Nine European directors to battle it out for the Palme d’Or

by Fabien Lemercier

17/04/2014 - With 18 titles in the race, including four previous Palme d’Or winners and seven filmmakers having already won prizes, the competition promises to be very strong

Nine European directors to battle it out for the Palme d’Or

Four filmmakers who have already been awarded one or two Palmes d’Or, seven others whose works have already made it into the Cannes awards-list hall of fame, and three more having already been frequent visitors to the highest echelons of the Croisette: the 18 titles (one additional film could come along to round off the line-up) selected in competition at the 67th Cannes International Film Festival (14-25 May 2014) truly shine the spotlight on the great masters of world cinema. But General Delegate Thierry Frémaux, who unveiled the programme today at midday in Paris, also slipped a not insignificant contingent of five new entrants into the most attractive global showcase for films. It all goes to make a top-notch shortlist, following a process of viewing 1,800 feature films that were presented this year, at the heart of an industry of the seventh art that is currently suffering “an economic instability that can be felt on the level of the average production quality”, according to Frémaux.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

So, standing out in competition are four previous Palme D’Or winners: Belgium’s Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Palme d'Or in 1999 and 2005; sixth time taking part in competition),English director Ken Loach (in 2006; 12th time in competition) and his fellow countryman Mike Leigh (in 1996; fifth time). They are joined by seven filmmakers who have already won awards (either with their films, or through their actors and actresses): Canadian director Atom Egoyan (sixth time), his fellow countryman David Cronenberg (fifth), Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan (fifth), Japan’s Naomi Kawase (fourth), American director Tommy Lee Jones (second), and French filmmakers Olivier Assayas (fourth) and the Oscar-winning Michel Hazanavicius (second). This glittering delegation is rounded off by three directors who have already been entered in competition: Swiss legend Jean-Luc Godard (sixth time, back in the race for the Palme d’Or for the first time since 2001), English director Stephen Frears (third) and Russia’s Andreï Zvyagintsev (second).

Making their first appearance in competition are Italian director Alice Rohrwacher, Canada’s Xavier Dolan, American filmmaker Bennett Miller, Argentina’s Damian Szifron (with a film co-produced by Spain) and Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako.

With three French filmmakers (Assayas, Bonello and Hazanavicius), two English ones (Loach and Leigh), a Belgian duo (the Dardenne brothers), a Swiss one (Godard) and an Italian one (Rohrwacher), Europe is very well represented, with eight feature films in the running for the Palme d’Or. In addition to these titles, there are two films from countries straddling the Old Continent and Asia: Turkey (Bilge Ceylan) and Russia (Zvyagintsev). North America is also well equipped, with five titles, including three made by Canadian directors (Cronenberg, Dolan and Egoyan) and two by Americans (Miller and Jones). On the other hand, strictly speaking, Asia only has one film in selection (Kawase), as is the case for South America (Szifron) and Africa (Sissako).

The Official Selection, which, together with the Un Certain Regard section (see the article), constitutes a very strong showcase, also has enticing prospects out of competition (a film by Zhang Yimou and an animated movie in the guise of How to Train Your Dragon 2, which will be part of the celebration of Dreamworks’ 20-year anniversary), in the Midnight Screenings (the Danish western The Salvation, as well as The Rover by Australian director David Michôd) and with a great many documentaries at the forefront of global current affairs in the Special Screenings.

Opening film (out of competition): Grace de Monaco [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Olivier Dahan

Out of competition:
Coming Home - Zhang Yimou
Dragons 2 - Dean DeBlois
Les Gens du Monde - Yves Jeuland

Special screenings:
Eau argentée - Oussama Mohammed
Maidan - Sergei Loznitsa
Red Army - Gabe Polsky
Les Fantassins de la démocratie [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Stéphanie Valloatto
Les Ponts de Sarajevo [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Aida Begic, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Jean-Luc Godard, Kamen Kalev, Isild Le Besco, Sergei Loznitsa, Vincenzo Marra, Ursula Meier, Vladimir Perisic, Cristi Puiu, Marc Recha, Angela Schanelec, Teresa Villaverde

Midnight screenings:
The Rover - David Michod
The Salvation [+see also:
trailer
interview: Kristian Levring
film profile] - Kristian Levring
Pyo-jeok (The Target) - Chang