2024 Cannes Film Festival: Ariane Labed, Rungano Nyoni, Mo Harawe, Konstantin Bojanov & Roberto Minervini in Un Certain Regard

Actresses Ariane Labed and Laetitia Dosch, Halfdan Ullman Tondel, Mo Harawe, Louise Courvoisier and Julien Colonna are part of the half dozen selected filmmakers that have been selected for the 2024 edition of the Un Certain Regard section. Fifteen selections were made this morning with some alluring new works from the likes of Konstantin Bojanov, Rungano Nyoni and Italian (US-based) filmmaker Roberto Minervini added to the mix. Since the 2021 edition the Cannes Premiere section have grabbed a number of premiere screening slots out of the Debussy theatre meaning the Un Certain Regard section hovers firmly around the twenty film range – so we can expect at least five more titles to be added to the section. With the opening and closing films to be identified shortly (a derby will likely belong to two films from France) this section now heavily revert back to its original mandate: to promote new voices. Last year we had strong entries such as Hounds, The Mother of All Lies, The Settlers, and The Delinquents perform well at the fest and on the international circuit. Here are the fifteen selections:

With filmmaking in his bloodline, Norwegian filmmaker Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel had Renate Reinsve join his feature debut titled Armand – about a 6-year-old boy is accused of crossing boundaries against his best friend at elementary school. Guan Hu is perhaps one of the more experienced filmmakers in this section with close to three decades under his belt…. Black Dog takes place around the time of the Beijing Olympics when the Chinese government decided to eliminate all the stray dogs that were roaming the streets and follows the journey of a man responsible, in his town, for getting rid of all the dogs…. Roberto Minervini scales all the way back to Tucson, Arizona circa 1862. In the midst of the Civil War, the US Army sends a company of volunteer soldiers to the western territories, with the task of patrolling the unchartered borderlands. As their mission ultimately changes course, the meaning behind their engagement begins to elude them. The Damned stars Jeremiah Knupp, René W. Solomon, Cuyler Ballenge, Noah Carlson, Judah Carlson and Tim Carlson we are getting some Meek’s Cutoff vibes. Minervini’s 2013’s Stop The Pounding Heart and 2015’s The Other Side were both selected for Cannes…. Boris Lojkine of Locarno Film Fest preemed Camille (2019) fame enters the story Souleymane, a Guinean delivery man, who is getting ready for his asylum interview by telling a story which isn’t his… L’Histoire de Souleymane was in production in late October — and reteamed with actress Nina Meurisse. Another debut from a French filmmaker, Julien Colonna‘s Le Royaume stars Ghjuvanna Benedetti, Saveriu Santucci and Anthony Morganti. Set in Corsica, 1994. Lesia is experiencing her first summer as a teenager. One day, a man breaks in and takes her on a motorbike to an isolated villa where she finds her father, in hiding, surrounded by his men. A war breaks out in the community and the noose tightens around the clan. Death strikes….

A selection that was definitely tipped for the fest, Hiroshi Okuyama‘s intimate portrait is set on a small Japanese island centred on the changing seasons, this follows two children who are complete opposites who decide to train together to form a figure-skating duo as their feelings for each other grow throughout the winter. My Sunshine is the filmmaker’s sophomore project….Saudi filmmaker Tawfik Alzaidi‘s Norah looks at the ’90s in Saudi Arabia when art was banned. A young Saudi woman who lives in a village is introduced to Nader, an artist. So, she requests him to pain her and that’s how the artistic relationship between them develops. Nader’s inspiration grows and takes Norah on a world of possibilities…. The much anticipated sophomore project by Rungano Nyoni lands in Cannes once again. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is simply described as a family drama…. The Hindi-language film Santosh is a former Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab project – and is described as a character-driven neo-noir, set in the hinterlands of Northern India. Sandhya Suri directs…. Labed’s September Says is a book to film project that follows two sisters born ten months apart and an encounter which forces shocking revelations about the girls’ past and future….

Also in an India backdrop, Bulgaria filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov‘s The Shameless is about Nadira (27), who escapes in the middle of the night from a Delhi brothel after stabbing an abusive cop to death. Shetakes a temporary shelter in a Southern-Indian devadasi community of sex workers, assuming the Hindu name Renuka. There, she falls in love with the emotionally fragile 17-year-old Devika…. A directorial debut that we have been tracking since it was a buzz post-production title, Somalian filmmaker Mo Harawe sets The Village Next to Paradise in a remote Somali village, the feature revolves around a newly assembled family as its members navigate between their different aspirations and the complex world surrounding them. Only love, trust and resilience will power them through their life paths….Louise Courvoisier‘s feature debut was off our radar but on Cannes’ watch list when her short claimed the top Cinéfondation prise in ’19. Vingt Dieux! is a rural set portrait that looks at Totone and his group of friends, bar stalwarts in the region, spend most of their summer hitting the dance halls of the Jura. Following the sudden death of his cheesemaker father, Totone suddenly finds himself responsible for his 7-year-old little sister and must find a way to earn a living…. Truong Minh Quy‘s Viet and Nam follows Nam and Việt who are coal miners, working 300 meters below ground, where danger awaits and darkness prevails…. And finally, Laetitia Dosch moves in front and behind the camera for her feature debut which also stars Jean-Pascal Zadi, Francois Damien and Anne Dorval. Le procès du chien (aka Who Let The Dog Bite?) is about an idealistic lawyer dedicated to lost causes who agrees to defend a dog that has bitten three people, leading to the first canine trial in history.