Industry

JIA Zhang-Ke is a Cannes festival veteran. He was here last in 2013 winning the screenwriting award with A Touch of Sin, a fascinating narrative woven through the river landscapes and provincial back roads of his native China.

Award-winning Filipino director, Brillante Mendoza, 54, is back in Cannes for the fourth time. “This is like home to me,” the University of Santo Tomas alum told us when we interviewed him at the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) booth at the International Village along the Boulevard de la Croissette.

Nothing is more difficult than guessing what a festival jury thinks. Compared to the Palme d’Or, predicting Oscar winners is a walk in the park.

One of the most talked about films at the 68th Cannes Film Festival is Pixar’s animated film, Inside Out, which is set in the mind of a young girl, where her emotions such as Joy, Anger, Fear, Sadness and Disgust run amok. The out-of-competition film is the second Pixar film to appear in Cannes.

A scandal that never happened and one big charity night. It’s not surprising that on day 9 of the festival exhaustion sets in among critics and audiences alike.

There is little doubt Denis Villeneuve is one of the most exciting talents to emerge from the current crop of Quebecois filmmakers. His stunning Incendies about the dark secret haunting a Canadian family of Middle Eastern origins played like a taut psychological thriller anchored to the heart of that regions conflict.

On the film front many features are dividing audiences and the lines are not clearly drawn between press screenings and premieres and sometimes even their actors. Sicario, a dark thriller about the drug wars on the U.

By halftime the festival goes into full party mode. Not just the daily premiere after-parties but high-end sponsors and above all jewelry companies.

What would Cannes be without the yachts? They linger in the old port or in front of the Eden Roc, their owners never leaving their floating homes but instead holding court on the azure Mediterranean water. Only the not so rich (or potentially smartest) rent them out to production companies and film studios for parties and receptions.