June 13, 2008

2008 Cannes (and TIFF Speculation)

It's safe to assume that the majority -- but not all -- of these films will find their way to Toronto in September. Wherever possible I've linked the title of each film to David Hudson's exhaustive coverage of Cannes at GreenCine Daily (he makes it so much easier for all the rest of us).

It's also safe to assume that the new films by Jia, Desplechin, Garrel, the Dardennes, Martel, Ceylan, Davies, and Alonso will be near the top of my to-see list. I haven't begun digging through the rest of these titles yet.

Any Cannes films you're especially looking forward to?

Competition

Out of Competition

Midnight Screenings

Special Screenings

Un Certain Regard

Director's Fortnight Features

6 comments:

Dan Sallitt said...

Darren - don't know if I'll make it to TIFF this year, but there are a lot of Cannes films I'm awaiting eagerly:

Delta: I was very excited about Mundruczo's Johanna, which was on the festival circuit a few years back.

Gomorra: I'm a Garrone fan, mostly for The Embalmer, but I've managed to see most of his earlier work as well. I'm happy that he's got a festival success.

Il Divo: Sorrentino is the kind of flashy director I'm suspicious of, but he's got soul, and I can't help think he's going to make a really good film someday.

The Bastards: I loved Escalante's Sangre - I'll be surprised if he doesn't turn out to be a major director.

Je veux voir: Hadjithomas and Joreige did the fascinating A Perfect Day a few years back. I haven't got a handle on them yet, but they're formally ambitious.

Soi Cowboy: I haven't seen The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael, but there's a clip from it on YouTube that knocked me out.

Boogie: I really liked Muntean's The Paper Will Be Blue at the Romanian fest at the Walter Reade.

Dernier maquis: did Ameur-Zaimeche direct this or just act in it? Anyway, he did the wonderful, Renoiresque Bled Number One.


Darren said...

Thanks, Dan! As soon as I think I've earned my cinephile credentials, someone comes along and recommends eight more filmmakers I've never heard of.

I hope you're able to make it over to Toronto for at least a few days. I was disappointed that we kept just missing each other last year


NYCIC said...

Thomas Clay's "Soi Cowboy" makes it to TIFF but not Steve McQueen's "Hunger". That's curious.

Jim


Darren said...

Is that speculation, Jim? The films I've listed all played at/around Cannes but none have been announced yet for TIFF.


Darren said...

Dan, I watched The Embalmer last night and am now definitely more curious to see Gomorra if it plays TIFF. I can't say that I loved the film, but I was always fascinated by Garrone's characters, and that's usually enough for me.


Dan Sallitt said...

Darren - I also liked Garrone's Estata Romana (Roman Summer), though it may be harder to see. The Embalmer was a film I skipped a few times because the characters and plot sounded so unappealing; finally a favorable Hoberman review got me into the theater, and somehow Garrone managed to overcome my misgivings.

I saw Dernier maquis last night: it's clearly the work of a gifted director, but on the whole it didn't work for me as well as Bled Number One did.