their kin from an unspeakable evil which falls on the village and the visitors. Gray 1
WONDERS OF THE SEA 3D
(France) Conquistador Entertainment. 87mins. Dir: Jean Michel Cousteau. Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Life under the water like you have never seen before.
(Colombia) Luxbox. 76mins. Dir: Samir Oliveros. Cast: Honlenny Huffington, Kiara Howard. After accidentally killing a bearded goat with their father’s truck, two incompatible siblings in their teenage years embark on a journey of reconciliation. They must find a way to repair the truck in time to pick up the tourists who will be staying at their family’s hotel. As they struggle to find the means necessary to conceal the accident, the siblings will visit a butcher, Rastafari drum makers, a pawn shop and even a witch doctor, in a 24-hour adventure around Port Paradise. Palais J
BRAVE NEW JERSEY
(US) VMI Worldwide. 86mins. Dir: Jody Lambert. Cast: Anna Camp, Heather Burns, Tony Hale. A comedy about a small New Jersey town on the night of Orson Welles’ legendary 1938 ‘War Of The Worlds’ radio broadcast, which led millions to believe the US was being invaded by Martians. Gray 4
CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT See box, left
CIAO CIAO
(Denmark) TrustNordisk. 118mins. Dir: Peter Schonau Fog. Cast: Trine Dyrholm, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Michael Nyqvist. Respected principal Frederik is arrested and charged with embezzling millions. It appears Frederik has had a brain tumour for the past three years, which has created a change in his personality. His wife Mia, assisted by solicitor Bernard, will have to muster all her strength to get him acquitted and try to save her family.
(China) Wide. 83mins. Dir: Chuan Song. Cast: Liang Xueqin, Zhang Yu, Hong Chang. Ciao Ciao, an arrogant young Chinese woman, returns to visit her parents in her hometown village, nestled in the heart of the mountains. She wants to return to Canton as soon as possible to set up a business with her friend Li Li. When her parents ask her to stay to help them she hesitates but hangs around the village. At this point, she becomes an object of covetousness, especially to the wild Li Wei, the son of a wealthy contraband alcohol supplier.
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SCREENINGS
Miller, Bryan Brown. An iconic Australian story of family, friendship and adventure, between a young boy and a scrappy one-of-a-kind dog that would grow up to become an Australian legend. Olympia 3
ROUND OZ RIDE
(Australia) Imagine If. 15mins. Dir: Peter ‘Kog’ Godfrey. An epic 18,000km motorcycle journey of awakening for a father and his son, circumnavigating Australia in 40 days. Doc Corner
XYZ PROMO
XYZ Films. 60mins.
MARKET 13:30 GOD’S OWN COUNTRY
(UK) Protagonist Pictures. 104mins. Dir: Francis Lee. Cast: Josh O’Connor, Alec Secareanu, Gemma Jones. Young northern farmer Johnny Saxby numbs
ENCOUNTER
(US) Premiere Entertainment Group. 90mins. Dir: Fulvio Sestito. Cast: Ryan Carnes, Jordan Hinson, Peter Stormare, Dee Wallace. While shooting a documentary to expose the lies of alien abductees, a provocative filmmaker and his crew encounter a young woman with a dark secret who leads them to uncover a disturbing truth. Arcades 1
GOD’S OWN COUNTRY See box, above
GROUNDED
(France) Other Angle Pictures. 85mins. Dir: Alexandre Castagnetti. Cast: Arthur Mazet, Karidja Toure, Thomas VDB, Issa Doumbia, Sonia Rolland, Alexandre Achdjian, Noemie Chicheportiche, Najaa Bensaid, Gregoire Montana, Fred Tousch. Benjamin, a 16-year-old college boy, is grounded. He has been sentenced to be locked up for two hours in a classroom. Moreover, he
Olympia 1
his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker for lambing season ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path. Gray 2
finds out that he is trapped in a time loop that brings him back again and again to the beginning of his time in detention, the moment when Leila, the girl he is secretly in love with, sits next to him. Arcades 3
IT COMES AT NIGHT
(US) A24 Films. 95mins. Dir: Trey Edward Shults. Cast: Joel Edgerton, Riley Keough, Carmen Ejogo, Christopher Abbott, Kelvin Harrison Jr. Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorises the world, a man has established a tenuous domestic order with his wife and son, but this will soon be put to the test when a desperate young family arrives seeking refuge. Olympia 6
LAST TRAIN
(US) Multivisionnaire Pictures. 80mins. Dir: Tracy Pellegrino. Cast: Ciera Danielle, Anthony Montes, Lou Diamond Phillips. Based on true-life events,
84 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
this is a story of two strangers who meet at a New York subway station as both of them intend to jump in front of the train and end their lives. Palais H
LILA’S BOOK
(Colombia) Sola Media. 76mins. Dir: Marcela Rincon Gonzalez. A beautiful film about fantasy, the power of stories and the importance of memories. Riviera 2
OUR EVIL
(Brazil) Jinga Films. 92mins. Dir: Samuel Galli. Cast: Ademir Esteves, Ricardo Casella, Sonia Morena, Anthony Mello, Luara Pepita, Fernando Cardoso. In the seedy underbelly of Sao Paulo, a spiritualist employs a serial killer to protect his daughter from demonic possession.
13:45 WENDY — THE MOVIE
(Germany) Beta Cinema. 90mins. Dir: Dagmar Seume. Cast: Jule Hermann, Jasmin Gerat, Benjamin Sadler. Twelve-year-old Wendy doesn’t care too much for her parents’ decision to spend all of summer break at her grandmother’s run-down horse ranch. Following a severe riding accident, she refuses to get back into the saddle. Yet as soon as she arrives, she meets the invalid horse Dixie, which just escaped from the butcher. Dixie
seems to be quite fond of Wendy and follows her wherever she goes. The two loners build a friendship that has the potential to forever change not only Wendy’s life but also could save grandma’s ranch from being sold. But for how long will Wendy be able to hide Dixie from the adults?
