Cannes Daily: Seller and Buyer Optimism; Women CelebratedThe Ankler x Screen International newsletter begins as dealmaking looks good and controversies swirl
Welcome to our first The Ankler x Screen International Cannes daily. Gregg Kilday and Claire Atkinson are on the ground at the fest for The Ankler, where their reporting will be shared with the best of Screen’s pre-eminent coverage from its newsroom at The Majestic.“This year, we tried to have a festival without any controversies,” Festival de Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux told the press on Monday, a day before the 77th fest’s official opening. “That doesn’t mean there won’t be any, but there won’t be any that come from the festival itself. The reason we’re all here is cinema. We want to put cinema back in the spotlight.” As we’ve seen with everything from this year’s Berlin Film Festival and even last week’s Eurovision, event organizers do not get to dictate a no-controversies zone. Fremaux was seeking to stamp out smoldering controversies that included a threatened strike by the festival’s freelance workers, rumors of fresh #MeToo allegations about to emerge that could target some of the filmmakers in the fest and perennial complaints about the lack of female filmmakers in the official competition. (This year, four of the 22 films vying for the Palme d’Or were directed by women.) Welcome to the sunny Cote d’Azur!
Along the famed La Croisette, there isn’t much cinema in evidence. The huge three-story posters adorning the front of the Carlton that in years past would have promoted such movies as 2009’s Inglourious Basterds and 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road were missing as Hollywood studios have cut back on the ballyhoo. Instead, there were just two unassuming billboards for Atlas Comics.
By showtime, though, the old Cannes rituals began to re-emerge. The threatening downpour held off as the tuxedoed and begowned guests made their way along the red carpet leading to the steps into the Palais, where French director Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act, a comedy about moviemaking starring Lea Seydoux, was about to have its world premiere. There was bad boy Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan, who’s heading up this year’s Un Certain Regard sidebar jury, standing near master filmmaker Costa-Gavras. Jane Fonda, looking regal, made an entrance while the DJ, for some reason, played Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road.” Jury members Greta Gerwig and Lily Gladstone, walked side by side in sparkly gowns that were much glitzier than anything they sported during the recent Oscar season back home. Inside the cavernous Grand Lumiere Theatre, French actress Camille Cottin, best known stateside for the series Call My Agent, full of inside showbiz jokes, served as the master of ceremonies in what turned out to be an evening that put women center stage. She introduced the Palme d’Or jury members, which, in addition to Gladstone, included her fellow actors Eva Green, Omar Sy, Ebru Ceylon, Nadine Labaki and Pierfrancesco Favino, as well as directors Hirokazuy Kore-Eda and J.A. Bayona. They took their seats in a two-level jury box by the side of the stage that looked as if they were ready to play a cinephile’s version of that old TV game show Match Game.
The fest next offered up a clip package of the films in which Gerwig, this year’s jury president, has both acted in and directed. After spotlighting her successful run as director of Lady Bird, Little Women and the blockbusting Barbie, the piece proclaimed, “In Three Films, She Conquered the World,” proving, if nothing else, that the French are not given to understatement. Then, it was on to Meryl Streep, recipient of an honorary Palme d’Or. Her fellow actress Juliette Binoche did the honors as, standing by Streep’s side, she became emotional as she read, “You changed the way we look at women in the cinema world and helped us to look at ourselves differently.” At which point, Streep reached out a hand to help steady her. In her acceptance — “This prize is unique in the world of cinema and I’m very, very honored to receive it,” she said — Streep also took the opportunity to single out two men who played a vital role in her career: CAA’s Kevin Huvane, her agent of 33 years, and hair and makeup stylist J. Roy Helland who, she said, “is responsible for almost every single one of the characters that I have ever played in the last half century.” In the eyes of veteran Cannes reporter Rebecca Leffler, “Everyone was breathing a sigh of relief, and the mood was festive.” Rebecca is part of the indefatigable staff of Screen International, which is covering the festival and its adjoining market from pre-buys to screening reactions to major acquisitions. In partnership with The Ankler, for the next week I’ll be offering you a curated selection of their stories and reviews starting today with the below.
From our Partners at Screen InternationalMarket PreviewsSales Agents Bullish on the Indie FrontAs they prepared to head to Cannes, leading sales agents Glen Basner, CEO of FilmNation, Stuart Ford, chairman and CEO of AGC Studios, and Rena Ronson, partner and head of UTA Independent Film Group, sat down with Screen International to discuss their businesses and the independent landscape, and the mood was generally buoyant. Continue reading Arthouse Distributors Express Positive OutlookIs that a potential ray of sunshine on the horizon? Top European arthouse film distributors, also surveyed in advance of the festival insist, “Things are finally looking up.” Continue reading
NewsDissident Filmmaker Flees Iran Before Cannes DebutIn what could develop into a major international incident, dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has fled Iran after receiving a hefty prison sentence and called for support from the international film community, ahead of the premiere of his latest feature, The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, which is set to receive its world premiere in competition on May 25, the final day of this year’s festival. Continue reading Vietnamese Director Banned in Vietnam Before His Cannes PremiereUh-oh. Vietnamese director Truong Minh Quy’s Viet And Nam, which is set to world premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, has been banned in Vietnam due to its “negative view” about the country and its people. Continue reading
Deal NewsKirsten Dunst Joins Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle of Sadness followupPalme d’Or-winning filmmaker Ruben Ostlund is lining up an intriguing cast for his Triangle of Sadness follow-up, titled The Entertainment System Is Down. The new film is about what happens when the in-flight fails on a long-haul flight. Kirsten Dunst has been added to the case with Keanu Reeves and Daniel Bruhl. Continue reading Incredible Shrinking Man Remake Sees Foreign SalesThe Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) is getting a French remake starring The Artist’s Jean Dujardin. So far, Picture Perfect Entertainment, headed by Patrick Wachsberger, is finding sales to its foreign rights are brisk. Neon Buys Next Julia Ducournau FilmNeon, which has a discerning eye, has jumped aboard the next feature from Julia Ducournau, the Palme d’Or-winning director of Titane. Her next film will be called Alpha, and Neon pre-bought North American rights from Charades and FilmNation. Continue reading AI Startup Flawless Partners with Tea Shop ProductionsAI promises to be one of the big topics at this year’s market and as the wheeling and dealing got underway, AI pioneer Flawless is launching a production partnership with U.K.’s Tea Shop Productions backed by an initial $100 million fund. Continue reading
ReviewsCannes’ Opening Film The Second Act: Bittersweet, NicheAccording to one member of the press who spotted more than a few of his jet-lagged colleagues snoozing through Quentin Dupieux’s Cannes opener The Second Act, the film’s chief virtue is that it’s a brief 81 minutes. Screen critic Tim Grierson assesses that the move “plays like a bittersweet state of the cinematic union, viewing the egos, pretensions and cliches of the film industry from an affectionately bemused perspective. The picture’s stars could help attract savvy filmgoers intrigued by its deconstruction of the filmmaking process. But this remains a niche commercial prospect that promises more than it delivers.” Continue reading
FeaturesHow Anatomy of a Fall Went Global Last YearLast year’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall — it won the best original screenplay Oscar, too — grossed $35.5 million worldwide on a reported budget of $6.6 million. Screen’s Tim Dams takes a look back at how distributors around the world rolled out the provocative courtroom drama. Continue reading
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