18/04/2011

Three young European directors have been selected in competition at the 50th International Critics’ Week (SIC), which will run from May 12-20 at the 64th Cannes Film Festival. Unveiled tonight at an online press conference (which can be viewed on the Critics’ Week website) by delegate general Jean-Christophe Berjon, the 2011 programme includes seven European productions and co-productions out of a total of 11 features.

Two 100% European titles will vie for the Critics’ Week Grand Prize which will be awarded by a jury headed by Korean director Lee Chang-dong (see news): Ave (co-produced by France) by Bulgaria’s Konstantin Bojanov and 17 Girls by French sisters Delphine and Muriel Coulin (see news). Also in the line-up is The Slut by Israeli director Hagar Ben Asher (co-produced by Germany), while the rest of the competition includes films from the US, Argentina, Australia and China.

French productions are particularly well represented among the special screenings with Valérie Donzelli’s War Is Declared as Critics’ Week opener; Eva Ionesco’s My Little Princess (see news), starring Isabelle Huppert as a scandalous mother; and Katia Lewkowicz’s Bachelor Days Are Over (featuring Benjamin Biolay, Emmanuel Devos and Nicole Garcia) as the closing film. Jonathan Caouette’s US/French/Belgian co-production Walk Away Renée completes the panorama.

Features Competition
17 Girls [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (France) debut feature – Delphine and Muriel Coulin
Ave [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Konstantin Bojanov
film profile] (Bulgaria/France) debut feature – Konstantin Bojanov
The Slut (Israel/Germany) debut feature – Hagar Ben Asher
Las Acacias (Argentina) debut feature – Pablo Giorgelli
Snowtown (Australia) debut feature – Justin Kurzel
Take Shelter (US) second feature – Jeff Nichols
Sauna on Moon (China) second feature – Zou Peng

Special Screenings – Features
Opening film: War Is Declared [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (France) second feature – Valérie Donzelli
50th anniversary screening: My Little Princess [+see also:
trailer
interview: Anamaria Vartolomei
film profile] (France) debut feature – Eva Ionesco
Walk Away Renée [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (US/France/Belgium) second feature – Jonathan Caouette
Closing film: Bachelor Days Are Over [+see also:
trailer
interview: Katia Lewkowicz
film profile] (France) debut feature - Katia Lewkowicz

Short and Medium-length Films Competition
Alexis Ivanovitch, You Are My Hero (France) - Guillaume Gouix
Black Moon (US) - Amie Siegel
Blue (New Zealand) – Stephan Kang
Boy (US) – Topaz Adizes
Bul-Myul-Ui-Sa-Na-Ie (Korea) – Moon Byoung-gon
Sundays (Belgium) – Valérie Rosier
In Front of the House (Korea) – Lee Tae-ho
The Inviolability of the Domicile Is Based on the Man Who Appears Wielding An Axe (Uruguay/Argentina) – Alex Piperno
Junior (France) – Julia Ducournau
Permanencias (Brazil) – Ricardo Alves Junior

(Translated from French)