The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury headed by Jane Campion [...]

In the sixteenth century in the Cevennes region of France, a horse dealer by the name of Michael Kohlhaas leads a decent family life. When a lord treats him unjustly, he launches war.

If the opening score of “Michael Koolhaas” makes this competition film sound like “Conan the Barbarian,” you’ve been misled. This action drama set in the Middle Ages is a demanding and intellectual work--more cerebral and poignant than entertaining--on the themes of order and morality. Michael Kohlhaas—performed by a more-iconic-than-ever Mads Mikkelsen—is not one to be done in by an operetta baron. So when he must arbitrarily leave two of his horses as a deposit only to recover them later in a sorry state and discover that his servant has been attacked by dogs, he embarks on a mad crusade against the justice (or rather injustice ) of the powers-that-be.

With his new film “Manuscripts don’t Burn” (the title seems to have been taken from Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita") currently being shown in the non-competition program Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who came to Cannes to show the film today along with the cast, is raising the bar for Iranian filmmakers: rather than bypassing political content he's confronting Iran's regime without

Alexander Payne's new film "Nebraska," a melancholy road movie shot in black and white with some hilarious moments, is a worthy contender for a Grand Prix or a Jury prize. And yet, to say that I was less than enthusiastic going to the 8:30 screening of this film is an understatement: I wasn't a fan of "The Descendants" and a black and white movie, well, it's a risky proposition for any film.

Finally a discovery at the Cannes Festival that’s worth getting all worked up about: “Blue is the Warmest Color,” or, as the original title, “La Vie D’Adèle.” Three hour-long film is a bright gem and a contender for the top nod at this otherwise tepid Cannes selection. "Blue," starring newcomer Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux and directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, is my choice for this year’s Palme D’or, with five films still remaining to be screened in the competition section. But with Steven Spielberg as president of the jury

Nicolas Winding Refn's intent for his new film, shown in competition this morning, is difficult to discern. Is "Only God Forgives" a send-off to his previous film “Bronson” with a (sustained) nod at David Lynch and liner notes from Eastern philosophies? It would be distasteful to call a film a styling exercise. Filmmakers get our admiration because they invest more into filmmaking than you or I can ever imagine. Moviemaking

“A villa in Italy” by French-italian filmmaker Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi provided a welcome dose of charm and comedy yesterday in Cannes. An exultant love letter to her brother, who died of AIDS several years ago, “Villa” is painfully autobiographical, in fact. Besides her brother (played by Filippo Timi) and her real-life mother (to whom former first lady Carla Bruni bears a striking resemblance) as…. her mother, Bruni-Tedeschi also puts her romantic wares on display, casting her real-life (former) lover Louis Garrel, the son of filmmaker Philippe Garrel (the two have since broken up, in 2012) . So many connections