Live from Cannes: Day 2 (Programming Politics)

Carpet Burns: Yesterday Cameramen were ready for romance. 

Despite its reputation of being the paramount film festival in the world, the Cannes film festival organizers are not immune to the politics and pressures that come during the selection process of its main comp titles, and they may even trickle down into sections like Un Certain Regard or the Director’s Fortnight. A quick look at the titles featured in competition shows that major studios or influential producers are looking after their investments – a splash at Cannes helps the good old p.r machine for domestic releases. 

  International Sign Language: Director's Fortnight section opens today.
 

On appearance, the main comp can come across like a private country club – here membership is almost entirely comprised of auteurs that have populated the fest’s past editions with their films. Time will tell whether they really do merit these exclusive free passes into the main comp category. Thankfully, the festival’s risky Un Certain Regard sidebar, the avant-garde Director’s Fortnight segment and quality-proven Semaine de la Critique programming offer guaranteed bang for cinephile buck.
 

The Noga Hilton (a posh hotel with intregrated movie theatre) is site for the Director's Fortnight section – this year's selection is a promising mix with many first time filmmakers introducing their works. While goose bumps are always present during official Cannes competition trailer (with Ennio Morricone's Days of Heaven piece of score obliteratting my senses, this animated bit that plays before each film in the section is a virtual climbing of the red steps of Palais from the deep ends of the ocean to the stars above) but they also made an appearance today. The Director's Fortnight trailer is a collage of images from films that played out in the section over the years and names of cinema's best auteur filmmakers flash upon this slide show. It warms up any person who considers themselves as a true cinephile.

At today’s cramped, après-screening Q&A for Anton Corbijn’s feature film debut, was a practice session for my skills in tactfulness and guerilla reportage.