Traditionally, the spots in the Out of Competition, Midnight and Special Screenings are reserved to Hollywood Studios looking to promote a soon-to-be-released summer title, socially relevant documentary film or some genre film from South Korea. I'm surprised that neither Angels & Demons, nor Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins took up a spot.
Out of the trio of titles in the Out of Comp section, the film journalists will be flocking to see Heath Ledger's last perf, but I'll be more interested in how Terry Gilliam changes horses mid-stream with The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Alejandro Amenabar's Agora is one more heavyweight production grabbing a slot, and thus makes this Cannes edition a great one for Spanish film.
A well liked filmmaker in France, Robert Guediguian (Marius et Jeannette) hasn't visited with Cannes often, so The Army of Crime which was tapped for a possible spot in the Competition, will instead receive the same status as the above two mentioned titles.
Midnight Screenings are usually reserved to thriller and horror genre, so Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell is a nice fit. I wonder if the festival let Universal know about being selected early on – allowing for the studio to get the buzz started at SXSW? Marina de Van's Ne Te Retourne Pas pairs French-speaking sirens Monica Bellulucci and Sophie Marceau in a psychodrama while Belge duo Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar take a television series (A Town Called Panic) that they wrote and repackaged it for 75 minutes.
Finally, in the Special Screenings we find Manila co-directed by Raya Martin, the helmer is the only filmmaker to present two films this year (the other is in the UCR section). The filmmaker joins Brillante Mendoza in an emerging film movement from the country Philippines.
Not sure if she is still living, but Michel Gondry who sometimes makes his oeuvres a family affair, should be coming to Cannes with his aunt – the subject of docu film L'epine dans le coeur (which translates into Thorn in my Heart). One filmmaker whose name I recognized but couldn't remember how is Israeli director Keren Yedaya (Or, Mon Tresor) with her film Jaffa. Completing the section is vet Mali director Souleymane Cissé (Yeelen) coming to Cannes with Min ye, unknown Chinese director Zhao Liang brings Petition and the socially relevant film of the section will be found in American docu fimmaker Anne Aghion's My Neighbor, My Killer – a film about the Rwandan Genocide.
OUT OF COMPETITION:
Alejandro AMENABAR - AGORA - 2h08
Terry GILLIAM - THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS - 2h02
Robert GUÉDIGUIAN - L'ARMÉE DU CRIME - 2h05
MIDNIGHT SREENINGS:
Stéphane AUBIER, Vincent PATAR - A TOWN CALLED PANIC (Panique au village) -1er film - 1h15
Sam RAIMI - DRAG ME TO HELL (Jusqu'en enfer) - 1h39
Marina de VAN - NE TE RETOURNE PAS - 1h50
SPECIAL SCREENINGS:
Anne AGHION - MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER (Mon voisin, mon tueur) - 1h20
Adolfo ALIX, JR., Raya MARTIN - MANILA -1h30
Souleymane CISSE - MIN YE - 2h15
Michel GONDRY- L'EPINE DANS LE COEUR - 1h22
Zhao LIANG - PETITION (La Cour des plaignants) - 2h00
Keren YEDAYA - JAFFA - 1h50
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