Walter Salles is hosting this year's Cinemas du Monde series (see the full story here) We caught up with him just before the Cannes Festival to ask him a few questions: If one of the filmmakers in this year’s lineup were to ask you for a piece of your personal wisdom concerning their career as filmmaker, what would you tell them? Only do a film if the story that you've elected is absolutely essential to you. Define “cinema” in one brief sentence.Cinema is an extraordinary instrument to unveil the world we live in, to better understand "the other", and ultimately, who we are. Is the democratization of filmmaking (thanks to the availability of equipment, etc) necessarily a good thing? Yes, in the sense that digital technology offers the possibility for a larger number of young filmmakers

Main theme, Caetano Veloso (O Quatrilho, directed by Bruno Barreto), […]

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

American cinema has always been prominent in the Cannes Festival’s programming, thanks to Gilles Jacob and Thierry Frémaux, president and programming director respectively, both of whom give our cinema ample screen time (the festival will take place May 11-May 22. Italy’s Nanni Moretti will be president of the jury). Last year, Cannes was the launchpad for two American productions, The Artist, which went on to win the Oscar, and Tree