Scherson, Cristian Jimenez. Cast: Jorge Becker, Gabriela Arancibia. While housesitting for a distant cousin, a lonely man fabricates the existence of a vindictive ex-wife witholding his daughter in order to gain the sympathy of the single mother he has just met.
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FIFTY SPRINGTIMES
14:00 THE BRIGADE
(France) StudioCanal. 110mins. Dir: Pierre Jolivet. Cast: Roschdy Zem, Emilie Dequenne, Michael Abiteboul. It’s a hot summer in the south of France. Fires are starting everywhere and tempers are flaring at the local fire station, where Benedicte has begun her new job, leading a group of seasoned veteran firefighters who have difficulty accepting a woman in her position. But in the heat of chaos, personal tensions are cast aside as the courageous brigade pulls together to battle fierce fires threatening their lives and those in the community.
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(France) Be For Films. 89mins. Dir: Blandine Lenoir. Cast: Agnes Jaoui, Thibault De Montalembert, Pascale Arbillot, Sarah Suco, Lou Roy-Collinet, Philippe Rebbot, Nanou Garcia, Olivier Broche. Aurore, separated from her husband, has just lost her job and been told that she is going to be a grandmother. She is slowly being pushed to the outskirts of society, but when she accidentally runs into the great love of her youth, she puts her foot down and refuses to be relegated to the scrap yard. What if now was the time to start over? Riviera 1
FOR AHKEEM
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See box, below
FAMILY LIFE
JOURNEY’S END
(Chile) Visit Films. 81mins. Dir: Alicia
(UK) Metro International Entertainment. 100mins.
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THE PARTY
(UK) Great Point Media. 71mins. Dir: Sally Potter. Cast: Cillian Murphy, Kristin Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones. A celebratory dinner ends in bloodshed and chaos when secrets spill out over the vol-au-vents. Olympia 7
MARKET 14:00 FOR AHKEEM
RED DOG: TRUE BLUE
(Australia) Myriad Pictures. 88mins. Dir: Kriv Stenders. Cast: Levi
(US) Wide House. 90mins. Dir: Jeremy Levine, Landon Van Soest. After a school fight lands 17-year-old Daje
Shelton in a court-supervised alternative high school, she’s determined to turn things around and make a better future for herself in her rough St Louis neighbourhood. Palais E
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A woman learns that her estranged father has died and returns with her brother and new lover to her childhood home of Belize. There, she must face her past while fighting for intimacy in her present.
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SCREENINGS
in to claim their dreadful bounties, maintaining the thin balance of routine inside the walls becomes a matter of life and death. Lerins 1
14:30 HOSTILE
(France) All Rights Entertainment. 90mins. Dir: Mathieu Turi. Cast: Javier Botet, Brittany Ashworth, Gregory Fitoussi. Juliette, lone survivor of an apocalyptic era, fights to survive against hunger, thirst, a broken leg and strange, disturbing creatures that only come out at night.
14:00 LEO DA VINCI: MISSION MONA LISA
(Italy) All Rights Entertainment. 85mins. Dir: Sergio Manfio. Life flows peacefully in Vinci: Leonardo is struggling with his
A DAY
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ALL MEDIA PROMO SCREENINGS
DON’T TELL HER
FRENCH VIRTUALITIES
incredible inventions, Lorenzo helps him and Gioconda observes them mockingly. When a mysterious story-teller comes to town and speaks of a hidden treasure, an adventure begins. Olympia 5
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Dir: Saul Dibb. Cast: Sam Caflin, Asa Butterfield, Paul Bettany, Toby Jones, Tom Sturridge, Stephen Graham. Set over four days in March 1918 in the trenches on the front line, a small group of soldiers wait to be bombarded by enemy artillery, anticipating certain death. The story charts the tension and claustrophobia of the officers’ dug-out as new recruit, 18-year-old Lieutenant Raleigh, joins the Company commanded by 20-year-old Captain Stanhope, his former childhood friend and hero, who has changed almost beyond recognition.
Vladimir, Clivia, Regina and Primo hatch an absurd plan: to kidnap a millionaire. But they don’t have experience with crime or any notion of what it involves. As they move forward, their fears and ambitions are revealed. Gray 1
LOST BIRDS
LEO DA VINCI: MISSION MONA LISA
(Turkey) Tricoast WorldWide. 91mins. Dir: Ela Alyamac, Aren Perdeci. Cast: Heros Agopyan, Takuhi Bahar. Spectacularly photographed film about two young Turkish children who return home from the fields to find their family vanished. A heartwarming Christmas story about discovering life and the journey to find their mother.
See box, above
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LIFE IS A BITCH
MEN OF CLAY
(Brazil) Cinema Do Brasil. 107mins. Dir: Julia Rezende. Lonely, frustrated and unable to do anything to make sense of their lives,
(Belgium) Axxon Films. 103mins. Dir: Mourad Boucif. Cast: Miloud Naciri, Magali Solier, Tibo Vandenborre. Sulayman meets Kadija,
Palais C
86 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
THE STRAYED
(Ukraine) Foundation Of Citizens ‘Molodist’. 89mins. Dir: Arkadiy Nepitaluk. Palais G
14:15
(France) Next. 60mins. Next VR Cinema
INSYRIATED
(Belgium) Films Boutique. 85mins. Dir: Philippe Van Leeuw. Cast: Hiam Abbas. Trapped inside her house in a city under siege, Oum Yazan, mother of three, turns her flat into a safe haven for her family and neighbours, trying to protect them from the war outside. When bombs threaten to destroy the building, when snipers turn the courtyards into deadly zones, and burglars break
CINDERELLA 3D
See box, below
15:00
the daughter of the Caid, the leader of an immense region in Morocco. Thirsty for power, he does not accept the marriage of his daughter with a shepherd. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the young shepherd was forcibly recruited into the French Army.
Arcades 3
(US) Gold Valley Films. 90mins. Dir: Lynn Southerland. Cinderella and her loyal friends embark on a perilous adventure to restore the real Prince to his true self, and help him defeat the evil forces.
