Judging from the line of people waiting to get into a still-closed Théâtre Lumière (seating capacity: 2,281) at 7:45 this morning the anticipation was high for Jacques Audiard’s return to the Croisette, “Rust and Bone.” It was in this same theatre that three years ago we discovered the history- and career-making “A Prophet,” one of the best films made in the last twenty years. One can’t help wondering if the self-effacing Audiard felt any sort

There are a million stories to be told from post-revolutionary Egypt but they won’t be told by an Egyptian filmmaker. The narrative of Yousry Nasrallah’s “After the Battle” which he wrote himself and which will have its premiere today in Cannes, held promise: as Egypt is still in the throes of revolutionary fervor an unlikely alliance forms between two people from different ends of the social spectrum who, under normal circumstances, might

If Standard & Poor’s assessed film production values Wes Anderson would remain a AAA-rated cineaste year in and year out. The level of detail that went into every square inch of “Moonrise Kingdom,” which had its premiere here in Cannes a few hours ago, is above perfection. But “Moonrise” fails on other levels. Adult characters wretchedly watch as their kids go about resolving the problems of their day (only to finally prevail, at the very

What would the Cannes Festival be without a little fracas? Some kind of polemic has been making the rounds of the French media this week concerning the lack of women filmmakers in the official selection at the Cannes Festival--twenty-two films, by male directors all, are vying for awards this year. Things turned nasty when Virginie Despentes, Fanny Cottençon, and Coline Serreau (a screenwriter-director, actress and director respect-

Tahrir Square, one day during the Arab Spring. A young demonstrator falls for a camel shepherd who's under the influence of Hosni Mubarak’s militias. Two people standing on opposite side of the biggest conflict Egypt has seen in nearly half a century are brought together against all expectations. Egyptian filmmaker Yousry Nasrallah wrote and directed “After the Battle” (“Baad El Mawkeaa”) which will be competing for

Russian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa will be at the Cannes Festival again this year, competing for the Palme D'Or. This time he presents "In the Fog," a feature film adaptation of a novel set in the darkest recesses of World War II, when Russians accused each other of fomenting with the enemy and soldiers turned on civilians. The memory of war is a difficult burden to bear but the need to memorialize a tragedy is as vital today as it was at the outset

The revolt sweeping across the Middle East these last couple of years will figure highly at the Cannes Festival, and it’s no coincidence.

“The Sermon at Tobrouk,” a documentary by French philosopher Bernard “B.H.L.” Henri-Lévy (pictured below in Libya in September 2011) shot over the final eight months which led to the downfall of Kaddafi will be shown as a special screening. Henri-

A recent addition was made to the Sélection Officielle: “Trashed,” […]

We are fifteen days away from the 65th edition of […]

Directors’ Fortnight (la Quinzaine des Réalisateurs), under the auspices of […]