Almodóvar, Amenábar and Coixet to descend on Croisette
All Spanish film professionals had more or less explicitly predicted that 2009 would be a good year and the major festivals have confirmed this. After the Berlinale triumph of Claudia Llosa’s Spanish/Peruvian co-production The Milk of Sorrow [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], no fewer than three Spanish titles have made it into the Cannes Film Festival Official Selection, including two in competition (Pedro Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile] and Isabel Coixet’s Map of the Sounds of Tokyo [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and one out of competition (Alejandro Amenábar’s Agora [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).
It was an open secret that Almodóvar’s new film would be showcased internationally at the French festival. The La Mancha-born director – one of the most popular and acclaimed filmmakers in France – had kept journalists guessing in every interview. There is no better launching pad than the Croisette for the international career set to be enjoyed by Broken Embraces in the second half of the year.
More surprising was the selection of the two other films, which were not expected to be completed until early summer and therefore more likely to be presented at the Venice Film Festival. However, both Coixet and Amenábar speeded up the final stages of production in time for Cannes.
In less than a month’s time, Amenábar will thus present his highly anticipated new work, Agora. This English-language film set in ancient Egypt was produced by Telecinco Cinema, Himenóptero and Mod Producciones.
Meanwhile, Map of the Sounds of Tokyo – produced by Mediapro – will reveal its director’s more subtle and melancholy side.
The Spanish presence at Cannes is not limited to the Official Selection. Critics’ Week will screen two debut films: Gabe Ibáñez’s Hierro (“Iron”, out of competition) and Álvaro Brechner’s Spanish/Uruguayan co-production Bad Day to Go Fishing (in competition). Meanwhile, US director Francis Ford Coppola’s new film, Tetro [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]p – co-produced by Spain’s Tornasol Films and partly shot in the Ciudad de la Luz studios – will open the Directors' Fortnight.
(Translated from Spanish)
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