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MARKET
After receiving a cryptic message, American skeptic Jamie journeys deep into the Indian Himalayas to pick up on the trail of his disappeared girlfriend. There, he discovers a secretive community led by a guru with strange and mystical powers who may or may not be involved in her disappearance. As Jamie travels deeper down the rabbit hole, he quickly realises that this mysterious community may be keeping secrets far beyond anything he could have ever imagined.
15:30
(Russia) All Media Company. 110mins. Palais B
THE ASHRAM
(US) Seville International. 85mins. Dir: Ben Rekhi. Cast: Sam Keely, Melissa Leo, Kal Penn, Hera Hilmar, Radhika Apte.
(Belgium) Other Angle Pictures. 95mins. Dir: Solange Sicurel. Cast: Jenifer Bartoli, Camille Chamoux, Arie Elmaleh. The more you love, the more you lie... It’s very difficult to tell the truth to your close ones, especially if you don’t want to hurt their feelings. But then starts a
WALK WITH ME
(UK) WestEnd Films. 94mins. Dir: Max Pugh, Marc J Francis. Cast: Thich Nhat Hanh, Benedict Cumberbatch. Filmed over three years and with unprecedented access, this visceral film offers a rare insight into a community of people who have left their families and given up all their possessions to practise the art of mindfulness at the Plum Village monastery. Palais K
WITH OPEN ARMS
(France) SND — Groupe M6. 93mins. Dir: Philippe De Chauveron. Cast: Christian Clavier, Elsa Zylberstein, Ary Abittan. An upbeat cultural clash comedy.
MARKET 15:30 A DAY
(South Korea) Finecut Co. 90mins. Dir: Cho Sun-ho. Cast: Kim Myungmin, Byun Yo-han. Returning from a trip abroad, doctor Junyoung passes the scene of a car accident. The victim, hit by a taxi, is none other than his beloved daughter, Eun-jung.
Then suddenly, everything repeats itself again and again like deja vu: Eun-jung getting hit by a taxi and Min-chul, the paramedic, checking on other victims including his own wife inside the taxi. Lost in repetition, Jun-young notices he is not the only one trying to save a loved one in the endless time loop. Lerins 2
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SCREENINGS
vicious circle of lies which can hardly be stopped.
In an American town built on the promise of modern architecture, a local 19-year-old girl reluctant to leave home forms a close bond with a son visiting his dying father.
Olympia 6
FOR YOUR OWN GOOD
(Spain) Film Factory Entertainment. 93mins. Dir: Carlos Theron. Cast: Jose Coronado, Javier Camara, Roberto Alamo, Pilar Castro, Carmen Ruiz. A father’s worst nightmare is the day he meets his daughter’s boyfriend… who, of course, turns out to be a lowdown dirty dog who only wants one thing from his beloved little girl. And that day has finally come for Arturo, Poli and Chus. Their sweet daughters have decided to throw away their futures on three loathsome guys. The only way to get rid of them is to join forces and do whatever it takes, come hell or high water. This is war! Riviera 2
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
(US) Octane Entertainment. 77mins. Dir: Jack C Newell. Cast: Mia Rose Frampton, Stony Blyden, Lauren Giraldo. When 18-year-old Hope Gracin suddenly finds herself in remission from end-stage cancer, she must learn to live without an expiration date. Gray 4
LET THE GIRLS PLAY
(France) Indie Sales. 88mins. Dir: Julien Hallard. Cast: Max Boublil, Vanessa Guide, Bruno Lochet. Reims, France, 1969: Paul Coutard is a sports journalist at daily newspaper ‘Le Champenois’. Forced to plan the newspaper’s annual fair with Emmanuelle Bruno, executive assistant, he comes up with a crazy idea: organise the first women’s football match in France. Olympia 3
LINA
(Iran) Farabi Cinema Foundation. 88mins. Dir: Ramin Rasouli. When Maryam finds out that she was adopted and that she is not of Iranian descent, she decides to find her biological parents. Palais F
Lerins 3
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF OTTO BLOOM See box, left
ESCAPE ROOM
MARKET 16:00 THE DEATH AND LIFE OF OTTO BLOOM
(Australia) Global Screen. 84mins. Dir: Cris Jones. Cast: Xavier Samuel, Matilda Brown, Rachel Ward.
Chronicles the life and great love of an extraordinary man who experiences time in reverse — wandering blindly into the past, while remembering the future. Olympia 4
(Mexico) Outsider Pictures. 92mins. Dir: Cristina Herrera Borquez. Cast: Victor Manuel Aguirre Espinoza, Victor Fernando Urias Amparo, Jose Luis Márquez Saavedra, Alex Ali Mendez Diaz. A couple in love from Baja California, Mexico, are in the middle of the preparations for a huge wedding. The only problem is that their marriage is not legal, since they are both male.
87mins. Dir: ND Wilson. Cast: Joel Courtney, Paul Johansson, Bas Rutten, Tommy Cash. Diz is a reckless teenage drifter on the run. Abandoned by his parents, he looks out for himself and doesn’t accept handouts. Jaded and determined to answer to no one, Diz lives a life marked by thievery and abandonment. Things change for him when he floats into a small town on the Snake River. There he is confronted by an unflappable old man named Marty and falls for Marty’s guarded granddaughter, Selah. When Diz robs a local drug-dealing crazy, he becomes the owner of a giant pile of cash and the target of two vicious killers. With more money than he knows what to do with, and criminals at his heels, Diz puts the people he’s learned to care about in danger, still trying to win Selah. But some things can’t be stolen or bought.
Doc Corner
Palais H
THE RIVER THIEF
STRANGE WEATHER
(US) California Pictures.
(US) Great Point Media.
