Film Festivals

2014 Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 1: Leigh Paints Strong Canvas with “Mr. Turner” & Sissako’s Mixes Humor & Sorrow in “Timbuktu”

Published on May 16, 2014

According to our Cannes Critics’ Panel, it may not top Topsy Turvy, but Mike Leigh’s 2 plus hour portrait starring Timothy Stall paints a strong portrait of a tortured artist with his fifth trip to the festival and our set of critics responded favorably. Prior to Mr.Turner, his previous entries include, Naked (award for Best Director in ’93), Secrets and Lies (Palme d’Or in ’96), 2002’s All or Nothing and 2010’s Another Year.

Having premiered yesterday and receiving its official red carpet screening today, Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu is arresting for its combination of humor and deep sorrow. The still very fresh true events, saw the Maurinania born filmmaker broke down during the press conference. While this was his first trip in the Main Comp, the filmmaker has also been to Cannes on four separate visits dating back to Octobre (Un Certain Regard – 1993), La Vie Sur Terre (1998), Heremakono (Un Certain Regard – 2002) and Bamako (The Court) in Out of Comp back in 2006. Here are the first set of results folks. Click on the grid below for a larger-sized version.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include 1976 (Manuela Martelli), Godland (Hlynur Pálmason), Corsage (Marie Kreutzer), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen).