An impressive list of auteurs - all male - will head to the French Riviera this May to compete at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

An impressive list of auteurs - all male - will head to the French Riviera this May to compete at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

The most prestigious of the European Film Festivals, Cannes is highly regarded for its competition list each year and is one of the glamour events on the calendar. While it prides itself for presenting the work of auteurs, rather than showcasing potential Oscar winners, the Festival is open minded enough to offer out-of-competition places to mainstream films to premiere. For example, Madagascar 3 is screening in the regular animation spot this year, following in the footsteps of Up and Kung Fu Panda.

Opening night belongs to Wes Anderson and his new film, the 60s summer camp romance Moonlight Kingdom - the first opening night film to also be in competition since 2008’s Blindness.

Joining Anderson in competition will be Michael Haneke (teaming up with The Piano Teacher’s Isabelle Huppert) in Amour, Walter Sales with his Jack Kerouac adaptation On The Road, David Cronenberg with Cosmopolis (staring Twilight’s Robert Pattinson) and Gommorah’s Matteo Garrone with his new film Reality. New Zealand born director Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly also features on the competition list, staring Brad Pitt, who Dominik also worked with on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

As predicted, Ken Loach, whose work we’ve been celebrating this month in our Directors’ Showcase, is in competition with The Angels’ Share. As is Cannes veteran Abbas Kiarostami, with his Like Someone In Love. You’ll be able to enjoy the work of Iranian director Kiarostami here on Rialto Channel in May as he’s our next featured director Directors’ Showcase every Sunday night at 8.30pm.

There are a few films I was expecting to see which are missing from the list. In particular, the latest offering from Terrence Malick, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. After the Cannes success of last year’s Midnight in Paris I was also anticipating Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love to be available for selection - although there is a rumour it may be announced at a later date.

Regardless, it’s an impressive and exciting line-up this year, even if female directors are under-represented; 2 female directors - Sylvie Verheyde and Catherine Corsini - feature in the Un Certain Regard section. It gives us a good lead on what to expect at the cinemas over the next year, and possibly at NZ’s own International Film Festival kicking off in July.  

For more information head to http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en.html

COMPETITION FILMS

Amour, Michael Haneke

The Angels’ Share, Ken Loach

Baad el mawkeaa, Yousry Nasrallah

Beyond The Hills, Cristian Mungiu

Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg

Holy Motors, Leos Carax

The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg

Killing Them Softly, Andrew Dominik

In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo

In the Fog, Sergei Loznitsa

Lawless, John Hillcoat

Like Someone in Love, Abbas Kiarostami

Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson

Mud, Jeff Nichols

On the Road, Walter Salles

The Paperboy, Lee Daniels

Paradies: Liebe, Ulrich Seidl

Post Tenebras Lux, Carlos Reygadas

Reality, Matteo Garrone

Rust And Bone, Jacques Audiard

Taste Of Money, Im Sang-soo

You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet, Alain Resnais

Therese Desqueyroux, Claude Miller

OUT OF COMPETITION

Hemingway & Gellhorn, Philip Kaufman

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon

Me and You, Bernardo Bertolucci

UN CERTAIN REGARD

7 Days in Havana, Benicio del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Juan

Carlos Tabio, Gaspar Noe, Laurent Cantet

11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate, Koji Wakamatsu

Antiviral, Brandon Cronenberg

Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin

Confession Of A Child Of The Century, Sylvie Verheyde

Despues De Lucia, Michel Franco

La Pirogue, Moussa Toure

La Playa, Juan Andres Arango

Laurence Anyways, Xavier Dolan

Le Grand Soir, Benoit Delepine, Gustave Kervern

Les Chevaux De Dieu, Nabil Ayouch

Loving Without Reason, Joachim Lafosse

Miss Lovely, Ashim Ahluwalia

Mystery, Lou Ye

Student, Darezhan Omirbayev

Trois Mondes, Catherine Corsini