THE MARKER
(UK) Truffle Pictures. 84mins. Dir: Justin Edgar. Cast: Frederick Schmidt, Ana Ularu, John Hannah. Noir thriller about a criminal seeking redemption by tracking down the daughter of the woman he killed. Along the way he is haunted by his guilt in the guise of the woman’s ghost. Olympia 9
NO DRESS CODE REQUIRED
88 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
91mins. Dir: Katharine Deickmann. Cast: Holly Hunter, Carrie Coon, Kim Coates, Glenne Headly. A mother clinging to her grief needs answers about her son’s suicide. A strong, independent woman failing to process her enormous loss starts her journey towards acceptance. Gray 2
TWICE SHY
(Ireland) 7 & 7 Producers’ Sales Service. 80mins. Dir: Tom Ryan. Cast: Shane MurrayCorcoran, Iseult Casey, Ardal O’Hanlon, Pat Shortt. Two young Irish lovers, faced with an unplanned pregnancy, reflect on the choices they have made as they journey to London in order to face the biggest decision of all. Palais D
VAMPIRE SISTERS 3 — JOURNEY TO TRANSYLVANIA
(Germany) Arri Media International. 94mins. Dir: Tim Trachte. Cast: Laura Roge, Marta Martin, Christiane Paul, Stipe Erceg, Michael Kessler, Jana Pallaske, Tim Oliver Schultz, Alexander Schubert. The beloved Vampire Sisters are back! This time they have a new baby brother, Franz, a sweet half-vampire. But he is in
danger. The evil vampire queen Antanasia wants him in her castle as her heir. Lerins 4
16:00 AN ACT OF DEFIANCE
(Netherlands) Cinema Management Group. 113mins. Dir: Jean Van De Velde. Cast: Peter Paul Muller, Sello Motloung, Gregg Viljoen, Antoinette Louw, Jose Domingos. In 1963, South African lawyer Bram Fischer rises to the challenge as lead counsel to defend Nelson Mandela and 10 other men accused of sabotage. Lerins 1
ANIMALS
(Switzerland) Be For Films. 95mins. Dir: Greg Zglinski. Cast: Birgit Minichmayr, Philipp Hochmair, Mona Petri, Mehdi Nebbou, Michael Ostrowski. A collision with a sheep initiates a series of weird experiences for Anna and Nick, which leaves them incapable of being certain exactly where they are: in the real world, in their own imaginations — or in someone else’s imagination. Riviera 1
COLUMBUS
(US) Visit Films. 104mins. Dir: Kogonada Kogonada. Cast: John Cho, Haley Lu Richardson, Parker Posey, Rory Culkin, Michelle Forbes.
(US) Voltage Pictures. 80mins. Dir: Will Wernick. Cast: Evan Williams, Annabelle Stephenson, Elisabeth Hower, Billy Flynn. To celebrate his 30th birthday, Tyler’s girlfriend, Kristen, takes him and two other couples to play the latest craze — Escape Room. In an escape room, you are locked in a room and given one hour to figure out cryptic clues in order to escape. Harmless fun... until now! The group is led into a locked room and the clock starts ticking. They quickly sense something is wrong, the puzzles become increasingly difficult and increasingly deadly. One by one the escape room claims a new victim and the surviving players realise they are no longer playing a game; they are playing for their lives. Gray 1
ISMAEL’S GHOSTS
(France) Wild Bunch. 110mins. Dir: Arnaud Desplechin. Cast: Mathieu Amalric, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel. Filmmaker Ismaïl Vuillard’s life is sent into a tailspin by the return of a former lover just as he is about to embark on the shoot of a new film. Arcades 2
JULIE AND THE SHOE FACTORY — BASIC SCREENER
(France) Films Boutique. 90mins. Dir: Kostia Testut, Paul Calori. Cast: Pauline Etienne, Olivier Chantreau, Francois Morel. When Julie finally lands a job at a luxury shoemaker, her dreams of stability collapse as the owner threatens to close the »
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SCREENINGS
WINE WAR
(Hong Kong) Media Asia Film. 90mins. Dir: Leon Lai. Cast: Leon Lai, Hanyu Zhang. When a world-renowned Chinese sommelier residing in France is contacted by his childhood buddy in China to help him auction a bottle of 1855 vintage wine on behalf of the Chinese government, he agrees without question. Little does he realise he is about to be sucked into an ageold feud between rival vineyards and a historical mystery that might shatter the whole oenological industry. Gray 3
MARKET 17:15 THE BLOOM OF YESTERDAY
(Germany) Beta Cinema. 125mins. Dir: Chris Kraus. Cast: Lars Eidinger, Adele Haenel, Jan Josef Liefers, Hannah Herzsprung. factory. Together with an intrepid group of women, they decide to resist, bringing back to life a bold and elegant shoe model to save the renowned brand. But when Samy, a young truck driver as wily as he is charming, jumps in the middle of the fight, this is no longer the same song. Palais C
THE JUNGLE BUNCH — THE 3D MOVIE
(France) SND — Groupe M6. 95mins. Dir: David Alaux. Meet the Jungle Bunch, led by the tiger-striped kung fu penguin Maurice. Having just defeated the latest menace to the jungle — evil baboons — they face Igor, the koala. Years ago Igor’s evil plan to blow up the jungle came to a halt when he faced the Champs — the original heroes of the jungle, led by Natasha the tiger, Maurice’s adoptive mother. Now Igor wants revenge. Palais K
KANGAROO
(Australia) Second Nature Films. 90mins. Dir: Michael McIntyre,
A very romantic comedy on the edge of the abyss: in the middle of the deepest life crisis, Holocaust researcher Toto is assigned an assistant for a congress preparation. Lerins 4
Kate Clere. Reveals the truth surrounding Australia’s love-hate relationship with its beloved icon. The kangaroo image is proudly used by Australia’s top companies, sports teams and as tourist souvenirs, yet as they hop across the vast continent they are considered pests to be shot and sold for profit. ‘Kangaroo’ unpacks a national paradigm where the relationship with kangaroos is examined. Palais E
MARYLINE
(France) Gaumont. 104mins. Dir: Guillaume Gallienne. Cast: Adeline D’Hermy, Vanessa Paradis, Xavier Beauvois, Eric Ruf. A subtle portrait of a fragile, extraordinarily beautiful and talented young woman on the edge of losing herself. Olympia 8
NINAS ARANA
(Chile) Habanero. 94mins. Dir: Guillermo Helo. Cast: Michelle Mella, Javiera Orellana, Dominique Silva,
90 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
