Festivals

Romantic thriller Stars at Noon, based on Denis Johnson’s 1986 novel of the same name, stars Golden Globe nominee Margaret Qualley (Maid) as Trish, a headstrong journalist who has an affair in Nicaragua with a mysterious, soft-spoken English businessman, Daniel, played by Joe Alwyn (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk). While the book is set in the 80s, legendary director Claire Denis (High Life, Both Sides of the Blade) has updated the backdrop from that of the Nicaraguan revolution to the present day COVID pandemic era.

It was a historical win at the Cannes Film Festival this year when Song Kang-ho (Parasite), star of Broker, became the first Korean male actor to win the Best Actor award. The film also won plaudits when it took home the Ecumenical Jury Award for Best Film.

Outfest’s television festival, The OutFronts, opened on Friday, June 3, at the gorgeous 1920s movie palace of the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. While the security of the event was kept to high standards and every guest was asked to go through a metal detector, once inside a colorful scene revealed itself in jubilee.

Now in its 69th year, the Sydney Film Festival (SFF) is one of the world’s longest running, and a major event on the New South Wales cultural calendar. “The world's best, strangest and most exciting cinema comes to Sydney”, is the promise.

(Last of two parts of our round-up of women directors whose films were in competition for Palme d'Or and Un Certain Regard. )   Riley Keough and Gina Gammell (War Pony, Camera d’Or Award)   Riley Keough is the 33-year-old daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough.

All of the different awards bestowed at Cannes can become a bit confusing to absorb. There’s the Palme d'Or, the most coveted award at the festival, if not in the entire film industry, which goes to the best overall film in contention.