In give or take 364 days from now, the 65th edition of the Cannes film festival will be upon us. I know it's absurd, but there are some bonafide films in the works from some Cannes vets and according to these prognostications I supply below, we'll have one more heavyweight event with the possible participation from the likes of Abbas Kiarostami, Olivier Assayas, Paul Thomas Anderson and Hou Hsiao Hsien being joined by recent Palme d'Or winners (2008 and 2009) Laurent Cantet and Michael Haneke.
Vienna celebrates almost two weeks' worth of film culture via the Viennale (a.k.a. Vienna International Film Festival). Bookended by Xavier Beauvois's Of Gods and Men, which took home the Grand Prix from this year's Cannes Festival, and Pedro González-Rubio's Alamar, Tiger Awardee in Rotterdam, the non-competitive fest tries to balance fiction, documentaries and short films in its main program.
The producers behind Julie Bertucelli's The Tree (#80) have finally decided that a closing film showcase is too good to give up (there was word that they decided not to accept the spot) -- in the same gesture, she becomes one o the rare female filmmakers included in the top section.
If TIFF were a person, they'd be There Will Be Blood's Daniel Plainview. The festival drains out festivals like Venice and Cannes - major suppliers of quality films, and North American audiences benefit tremendously getting a first op to see the latest from Jaco Van Dormael, Lars von Trier, Claire Denis, Michael Haneke...
What I gathered over the past couple of weeks is that Quentin Tarantino's casting decisions for Inglorious Bastards are definitely leaning towards the action comedy genre perhaps to a Tropic Thunder pedigree rather than an Ocean's Eleven similitude.