Francisca Gavilan, Pablo Macaya, Patricio Contreras. Inspired by actual events, three teenage girls from a Santiago shanty town set in motion a plan to climb buildings and break into apartments on the wealthy side of town in order to steal all the cool and trendy stuff they see advertised on TV and at the fancy department stores. Word spreads and soon enough they became the notorious ‘spider thieves’. Gray 5
student. He frequents a coffee house called Antique, where one day he meets a girl named Rize. Little does he know that this encounter will drastically alter the course of his destiny. What does the future hold for Kaneki, who struggles to contain his curiosity regarding the existence of these bizarre entities, who take the lives of humans to ensure their own survival? Palais I
VR SCI FEST SHOWCASE
(Sweden) Next. 60mins. PSYCHOPATHS
Next VR Cinema
17:00 ZERO DAYS VR
Chaplin, Franco Nero. In a near future, due to the effects of an uncompromising law on eco-sustainability, paper has become a rare item, a luxury possession, controlled by the ‘Big Z’: Zimurgh Corporation. Palais H
DRUNK PARENTS
(US) Fortitude International. 110mins. Dir: Fred Wolf. Cast: Alec Baldwin, Salma Hayek, Joe Manganiello. Two drunk parents attempt to hide their ever increasing financial difficulties from their daughter and social circle through elaborate neighbourhood schemes. Olympia 3
(US) Next. 60mins. A clandestine mission hatched by the US and Israel. Audiences experience the stakes of cyber warfare placed inside the world of computer viruses. Next VR Cinema
17:15 THE BLOOM OF YESTERDAY See box, above left
17:30 THE BROKEN KEY
(Italy) Fantastic Films International. 93mins. Dir: Louis Nero. Cast: Rutger Hauer, Geraldine
JUPITER’S MOON See box, below
THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS
(Canada) The Solution Entertainment Group. 108mins. Dir: Bharat Nalluri. Cast: Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce. After a series of his books have been flops, Charles Dickens decides to write and self-publish ‘A Christmas Carol’. Gray 4
(US) Kaleidoscope Film Distribution. 85mins. Dir: Mickey Keating. Cast: Ashley Bell, James Landry Hebert, Angela Trimbur, Larry Fessenden, Mark Kassen, Jeremy Gardner, Sam Zimmerman. Multiple serial killers attack Los Angeles over the course of one night. Palais G
TOKYO GHOUL
(Japan) Shochiku Co. 119mins. Dir: Kentaro Hagiwara. Cast: Masataka Kubota, Fumika Shimizu, Yu Aoi. In Tokyo, man-eating monsters called ‘ghouls’ run rampant. The populace has become fearful of these creatures, who hide themselves among ordinary people, and remain shrouded in mystery. Kaneki is an ordinary university
MARKET 17:30 JUPITER’S MOON
(Hungary) The Match Factory. 123mins. Dir: Kornel Mundruczo. Cast: Merab Ninidze, Gyorgy Cserhalmi, Zsombor Jeger, Moni Balsai.
A young illegal immigrant becomes a slave to his power to fly in a world where miracles are trafficked for small change. A cautionary thriller about disillusionment and faith. Olympia 1
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SCREENINGS
the money is running short — and makes everything uneasy. Escaping from their common reality, they slowly become strangers to one another as the tension grows in silence. Riviera 1
COMPULSION
(Italy) WTFilms. 86mins. Dir: Craig Goodwill. Cast: Analeigh Tipton, Marta Gastini, Valentin Merlet. Sadie, an erotic novelist, along with an enigmatic woman named Francesca, are invited by an ex-lover to a mysterious castle. There Sadie is confronted by the demons of her past as she becomes involved in a surreal game of murder and betrayal.
MARKET 18:00 DUCK DUCK GOOSE
(China) GFM Films. 110mins. Dir: Christopher Jenkins. Cast: Jim Gaffigan, Lance Lim,
MAUS
(Spain) Film Factory Entertainment. 90mins. Dir: Herrero Yayo. Cast: Alma Terzic, August Wittgenstein. Alec and Sasa are a couple in love on a trip to the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Suddenly, Sasa feels a mysterious force is chasing them. Palais J
QUEEN OF SPADES
(Russia) Bleiberg Entertainment. 116mins. Dir: Pavel Lungin. Cast: Kseniya Rappoport, Ivan Yankovskiy. Famed opera soprano Sophia Maier once fascinated and thrilled the world but now only the legend remains. She wants to crown her career with one more triumph and she’ll use every dirty trick she knows to achieve it. Palais F
Stephen Fry. Peng, a freewheeling young bachelor goose, reluctantly finds himself having to take two ducklings under his wing. Palais C
mysteries that occur between two strangers when the ordinary and the extraordinary collide and interchange. Riviera 2
THE SHERIFF IN TOWN
(South Korea) Lotte Entertainment. 115mins. Dir: Hyung-Joo Kim. Cast: Sung-Min Lee, Jin-Woong Cho, Sung-Kyun Kim. Disgraced by an ill-fated drug sting, ex-cop Dae-ho lives in Busan as unofficial sheriff and looks after the town. Meanwhile, new businessman in town Dong-jin wins the townspeople’s favour to start a beach resort, which becomes a huge hit. Dae-ho recalls that Dong-jin was somehow involved in the drug sting and begins an investigation, suspecting that he’s also involved in a drug case that took place recently. Palais D
RAY MEETS HELEN
(US) Moonstone Entertainment/Prestige Films. 114mins. Dir: Alan Rudolph. Cast: Keith Carradine, Sondra Locke, Keith David, Jennifer Tilly. Deals with the vital
SWEET VIRGINIA
(US) XYZ Films. 100mins. Dir: Jamie M Dagg. Cast: Jon Bernthal, Christopher Abbott, Imogen Poots. A former rodeo champ befriends a young man
92 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
with a propensity for violence. Gray 2
THE TOOTH AND THE NAIL
(South Korea) M-Line Distribution. 120mins. Dir: Kim Hwi, Jung Sik. Cast: Ko Soo, Kim JooHyuk, Moon Sung-Keun. A fierce and desperate love story during Korea’s liberation period. Palais B
YOL — THE FULL VERSION
(Switzerland) The Match Factory. 112mins. Dir: Serif Goren, Yılmaz Guney. Cast: Tarik Akan, Halil Ergun, Necmettin Cobanoglu, Hikmet Celik, Güven Sengil, Tuncay Akca. Through the social environments and reports of six detainees on leave, ‘YOL — The Full Version’ visualises the human landscape of Turkey: the oppression endured by its inhabitants and, in particular, that to which the Kurdish nation is subjected; the position of woman in that society; and the appalling consequences of patriarchal morals. Olympia 7
18:00
uncovers a magical box of animal crackers that gives him the uncanny ability to become any animal from the box.
