This year, the 65th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival is being celebrated with a mixture of well-known international auteurs and rising star Hollywood talents. This balance between auteur films and glamour, which has become a traditional formula for the competition line-up, has been couched as "a voyage through cinematographies around the world", as festival general delegate Thierry Fremaux pointed out in his introduction to the program.
To mark this special milestone in its glorious history, the "Festival de Cannes" has devoted nearly three-quarters of its main competition program to festival loyalists: Alain Resnais, Jacques Audiard, Michael Haneke, Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach, Leos Carax, David Cronenberg, Matteo Garrone, Walter Salles, Thomas Vinterberg, Hong Sang-soo, Im Sang-soo, Carlos Reygadas, Ulrich Seidl, Cristian Mungiu and Sergei Loznitza, all of whom have been in competition in previous years. Among these respectable auteurs Loach, Kiarostami, Mungiu and Haneke have previously won the Golden Palm. A director not in this elite Cannes club that will have a place in the competition program for the first time is Egypt's Yousry Nasrallah with his post-Arab Spring film.
This year, a very important competition program ingredient is a strong selection of no less than five US films. Last time this happened was in 2007, with the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Gus Van Sant, James Gray and David Fincher in the line-up. This time, these films have been made by newcomers to the competition: Wes Anderson, Andrew Dominik, John Hillcoat, Jeff Nichols and Lee Daniels. Their participation will, as expected, bring not only star wattage of Hollywood glamour to the "Palais des Festival" red carpet on the Croisette, but should also represent the new young voices of American cinema today.
Offering a certain corrective selection to the competition, the Directors' Fortnight and Critics' Week sections offer work from a very fine selection of auteurs from all sides of the world. Among them are some well-knowns such as Pablo Trapero, William Vega, Nelson Pereira Dos Santos, Pablo Larrain, Lou Ye, Koji Wakamatsu, Jaochim Lafosse and Xavier Dolan, and some directors with first features such as Brandon Cronenberg, Benh Zeitlin, Ashim Ahluwalia and Adam Leon.
Michael Haneke and Alain Resnais: Ballad With Love and Death. In the competition of the 65th Cannes Film Festival, two directors look at death, in their own different ways: Michael Haneke with Love (Amour) and Alain Resnais with You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (Vous n'avez encore rien vu).
A Sense of Wonder. Benh Zeitlin's debut has created a dazzling imaginary universe with a scope that feels real and cuts to the heart according to Ronald Rovers.
Father figures as recurring characters in Cannes' lineup. "Fatherhood, as both a challenge and a chance to become a better man, has been one of the recurring themes of the 65th edition of the Cannes Film Festival" — By Paola Casella.
Un Certain Regard: Diversity But Not Always Quality. "Going to see films in Un Certain Regard always causes hope and enthusiasm but we have to admit that this year, many hopes were dashed" — says Laura Laufer.
The Tragic Nun's Connection. "Beyond The Hills by Christian Mungiu is a deeply emotional and heart breaking film. Like its two main female protagonists, it is bipolar, both depressive and ecstatic." Borislav Andjelic's review.
A Song of Joy and Despair. Four years after Tony Manero impressed Cannes, and one and a half years after the Venice première of Post Mortem, No closes a trilogy that portrays Chile in the times of the coup and under the dictatorship. Pamela Biénzobas reviews.
The Return of American Independent Cinema? Is this really American Independent Cinema? This initial thought grew into a nagging doubt which frequently reared its head over the course of the festival. Review by Beatrice Behn.
In the Fog: A Film of Lasting Power and Relevance. Rita Di Santo reviews FIPRESCI winner Sergei Loznitsa's In the Fog.
Quinzaine 2012: An Overview of the New Authors. For Rui Tandinha this year's Quinzaine offered some good cinematic hopes, starting with Rengaine, by Rachid Djaidani.