2012 Cannes Film Festival Predictions: Pablo Trapero’s White Elephant

Gist: Belonging to the huge family of films featuring the drug trade corrupting Latin America, in the vast, poverty-stricken and highly dangerous Buenos Aires slum that is the Villa Virgen, two men – bothfriends, both Catholic priests, both deeply respected by the local community for their tireless endeavours on behalf of the poor and the dispossessed – take very different paths in their struggle against violence, corruption and injustice.

Prediction: Trapero might be one of the only filmmakers bringing not one, but two film reels to the Croisette (the other being his short film in 7 Days in Havana). While his film showcasing the talents of Ricardo Darín, Jérémie Renier and Martina Gusman will fight hard for a Main Comp slot, it appears more likely that Elefante blanco would be part of the Un Certain Regard – the section that previously showed this Argentinian’s 2002 film El Bonaerense (2002) and Carancho (2010). However the helmer did compete in the 2008 Main Comp with Leonera.