Gray 1
Lerins 1
FROST
DUCK DUCK GOOSE See box, left
See box, below
COLO
(Portugal) Films Boutique. 136mins. Dir: Teresa Villaverde. Struggling against the crisis in Portugal, a mother doubles up jobs to pay the bills since her husband is unemployed. Their teenage daughter tries to keep living her everyday life — even if
THE LEARS
Lear, nearing retirement, summons his dysfunctional children to a weekend family retreat in one of his architectural creations, a magnificent Malibu estate. When they learn he has decided to marry his personal assistant, the next day, and subsequently feigns his own death, it sets off an explosive and funny round of devious behaviour and conflict as each of them jockeys for position borne by self-interest, greed and jealousy. Palais E
THE NEIGHBOR
(US) VMI WorldWide. 105mins. Dir: Aaron Harvey. Cast: William Fichtner, Jessica McNamee, Jean Louisa Kelly, Michael Rosenbaum. A middle-aged man in a stagnant marriage finds his life upended when an attractive young woman and her seemingly abusive husband move in next door. Palais G
(US) Cineville International, Llc.mins. 99mins. Dir: Carl Bessai. Cast: Bruce Dern, Sean Astin, Anthony Michael Hall, Aly Michalka, Victoria Smurfit, Nic Bishop. World-renowned, cuttingedge architect Davenport
PERFECT REVOLUTION
(Japan) Tohokushinsha Film Corporationmins. 115mins. Dir: Junpei Matsumoto. Cast: Lily Franky, Nana Seino. The one and only love story of Kuma, who suffers from
MARKET 18:00
ANIMAL CRACKERS
FROST
(US) Arclight Films. 100mins. Dir: Scott Christian Sava, Tony Bancroft. Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Sylvester Stallone. A workaholic dad inherits a rundown circus and
(France) Luxbox. 130mins. Dir: Sharunas Bartas. Cast: Mantas Janciauskas, Lyja Maknaviciute, Vanessa Paradis, Andrzej Chyra. Rokas and Inga, a couple of young Lithuanians, volunteer to drive a cargo van of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
When plans change and they find themselves left to their own devices, they cross the vast snowy lands of the Donbass region in search of allies and shelter, drifting into the lives of those affected by the war. They approach the frontline in spite of the danger, all the while growing closer to each other. Olympia 5
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SCREENINGS
Keith Sutliff, Matthew Webb, Brandon Pearson, Michael Whelan, Julien Cesario, Tim Park. A group of outlaws attempt to reveal their brother’s killer from a neighbouring gang after being set up during a bank heist. Palais H
NOT THE SAME AS FIREWORK
(China) Jin Dian Huan Qiu (Beijing) International Culture Media Co. 90mins. Dir: Yimo Zhang. Gray 4
keep chasing his own love and dream or give up once again? Gray 2
TE ATA
(US) Bob’s Your Uncle. 105mins. Dir: Nathan Frankowski. Cast: Q’Orianka Kilcher, Gil Birmingham, Graham Greene. Based on the inspiring true story of Mary Thompson Fisher, a woman who traversed cultural barriers to become one of the greatest Native American performers of all time. Lerins 4
SHOOT
MARKET 18:00 SHOCK WAVE
(Hong Kong) Universe Films Distribution Co. 119mins. Dir: Herman Yau. Cast: Andy Lau, Wu Jiang, Philip Keung, Jia Song, Ron Ng.
congenital cerebral palsy, and Mitsu, who suffers from a personality disorder. Gray 3
REALITY QUEEN!
(US) House Of Film. 84mins. Dir: Steven Bernheim. Cast: Denise Richards, Julia Faye West, Mike Tyson, John Whitherspoon. Follows an heiress’s quest to show the world she isn’t just another ‘it’ girl and pretentious celebutante. Gray 5
SHOCK WAVE See box, above
When a terrorist who specialises in explosives takes hold of an underground tunnel, he threatens to kill hostages if his demands are not met. Lerins 3
A suburban town is shaken by a series of mysterious child disappearances and suspicious adult deaths. A rumour begins to spread on the internet that any adult who suddenly encounters a ‘returned child’ will die mysteriously three days later. Local newspaper reporter Shunya Ezaki refuses to believe that children are killing adults, and begins to investigate the truth behind the strange deaths. Who on earth is ‘Kodomo Tsukai’? And what kind of dark fate do the abducted children drag their adult victims toward? Palais I
THE TERMINATION
(India) Rahat Kazmi Films. 105mins. Cast: Narendra Jha, Urmila Mahanta, Monika Ravan. Story of a devious con artist who redeems herself by transforming into a kind-hearted woman and philanthropist. Palais K
18:15 INNOCENT CURSE
(Japan) Shochiku Co. 111mins. Dir: Takashi Shimizu. Cast: Hideaki Takizawa, Daiki Arioka, Mugi Kadowaki.
