21/04/2017 - The competition will feature Léa Mysius, Emmanuel Gras and Ali Soozandeh; Grassadonia and Piazza will provide the opening film; and Charuel and de Peretti, two of the special screenings

Three European filmmakers will join the line-up for the 56^th Critics’ Week, which will take place between 18 and 26 May as part of the 70^th Cannes Film Festival. Revealed today in an online press conference with Artistic Director Charles Tesson (available on the Critics’ Week website), the programme for the 2017 edition will see seven films, including four feature-length debuts, compete for an award. The winners will be decided by a jury led by Kleber Mendonça Filho (see news).

In the running for the Critics’ Week Grand Prize are Léa Mysius (France) with Ava [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léa Mysius
film profile] (the director’s first full-length film — see our article here), Emmanuel Gras (France), presenting Makala [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Gras
film profile], his second documentary following the very well-received Bovines, and Ali Soozandeh (Germany/Iran), also making his feature-length debut with animated film Tehran Taboo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Soozandeh
film profile]. Unlike some other sections of this year’s festival, there is a distinct South American presence in the Critics’ Week competition, represented by three films: La familia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], the first full-length feature from Venezuela’s Gustavo Rondón Córdova; Los perros [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by Marcela Said (Chile), who made a splash at the 2013 Directors’ Fortnight with The Summer of Flying Fish [+see also:
trailer
film profile]; and Gabriel and the Mountain [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by Brazilian filmmaker Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa, whose first film, Casa Grande, was shown in Rotterdam in 2014. Rounding out the shortlist for the 2017 Grand Prize is Japanese director Atsuko Hiranayagi’s first feature, Oh Lucy!

The 2017 selection also includes three very tempting films being screened outside the official competition: Sicilian Ghost Story [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile], by Italy’s Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza (their second full-length film after Salvo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabio Grassadonia and Anton…
interview: Sara Serraiocco
film profile], winner of the Grand Prize at Critics’ Week in 2013), A Violent Life, by Thierry de Peretti (France), who first came to our attention during the 2013 Directors’ Fortnight with Apaches [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (read our article on his latest film), and Petit Paysan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hubert Charuel
film profile] (provisionally entitled Bloody Milk in English), the first feature from Hubert Charuel, also from France (see our article here). Finally, this year’s Critics’ Week will close with a screening of Brigsby Bear, by US director Dave McCary.

The full line-up:

Feature films in competition

La familia [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Gustavo Rondón Córdova (Venezuela/Chile/Norway)
Los perros [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Marcela Said (Chile/France/Argentina/Portugal/Germany)
Oh Lucy! - Atsuko Hiranayagi (Japan/USA)
Gabriel and the Mountain [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa (Brazil/France)
Ava [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léa Mysius
film profile] - Léa Mysius (France)
Tehran Taboo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Soozandeh
film profile] - Ali Soozandeh (Germany/Austria)
Makala [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emmanuel Gras
film profile] - Emmanuel Gras (France)

Special screenings (feature films)

Sicilian Ghost Story [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile] - Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza (Italy/France/Switzerland) (opening film)
Petit Paysan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hubert Charuel
film profile] - Hubert Charuel (France)
A Violent Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Thierry de Peretti (France)
Brigsby Bear - Dave McCary (USA) (closing film)

Short films in competition

Los desheredados - Laura Ferrés (Spain)
Ela - Sketches on a Departure (Ela - Skice na Pozegnanie) - Oliver Adam Kusio (Germany)
Children Leave at Dawn (Les enfants partent à l’aube)- Manon Coubia (France)
Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month - Carlo Francisco Manatad (Philippines/Singapore)
Möbius - Sam Kuhn (USA/Canada)
The Best Fireworks Ever (Najpiękniejsze fajerwerki ever) - Aleksandra Terpinska (Poland)
Real Gods Require Blood - Moin Hussain (United Kingdom)
Selva - Sofía Quirós Ubeda (Costa Rica/Argentina/Chile)
Tesla: lumière mondiale - Matthew Rankin (Canada)
Exposure (Le Visage) - Salvatore Lista (France)

Special screenings (short films)

After School Knife Fight - Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel (France)
Coelho Mau (Mauvais Lapin) - Carlos Conceição (Portugal/France)
Les Îles (Islands) - Yann Gonzalez (France)

(Translated from French)