2012 Cannes Film Festival Predictions: James Clauer’s When The World’s On Fire

Gist: Javier, a Guatemalan immigrant, finds himself homeless and living on the fringes of society in a hardscrabble Southern town. With a loyal dog for a companion, Javier encounters a revolving cast of characters each more colorful than the last, rugged souls who are fighting to break free from their suffocating predicaments, and hoping to catch some faint glimmer of the their American dream.

Prediction: James Clauer was invited to the Directors’ Fortnight for his breakout short film debut “The Aluminum Fowl,” and now that his feature hasn’t surfaced at either Sundance or Rotterdam, we’re beginning to think that the aim might be the Croisette’s sidebar once again. Big question is: Will Edouard Waintrop (the artistic director of Quinzaine) favor some of the section’s extended family in his first mandate?