Cannes Film Festival 2011	With the Support of

"Le Havre"

"The Minister"

"Take Shelter"

What a program! Woody Allen, Nanni Moretti, the Dardenne Brothers, Terrence Malick, Aki Kaurismäki, Lars von Trier, Takashi Miike, Pedro Almodóvar, Nuri Bilge Ceylan... No other festival can come up with such an exquisite selection of the best names in world cinema. This was the best program in years, not just in the official competition but also in the official section "Un Certain Regard", which featured Gus Van Sant, Kim Ki-duk, Robert Guédiguian, Andreas Dresen, Bruno Dumont and Eric Khoo — though not all of the films delivered on the promise of their pedigrees.
   After nearly two years of rumors, Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life was not only the festival's most-anticipated film, but also the most-discussed. While films in Cannes are almost always one-day events — the next day inevitably brings another major release to discuss — The Tree of Life was still a polarizing title days after its screening, with more appreciation coming from American critics (obviously) than the Europeans, who were less enthralled. The question this time wasn't which film would take the Palme d'Or, it was whether it would go to The Tree Of Life.
By the way, also Woody Allen's opening-night film Midnight in Paris found more supporters among the European critics (as is the case with most of his recent films). Even the French critics were on its side, despite Allen’s tourist's view of Paris in the legendary 1920s — though he did craft it with imagination and an overwhelming charm.
   Cannes 2011 was marked by an extraordinary diversity of cinematic conceptions — the visionary films of Terrence Malick, Lars von Trier or the Japanese Naomi Kawase; the documentary-like realism of the Dardenne Brothers, Bruno Dumont, the French Maiwenn, the Austrian Markus Schleinzer, the German Andreas Dresen, and the modest, intelligent pleasures provided by Aki Kaurismäki or the French Michel Hazanavicius (who presented a wonderful homage to the Hollywood of the late 1920s and early 1930s, The Artist). More than just a glamorous showcase for movie stars — and there were a lot of them this year — the Cannes screens offered admirable actors: Tilda Swinton in Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin; Michel Piccoli in Nanni Moretti's Habemus Papam; Sean Penn in Paolo Sorrentino's This Must be the Place.
   Bernardo Bertolucci and Jean-Paul Belmondo were honored with tributes. Malcolm McDowell held a cinema masterclass, which coincided with the presentation of a restored version of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) in the Cinema Classics series — which also screened a tinted version of Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902).
   Surprisingly, a new feature by Jafar Panahi had been programmed: This Is Not A Film. Panahi had been sentenced to prison and been banned from making movies. Together with his friend and colleague Mojtaba Mirtahmasb he shot a sort of diary, unfolding one day of his life under house arrest, around the Islamic New Year. He makes and receives telephone calls; he talks to his lawyer; he watches TV; he plays with an iguana; he talks about a new script; he watches a fireworks display; he chats in the elevator with a janitor taking out the garbage. And he reacts with astonishing calm when he learns a prison sentence will be unavoidable. To show this film to an audience — and to be part of that audience — was a simple gesture of solidarity with an artist and defiance of the Iranian regime determined to end his career. (Klaus Eder)

Festival de Cannes, May 11-22, 2011, www.festival-cannes.com/en.html
FIPRESCI Prizes: Le Havre by Aki Kaurismäki (Competition) / The Minister (L'exercice de l'état) by Pierre Schoeller (Un Certain Regard) / Take Shelter by Jeff Nichols (Critics' Week) Details

Reports

Ironic Dream of Solidarity. In Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki "creates a new cinema world", writes Tereza Brdecková, "that brings together nostalgia, feelings of guilt and the message that we may not be able to blend a new reality with old clichés... It is an admirable piece of cinema.". Read her review of the FIPRESCI Prize winning film
The Intrusion of French Politics. Laurent Aknin pays tribute to Pierre Schoeller's The Minister, winner of the FIPRESCI award in the Un Certain Regard section. The film develops "the odyssey of a State official through an increasingly complex and hostile world. Speed, power struggles, chaos, economic crisis", writes our reviewer.
An Indie Disaster Movie: Visions of Apocalypse. Joost Broeren praises FIPRESCI prize-winner Take Shelter, an absorbing tale of a husband and father plagued by apocalyptic dreams.
Paradoxes of Iranian Cinema. Shahla Nahid examines the complex history of Iranian cinema and the different treatment of Iranian filmmakers showing at Cannes 2011, among them Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rassoulof.
Stumble Into One's Own Trap. Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier astonished and annoyed with playing down Hitler and the Fascism. The festival declared him persona non grata. Klaus Eder documents and comments the incident.
Rocks and Reds. José Carlos Avellar explores the differing film styles of the Dardenne Brothers and Naomi Kawase, focusing on their explanations of shooting styles while in Cannes.
"Where Do We Go Now?":  Nowhere Really! Ahmed Atef looks at the light-hearted approach of Muslim-Christian conflict film Where Do We Go Now from Lebanese director Nadine Labaki.
Female Perspectives. "While Cannes has always had a love affair with its glamorous leading ladies", writes Anna Smith, "relatively few female filmmakers have graced the red carpet since the festival began in 1946. This year, four female filmmakers competed for the Palme D'Or", others were shown in parallel sections, making it a strong year for films both made by and focusing on women.
Death is a Woman. Malwina Grochowska looks at portrayals of women’s sexuality and death in the Australian film Sleeping Beauty and Dutch drama Code Blue.
"Elena: Crime and Reward". Josip Jurcic explores Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev's third film, Elena, which won the Special Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard.

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