20:00 29+1
(Hong Kong) China 3D Digital Distribution. 110mins. Dir: Kearen Pang. Cast: Chrissie Chau, Joyce Cheng, Ben Yeung, Babyjohn Choi. Christy Lam is a typical city girl. She is a month from turning 30 and has just begun to cope with the same struggles shared by most girls of the same age: the almost unbearable stress at work, her ageing but annoying parents, and her seemingly stable yet
94 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
stagnant relationship. Wong Tin-Lok is also turning 30 soon but leads a vastly different life. She has never been in love and her job is taking her nowhere. And yet she has always kept an optimistic attitude towards life. On the verge of her next chapter, she makes a bold decision to just pick up her bags and fulfil her childhood dream. They have never met and their personalities are night and day. But as fate would have it, Christy makes a temporary move into Wong’s apartment. As their virtual bond grows, Christy begins to appreciate Wong’s alternate approach to life, so much so that it becomes an integral part of her own.
Luke Goss, Peter Guinness, Jennifer Scott, Anna Wilson-Jones, Aneta Piotrowska. The world at an end, a young boy’s dying mother sends him on a quest to find the place that grants wishes. Gray 5
THE MASON BROTHERS
(US) Adler & Associates Entertainment. 114mins. Dir: Keith Sutliff. Cast:
(Vietnam) Vietnam Media Corp/BHD Co. 90mins. Dir: Viet Max. Cast: Ha Hien Nhung Kate Thanh Pham. Story about two poor brothers with a passion for football who dream of playing professionally for the national team. Although the older brother is the better player, he sacrificed his dream for his younger sibling, who joins the team. The twist starts when both young men fall in love with a girl. Does the older brother
20:30 INTERLUDE IN PRAGUE See box, below
SELFIE FROM HELL
(Canada) Industryworks Pictures. 78mins. Dir: Erdal Ceylan. Cast: Alyson Walker, Tony Giroux, Meelah Adams. A young woman travels to America from Germany. Unbeknown to her she brings along a supernatural entity that spreads mercilessly among her group of friends. Lerins 1
Olympia 3
BRAVE STORM
(Japan) Blast. 83mins. Dir: Junya Okabe. Cast: Yuki Matsuzaki, Shunsuke Daito, Chihiro Yamamoto. In the year 2050, mankind is extinct on Earth. The last survivors, five Kasuga brothers, plan to use a time machine and exterminate invader Kyrgyz before he invades Earth. They travel back in time to 2015 armed with the design data of Kyrgyz’s giant robot, Black Baron, and their three powers: a device for identifying aliens; psychic ability; and powered suits. Gray 3
THE LAST BOY
(UK) Kirlian Pictures. 109mins. Dir: Perry Bhandal. Cast: Flynn Allen, Matilda Freeman,
MARKET 20:30 INTERLUDE IN PRAGUE
(UK) Carnaby International Sales & Distribution. 103mins. Dir: John Stephenson. Cast: Aneurin Barnard, James Purefoy, Samantha Barks, Morfydd Clark, Charlotte Peters, Adrian Edmondson. Prague, 1787: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spends a few turbulent months
escaping the frustrating, privileged elite of Vienna. However, his unconventional presence soon unleashes a series of dramatic and tragic events. Overwhelmed by the tangled web of violence and intrigue that surrounds him and with his mind affected, Mozart creates the astonishing music and drama that becomes ‘Don Giovanni’. Arcades 3
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★★★
Good
AVERAGE
SCREEN INTERNATIONAL
KATJA NICODEMUS Die Zeit, Germany
Excellent
ANTON DOLIN Meduza, Russia
TIM ROBEY, ROBBIE COLLIN The Daily Telegraph, UK
NICK JAMES Sight & Sound, UK
JUSTIN CHANG Los Angeles Times, US
STEPHANIE ZACHAREK Time Magazine, US
KONG RITHDEE Bangkok Post, Thailand
★★★★
MICHEL CIMENT Positif, France Culture, France
JULIEN GESTER, DIDIER PERON Libération, France
THE SCREEN JURY AT CANNES
FABIO FERZETTI Il Fatto Quotidiano, Italy
JURY GRID
WONDERSTRUCK (US) Todd Haynes
Wonderstruck generations as a boy in 1977 pines father he never knew, half a century ★★ ★★jumps★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ for the ★★ ★★ ★★while★★ ★★ earlier a girl dreams★★ of a mysterious and Michelle ★★ ★★ actress. ★★ Julianne ★★Moore★★ ★★Williams ★★star. ★★ ★★ ★★
LOVELESS (Fr-Rus) Andrey Zvyagintsev
Inspired Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes film the disappearance of a 12-year★★ by★★ ★★ ★★ From ★★A Marriage ★★, Zvyagintsev’s ★★ ★★is about ★★ ★★ ★★ old boy who★★ is caught★★ in the midst ★★ ★★of his parents’ ★★ bitter ★★divorce. ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★
OKJA (S Kor-US) Bong Joon Ho
Ahn Seo Hyun a young★★ girl who sets save her best a massive animal named from a ★★ ★★stars as ★★ ★★out to★★ ★★friend,★★ ★★ ★★ Okja, ★★ powerful company. Tilda Swinton, Gyllenhaal Dano co-star. ★★ multinational ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ Jake ★★ ★★and Paul ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★
JUPITER’S MOON (Hun-Ger) Kornel Mundruczo
A★★ 17-year-old boy illegally the border is shot by★★ a police ★★ officer and, as result★★ of his injuries, ★★ ★★crosses ★★ ★★into Hungary. ★★ He★★ ★★ develops ability to★★ levitate. Merab ★★ the ★★ ★★ Ninidze ★★ and Zsombor ★★ Jeger ★★ star. ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★
BPM (BEATS PER MINUTE) (Fr) Robin Campillo
Based own experiences an Aids★★ activist, Campillo’s film centres on direct-action ★★ on his ★★ ★★ as ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ group ★★ Act Up, ★★which targeted potential★★ cures. Adele and Nahuel Biscayart★★ star. ★★ pharmaceutical ★★ ★★labs withholding ★★ ★★ ★★Haenel★★ ★★Pérez ★★
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
museum ★★ director (Claes is about★★ to unveil ★★ a show featuring artist (Dominic whose ★★ latest THE SQUARE (Swe-Ger-Fr-Den) A★★ ★★ Bang) ★★ ★★ an★★ ★★ West) ★★ installation makes the★★ news thanks shock tactics company. Ruben Ostlund ★★ ★★ ★★to the★★ ★★ of a PR ★★ ★★Elisabeth ★★Moss co-stars. ★★ ★★
0.0
THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED) (US) Noah Baumbach
Baumbach makes his★★ Cannes debut film starring Sandler★★ alongside Ben Stiller, Hoffman and ★★ ★★ ★★ in this ★★ ★★ Adam ★★ ★★ ★★Dustin★★ Emma story follows siblings ★★ dealing with their ageing ★★ Thompson. ★★ The ★★ ★★ adult★★ ★★ ★★ father. ★★ ★★ ★★
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REDOUBTABLE (Fr) Michel Hazanavicius
Hazanavicius offers up his take★★ on the romance Wave director ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ between ★★ New★★ ★★ Jean-Luc ★★ Godard ★★and actress ★★ Anne Wiazemsky, who he would in 1967 ★★ after directing La Chinoise . Louis ★★ Garrel and★★ Stacy Martin ★★ ★★ ★★ marry ★★ ★★ her in★★ ★★ ★★ star.
