Interview

As the director of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux can be rightly credited for having championed many emerging international talents over the years, while nurturing veteran filmmakers and, more recently, taking risks by saying no to streamers if they refuse to have theatrical distribution.   A week prior to the opening of the festival, he spoke via Zoom to the Hollywood Foreign Press to explain how this 76th edition will be different.

When in the mid-80s, Disney contemplated the unimaginable and considered closing its animation division after years of living off re-releases of its classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella (1950) and Peter Pan (1953), and more recent releases like The Fox and the Hound (1981) and The Black Cauldron (1985) that did not bring them great profits, it was imminent that a change was needed to survive. Summoned by the new corporate leadership of Disney studios, led by Michael Eisner and animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ron Clements and John Musker were the animators who brought to the table the proposal on which they would focus their talents and energies to save the division.

Ildikó Enyedi was 34 years old when her first feature film, My Twentieth Century won the Camera d’Or in Cannes. It got rave reviews in the trades, and she was declared a breath of fresh air of a new class of female directors emerging from the fall of communism.

David Lynch is regarded as one of the preeminent American cinematic auteurs of his generation. But since Twin Peaks — his surreal television assault on the mainstream zeitgeist, co-created with Mark Frost — debuted in 1990, the arc of his big screen filmography can take on different dimensions.

At the recent BIFFF, the horror film festival in Belgium, Spanish film director Juan Antonio García (J. A.

The Cake Factory is Christian Lollike’s first feature film. The 50-year-old Dane is a prolific playwright and a well-known name in contemporary Scandinavian theatre, but directing a feature film is new territory for the accomplished writer.

Sisu is a Finnish term that can be roughly translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. Director and screenwriter Jalmari Helander showcases the Finnish Sisu in extraordinary circumstances in his latest movie, the action Western named after the term.

Star Wars is an ongoing phenomenon that has enticed generations of fans all over the world for five decades. So, it is no surprise that there are regular celebrations on every continent each year.

Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona was anointed Knight of The Order of the Raven, a long-standing festival tradition at BIFFF. His much-loved cult movie A Monsters Calls, a coming-of-age drama of monumental magnitude with a phenomenal cast (Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson) was shown to an enthusiastic audience of horror fans.

At the 8th Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) held last year, the newly designed Snow Leopard trophies created by Vietnamese-American artist and master sculptor Sir Daniel Winn were on display before the awards night. They were impressive works of art that were presented to the AWFF winners for best film, best actor and best actress, along with special jury, audience and distinction awards.