Rallying behind an insurgency borne out of the Arab Spring and emboldened by the fall of Muammar Kaddafi, helping to install a democratic government, those were the missions of French author and philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy’s (B.H.L.) as he traveled between France and Libya last year cameras in tow. As revealed in “The Oath of Tobruk” (a co-directed project shot entirely with Canon's EOS 5D camera) B.H.L.’s involvement

The winners have been announced and this 65th edition of the Cannes Festival is officially over. Slim pickins for the U.S., with the American Benh Zeitlin winning the only prize in the Official Selection, the Camera D'Or (for feature films being presented at Cannes for the first time). Let's hope for a stronger showing next year in Cannes. One of the surprises of the evening included the "A separation" actress Leila Hatami coming up on

As I type these lines there are rumors that “Mud,” by the American Jeff Nichols, may find its way to the top rungs of the competition prizes—some are even talking of a Palme D’Or upset. Matthew McConaughey, who came to the Croisette to present a film for the first time in his career, plays the Mud of the title, an enlightened vagabond living on a deserted island on the Mississipi river—his past is heavy with blunders. Two independent-

Wes Anderson’s "Moonrise Kingdom" is not only a story of the power of first love but also the way that children create the mythology of adulthood through the fabric of stories. The world approaches us first wrapped as tales, and we handle its mysteries with imagination. The largest part of reality, even as we age, remains a contradictory act of abstraction. This has been a quietly placed theme in the films of Terrence Malick, including

Great films are the product of the collaborative process. And while screenwriters may not get asked the most questions during the daily press conferences at Cannes as wordsmiths and dramatists they are responsible for the surprising comeback, the wit, the meme, and the devastating third act that make a film come alive. A screenplay is the most sought-after piece of writing nowadays--one element of a script gets overlooked and a film

Eight years may not be that long to turn into film that most iconic of iconic novels, Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," the book that has launched many into sustained bouts of daydreaming. Because eight years is the time it took for the project to mature. Plus, the film was lensed by one of our better filmmakers and is based on the ultimate American myth, the road story (the open road is there for the taking, there’ll always be someone motoring

“All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring” (Chuck Palahniuk). I think that Chuck Palahniuk must be a fan of Leos Carax’s films. Because the diminutive French filmmaker’s “Holy Motors,” which is competing for the Palme D’Or, is never boring as his new film shows. “Holy Motors” represents everything that’s cinema ought to be: poetic, unpracticed in following convention and filled with mystery. He-