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Colin stars opposite Kidman★★ in a dark★★ tale inspired surgeon finds THE KILLING OF A SACRED ★★Farrell★★ ★★ Nicole ★★ ★★by a Euripides ★★ tragedy. ★★ A charismatic ★★ ★★ life starting apart after★★ meeting★★ a troubled★★ teenage★★ boy. DEER (UK-US) Yorgos Lanthimos his ★★ ★★to fall ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★
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HAPPY END (Fr-Ger-Aust) Michael Haneke
An★★ exploration it means★★ to be oblivious suffering of others, Haneke★★ chronicles the lives★★ of a bourgeois ★★of what★★ ★★ to the ★★ ★★ ★★ family the backdrop refugee★★ crisis. Isabelle Trintignant star. ★★ in Calais, ★★against ★★ ★★ of the ★★ ★★ Huppert and Jean-Louis ★★ ★★ ★★
THE DAY AFTER (S Kor) Hong Sangsoo
Kim Minhee★★ stars as a★★ new employee small publishing a philandering Haehyo and ★★ ★★ at a★★ ★★ company ★★ with ★★ ★★ boss. ★★Kwon ★★ Kim Saebyuk co-star ★★ in Hong’s ★★ fourth appearance in Competition. ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★
RADIANCE (Jap-Fr) Naomi Kawase
Masatoshi with failing★★ eyesight★★ who strikes up a relationship with a writer. ★★ Nagase ★★ plays ★★a photographer ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★Ayame Misaki co-star ★★ for Cannes regular Kawase. ★★ and Tatsuya ★★ Fuji ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★
THE BEGUILED (US) Sofia Coppola
A★★ Civil War potboiler who stirs★★ up sexual★★ tension at the all-girl’s in Virginia ★★ about ★★ a wounded ★★ Union ★★soldier★★ ★★ ★★school ★★ where Coppola★★ stalwart ★★ Kirsten Dunst alongside★★ Nicole Kidman, Fanning and ★★ he takes ★★shelter. ★★ ★★stars ★★ ★★ Elle★★ ★★Colin Farrell.
RODIN (Fr-Bel) Jacques Doillon
Vincent moody proto-modernist a film that charts ★★ his stormy★★ relationship ★★ Lindon ★★plays ★★ ★★ ★★ sculptor ★★Auguste ★★Rodin in ★★ ★★ with Claudel (Izia his junior, who becomes lover, model ★★Camille★★ ★★Higelin), ★★25 years ★★ ★★ ★★ his★★ ★★and co-worker. ★★ ★★
GOOD TIME (US) Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
The Safdie brothers for the★★ first time.★★ Robert Pattinson on the run ★★ ★★ step ★★up to Competition ★★ ★★ ★★ stars ★★as a bank ★★robber★★ from streets ★★ of New York. Jennifer★★ Jason Leigh co-star.★★ ★★dangerous ★★ criminals ★★ on the ★★ ★★ ★★and Barkhad ★★ Abdi ★★
A GENTLE CREATURE (Fr-RusGer-Neth-Lith) Sergei Loznitsa
A★★ Gentle Creature Dostoyevsky of the same about the★★ relationship ★★ is loosely ★★ inspired ★★ by the ★★ ★★ story★★ ★★name★★ ★★between an executioner and his victim, from the ★★ executioner’s of view. ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ told★★ ★★point ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★
IN THE FADE (Ger-Fr) Fatih Akin
Akin’s death of her in a bomb★★ blast. ★★ Hamburg-set ★★ thriller ★★ follows ★★a woman ★★who takes ★★revenge ★★for the★★ ★★family★★ Germany-born, stars in★★ her first German-language ★★ ★★France-based ★★ Diane ★★ Kruger ★★ ★★ ★★ film. ★★ ★★ ★★
L’AMANT DOUBLE (Fr-Bel) Francois Ozon
Ozon with Marine and Jérémie in an erotically of a fragile young woman ★★reunites ★★ ★★ Vacth★★ ★★ Renier ★★ ★★ charged ★★ tale★★ ★★ ★★ who moves her therapist, to find he is not what ★★ in with ★★ ★★ only ★★ ★★ ★★he seems. ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (US-Fr) Lynne Ramsay
Joaquin this thriller veteran★★ who attempts a young★★ girl from★★ a sex-trafficking ★★ Phoenix ★★ leads★★ ★★as a war ★★ ★★ to save ★★ ★★ ring. But things not go to plan. Ekaterina co-star.★★ ★★ do ★★ ★★ ★★ Samsonov ★★ and ★★Alessandro ★★ Nivola ★★ ★★ ★★
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96 Screen International at Cannes May 18, 2017
★★ Average ★ Poor
✖ Bad
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