Cannes 2007

4 months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

The Band's Visit

Her Name is Sabine

Cristian Mungiu

According to many festival goers, this 60th anniversary edition offered the best competition program of the past seven years, since Thierry Frémeaux took over from Gilles Jacob as artistic director of the Cannes Film Festival. The stars were there, including a lot of Hollywood celebrities, out of competition, to accompany the premieres of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Thirteen (Brad Pitt, George Clooney) or Michael Winterbottom's A Mighty Heart (Angelina Jolie). But the organizers had composed a rather radical selection of auteur films, cleverly using the media attention of the anniversary edition to give young directors from Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America more visibility. The main awards given by the jury headed by Stephen Frears, as well as the FIPRESCI awards, are a true reflection of this daring choice.

24 hours before receiving the Palme d'Or, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu was honored with the International Critics' Prize for his third film 4 months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 saptamini si 2 zile), from a jury chaired by FIPRESCI President Andrei Plakhov and composed of many renowned critics, including FIPRESCI Honorary President Michel Ciment.

In the "Un certain regard" section, our award went to The Band's Visit (Bikur hatizmoret) directed by Eran Kolirin (Israel). Sandrine Bonnaire was also awarded by our jury for her directorial debut Her Name is Sabine (Elle s'appelle Sabine), presented in the "Directors' Fortnight".

Cannes, 60th edition: May 16-27, 2007
Official website: www.festival-cannes.org
Details of the FIPRESCI Prizes, jury members, print sources

Reports:

4 months...: The Great Moment of Romanian Cinema
In a competition that can boast of being at the highest level of what world cinema has to offer, Pablo O. Scholz believes Cristian Mungiu's double winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is both a mature piece of work and exemplary of Romania currently being the favorite cinema of this festival.

The Band's Visit: A Band of Honor
The winner of the FIPRESCI prize in the Un Certain Regard competition is a road comedy about an Egyptian police band which Steve Ayorinde commends as an example of what a filmmaker is able to achieve with practically no budget or resources.

Sandrine Bonnaire: Sister Courage
A brave portrayal of her suffering sister has bestowed Sandrine Bonnaire's debut documentary film Her Name is Sabine (Elle s'appelle Sabine) with such acclaim that Jean Roy believes it is the most beautiful film that Cannes has given us this year.

The Edge of Heaven: A Wanderer between Two Worlds
In a film told in three chapters, Peter Hornung believes that Fatih Akin has poignantly conveyed the identity problems of living in one country with ancestry from another, in this case Germany and Turkey , both nations of the director's own origin.

No Country for Old Men: Joel and Ethan Coen's Masterpiece
According to Emanuel Levy, the Coen Brothers have smartly gone back to their roots and to what they do best; giving them their best film in over a decade if not their career.

Chacun son cinéma: Looking for the Future Without Nostalgia
Michel Ciment was enchanted by the 33 short films ordered by Gilles Jacob to 35 major directors to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Cannes on the theme of the movie theater.

Mutum: The Silence is Golden
Sandra Kogut's debut feature film Mutum is a simple story of a 12-year-old boy set in a remote Brazilian mountain region. Sudhir Nandgaonkar praises the unpretentious directorial style, true to life cinematography and a brilliant performance by the young actor.

Spiritual Voices
In the ten years since its 50th anniversary, Andrei Plakhov has noticed a shift in the main program at Cannes away from trendy violent films into a world cinema that looks healthier, not less troubled, but more human and spiritual.

Post-Communist Filmmakers Share Their Past Experiences
Today East European cinema is conspicuously on the rise. Barbara Hollender outlines how these artists are now passing through a settling of accounts with the past and an enormous baggage of experiences which they are just beginning to share with the world.

India at Cannes...
There have always been a precious few Bollywood movies worth seeing each year, and one of them, Mani Ratnam's Guru, was on the "Cinémas du Monde" program. However, as Derek Malcolm laments, there have always been independent filmmakers in India, following on from Satyajit Ray, whose films have been painfully absent.

Animation and Documentary: The New Entries to the Cannes Festival
There are no special effects that can replace, nor even improve a good story. Pablo O. Scholz salutes the maturity of the animation and documentary entries this year.

Revelation of the Year: Rafa Cortés' "yo — me"
As every year, FIPRESCI presented in the framework of the Critics' Week its "Revelation of the Year" at a special screening during the "Critics' Week". This year's "Revelation" was yo (me) , the first feature film by Spanish filmmaker Rafa Cortés, discovered and awarded in Rotterdam. Pamela Biénzobas introduces the film.

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