In an age where media consolidation is stamping out several voices, where Rotten Tomato meters seem to be a key point of reference and where Les Cahiers du Cinema is potentially a couple of issues away from its last issue, FIPRESCI’s mission of citing noteworthy films and filmmakers becomes that much more important. While they didn’t have their usual special screening in the Critic’s Week sidebar, the group were evidently on hand to scope out the Cannes film festival and this year they have seconded the jury votes. FIPRESCI awarded Cannes Critics Prizes to: (Main Competition) a b&w picture where it isn’t the kids, but the adults who are lacking in moral fiber, (Un Certain Regard) the most undramatic police film in the history of cinema, and (Directors’ Fortnight or Critics’ Week) the challenge of starting over in a time where tension of the Iraq war actually breaks out in rural Illinois.
The jury comprised of president Mike Goodridge (U.S), Nguyen Trong BINH (France), Janusz Wróblewski (Poland), Mike Naafs (The Netherlands), Dominique Widemann (France), Amir Emary (Egypt), Alin Tasciyan (Turkey), Ahmed Muztaba Zamal (Bangladesh), and Emma Gray Munthe (Sweden) awarded Michael Haneke‘s “The White Ribbon“, Corneliu Porumboiu‘s “Police, Adjective” (Politist, Adjectiv) and Cherien Dabis‘ Sundance preemed “Amreeka“.
