OPINION: #cannesfestival2020, an enigma wrapped in mystery with a cliffhanger that’s … never coming?
And now, for the nearly-ritualistic Cannes Festival press release that announces little, leaves much to speculation and wraps up with a note of mystery while flirting with contradiction--and causes much collective eye-rolling in people, one would assume? It did in me, at least. I am rolling my eyes right now, at this strange bird of a message received in my inbox at 6 p.m. Paris time. It began thus: "Following the declaration
Canceled, not canceled. And now--maybe--merely postponed? The Cannes Festival, in a PR pas-de-deux that has sowed confusion and let on few key details, has issued a press release last night. In its usual imperfect English (but their heart was in it), the Cannes communiqué went :
"Today, we have made the following decision : The Festival de Cannes cannot be held on the scheduled dates, from May 12
Tonight in Hollywood, and across the globe, it's all about "Parasite." “Parasite” by the Korean director Bong Joon-Ho, netted four Academy Awards on Sunday, winning in the Best Film, Best Director (Bong Joon-ho), Best Foreign Film and Best Screenplay categories. What a winning streak! Joon-Ho made history, too, in the process. This is the first time that a non-English-language film won for Best Film at the Academy
Is Covid19, a.k.a. novel coronavirus, going to spell the death of the Cannes Festival this year? I say, I sure hope not. And, I really don't think so. But the signs, they're worrisome. According to the powers-that-be, France is currently in what is known as Phase Two. That's when a virus has entered the country and efforts are underway at containing it. Sibeth Ndiaye, President Macron's spokesperson, has hinted that a French coronavirus
(CANNES, France) Laurence Salfati has been a part of the Cannes Festival press corps for nearly twenty years. She works for Lyon-based Radio Judaica and has interviewed all of France's greatest film stars. René Chiche has been coming to Cannes for about as long as his aforementioned colleague. Chiche is a writer, a TV producer and a journalist. He owns a news agency that's based in Paris and runs several publications
Matthias and Maxime have been friends since childhood. Matthias (Gabriel D’Almeida Freitas, in his second role for the big screen) tries to gain a foothold in the business world while Maxime makes a living as bartender, caring for his mother, a recovering addict.The two young men give off slight reticence, an awkwardness, it becomes clear very quickly in the film that these two aren’t just in a friendship. The tight-knit group of friends
A gang leader on the lam in search of redemption. A prostitute eager to gain her freedom back. Together they will decide to play one last gamble with their fate, the proverbial last big hit. Within this narrative proposition, a discrete romantic plot that will come to fit within the film’s dramatic structure. This is “Wild Goose Lake,” by Chinese director Yi'nan Diao, a film that’s inferior to his previous ones. It’s convoluted