Festivals

For the second year running the Hollywood Foreign Press Association enjoyed a special spot in the annual Il Cinema Ritrovato (Rediscovered Cinema)  which takes place in Bologna, Italy. The festival showcases classic, rare and restored movies and has become a must-see event for cinephiles.

As television entertainment claims an ever more prominent global role, producing the kind of character-driven storylines that film studios have largely abandoned in favor of tentpole movies, festivals devoted to the medium are also becoming more prominent. HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, the Festival’s Honorary President, and HSH Princess Charlene officially opened the 56th Monte-Carlo Television Festival at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on June 12th 2016.

The dominant trend was embroidered, embossed and beaded gowns in neutrals and black that stunned. Models appeared in hoards – they stood out in a crowd for being barely clothed and not smiling.

Ken Loach, a Cannes veteran since 1979, an a Palme D’Or winner in 2006 for The Wind That Shakes the Barley did it again – his I, Daniel Blake took the top prize at the 69th Cannes Film Festival. The drama about a working class family coping with the infernal labyrinth of social welfare bureaucracy was one of best reviewed and liked at the festival, but the win came as a surprise nonetheless.

Ken Loach, one of the greatest living British filmmakers – alongside Mike Leigh and Terence Davies – may become the oldest working director in the UK.  At 80, with a solid body of work that consists of 19 films, he still shows his strong, unfailing commitment to social issues cinema – slanted toward left-wing politics.

We met Danish director and writer Nicolas Winding Refn on the set of his new film, the horror-thriller The Neon Demon, starring Elle Fanning and Keanu Reeves. It's the story of an aspiring model Jesse (Fanning) who moves to Los Angeles, when her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.

The jury has convened, the Marché has wrapped up, and most celebrities have hopped on their yachts and private jets. Awards have been trickling in: Un Certain Regard chose a Finnish boxing drama and an actor-turned-director; the International Federation of Film Critics awarded the prize for competition films to Toni Erdmann – already a favorite for the Palme D’Or –and the nod for non-competition entries to the Romanian Dogs, shown in Un Certain Regard; and last but certainly not least, the Palm Dog for best canine performance went to Nellie, the English bulldog who played opposite Adam Driver in Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson (sadly, Nellie passed away a few weeks back, making her Palm Dog the first to be awarded posthumously).

A new batch of awards was announced, the last films in competition were screened and the jury was honored with a lunch offered by the Cannes mayor. But everyone wanted to talk about the 23rd amfAR gala held at the exclusive, secluded and luxurious Hotel du Cap, to raise funds for AIDS research.

After making the inconsequential airplane farce I’m So Excited! (arguably his weakest film in a career spanning 36 years), Pedro Almodovar is back on terra firma with Julieta, a femme-driven tale that justifies his title as a great woman's director, or rather a filmmaker who has specialized in telling emotionally touching stories about all kinds of women--of various ages, social classes, professions. Julieta has already opened in Spain, but it receives its high-prtofile international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival (in competition).

Only a couple of days left before the main prizes are awarded, tents are taken down and the movie circus leaves town.   The future beyond the Palais all of a sudden becomes urgent.