Cannes 2014 Day 2 Recap: Leigh’s British Landscape via “Mr.Turner”, UCR in “Party Girl” Mode, Quinzaine Dances to “Girlhood”, CW in Love with “FLA”

(Cannes – May 15th) The press were treated to their first 8:30 a.m. Grand Lumiere screening and were taken back to the late seventeen hundredths London (among other places) in Mike Leigh’s historical biopic on a painterly individual. At the press conference, Timothy Spall who had been pitched the project several years ago and picked up the brush for a good two year period alongside a professional, found that one of the dwellings in his own personal family history (dating not that long ago) matched one of Turner’s actual known addresses  – a rather remarkable coincidence in my books. One journo also asked Mike Leigh how the Secrets & Lies stamp came about (check out the news piece).

The festival’s sidebar (Un Certain Regard) and parallel sections Directors’ Fortnight and Critics Week got off to a rowdy start. UCR opener Party Girl (by directing team comprised of Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger, Samuel Theis) was followed by what one film critic described as an icky situation in Keren Yedaya’s That Lovely Girl. The Critics’ Week folks open with Djinn Carrenard’s FLA and Sebastiano Riso’s Darker Than Midnight, while I joined the packed crowd at the Hôtel JW Marriott for what was a touching tribute to Alain Resnais — winner of the Carrosse d’Or (Golden Carriage), it was his favorite muses in wife, Sabine Azéma and André Dussollier (Wild Grass) who were among the few on stage to accept the award in his memory. I nicely edited montage of Resnais’ entire filmography (including Nuit et Brouillard, Hiroshima mon amour and Last Year at Marienbad) would have normally had been shifted to Édouard Waintrop to begin the opening film proceedings, but in the spirit of the section which was created out of conflict, a group claiming for a change in social and economic jobless and economic injustice took the place hostage to share their manifesto. A jubilant Céline Sciamma took to the stage with her gang of girls for the Girlhood intro. The end credits were meet with a warm applause.

Moments before the Leigh press conference, an inside look at the press room/wifi Orange Cafe.

Market floor one sheets for Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard in Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth.