The Daily 2011

We prefer being free men than imprisoned heros. We are not political combatants. We are directors.   Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, co-director with Jafar Panahi of This is Not a Film

Christophe Honoré is set to wrap up the 64th Festival de Cannes with Beloved (Out of Competition). The director has handpicked a cast of beloved actors for his eighth feature film, a musical in a similar vein to Love Songs, presented at Cannes in 2007.   The cast stars Chiara Mastroianni, Ludivine Sagnier, Louis Garrel, Michel...

The short films selected In Competition will be shown today at 11 am, Debussy Theatre and at 2 pm, Buñuel Theatre, nine shorts in all, directed by filmmakers from around the world.   Badpakje 46 (Swimming Costume 46) by Belgian Wannes Stoop tells the story of Chantal, a chubby girl who only feels at home in the pool. One day...

The Press Conference of This is not a film (In Film Nist) with Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, co-director of the film and Jafar Panahi (who is forbidden from leaving Iran, and so was listening to the conference on Skype) and Serge Toubiana, director of the Cinémathèque Française.  About the film:Mojtaba Mirtahmasb: "We are not able to film...

The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury (Julie Gayet, Jessica Hausner, Corneliu Porumboiu, João Pedro Rodrigues and President Michel Gondry) has awarded the Cinéfondation Prizes during a ceremony in Buñuel Theatre before the screening of the winning films. Sixteen student films coming from Asia, America and Europe composed this...

This year, the Young Actors Office of the Festival launches the Portrait Gallery. The aim is to create a dynamic between actors and directors by bringing them into contact in a simple and aesthetic way within the festival.A patchwork of film posters has taken over the walls of the Short Film Corner. In all sizes and colours, they are...

Nicolas Winding Refn presented Drive with the film's lead actor Ryan Gosling. Alongside them were producers Marc E. Platt and Adam Siegel, editor Mat Newman and screenwriter Hossein Amini.   Nicolas Winding Refn spoke about the film: "Being realistic is OK, but it's not necessarily very interesting. We weren't aiming to make a...

The actors expected to be in attendance in Cannes today are: Sarah ADLER, Anouk AIMEE, Tetsuya AKIKAWA, Elena ANAYA, Yvan ATTAL, Irene AZUELA, Edouard BAER, Antonio BANDERAS, Alice BARNOLE, Mikhail BARSKOVICH, Claude BAZ.MOUSSAWBAA, Berenice BEJO, Leïla BEKHTI, Marisa BERENSON, Benjamin BIOLAY, Taner BIRSEL, Michel BLANC, Michel...

The Italian director Paolo Sorrentino came to present This Must Be The Place, his latest film selected In Competition, accompanied by the actor Sean Penn, who plays Cheyenne, the film's principal character. Selected extracts. Sean Penn on the beginnings of this collaboration with Paolo Sorrentino:"We met at the Festival de Cannes in...

The Salle du Soixantième witnessed a moment of high emotion at the 64th Festival. Yesterday, Thierry Frémaux paid tribute to the late director  Stanley Kubrick in the presence of his wife, Christiane Kubrick and Malcolm McDowell, star of A Clockwork Orange."I am proud to be here but I never wanted to be here. My...

Malcom Mcdowell, the star of A Clockwork Orange, the 1971 movie by Stanley Kubrick, to whom the Festival has paid tribute during this 64th edition with a restored print of the movie and a documentary, talked about his career and, not without humour, entertained a packed house with anecdotes about the master director....

After Egypt, the invited country at the Festival, Cannes pays tribute to Tunisia with the screening of La Khaoufa Baada Al'Yaoum (No More Fear) in Special Screening. With this documentary, Mourad Ben Cheikh gives a testimonial to his engagement in the struggle for freedom in his country.The young Lina Ben Mghenni recounts the events...

After Bernardo Bertolucci (Il Conformista/The Conformist) and Roberto Rossellini (La Macchina Ammazzacattivi/ The Machine to Kill Bad People), Elio Petri is the third Italian director to be featured in a special screening this year in Cannes Classics. L’Assassino (The Assassin) is a critique of political and police power in Italy...

In Film Nist (This is Not a Film) by Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb is both a logbook and an act of resistance, and is being shown as a Special Screening. It arrived discreetly at the Festival de Cannes at the same time as Bé Omid é Didar by Mohammad Rassoulof, and narrates the daily life of an Iranian filmmaker, awaiting his...

Corneliu Porumboiu, the Romanian director and screenwriter has won a number of prizes at Cannes: he won the Cinéfondation second prize in 2004 for his short film Calatorie la Oras (A Trip to the City), the Caméra d’Or in 2006 for A Fost Sau N-A Fost (12h08 East of Bucharest) and the Prix du Jury at Un Certain Regard in 2009 for...

The Cinéfondation selection comes to an end today with the screening of the last four short films. The Jury led by Michel Gondry will present the Cinéfondation awards at 4:30 pm.   Bulgarian director Aramisova is presenting her fifth short film: Cagey Tigers. Two best friends enjoy playing with men's hearts. But...

For those with press badges, the Wifi café is open on level 3, as is the press room on level F+1. For those with Marché badges, internet stations are available in the exhibition zones. Finally, the network available throughout the Palais is not free except in the Marché zone for visitors to the Marché with badge codes

João Pedro Rodrigues has been distinguished in several festivals. He started his international career with his second short film, Parabens!, which won a prize at the Venice Mostra, and presented To die like a man in Un Certain Regard in 2009. This year, the Portugese director  returns to Cannes in the Jury presided by Michel...

The Festival de Cannes is pleased to present Bakur Bakuradze's second feature, Okhotnik (The Hunter) at Un Certain Regard. The Georgian director deals with similar themes to those of his first film, looking at the day-to-day existence of a man whose life is turned upside-down by a woman.   Okhotnik (The Hunter) tells the story of...

The Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn has come to present Drive in Competition, his first American film, adapted from the novel of the same name by James Sallis. This action film has a particular characteristic that the actors appreciate: real importance is placed on the characters.For his first American film, Drive, Nicolas...

For his 4th selection in Competition, the Italian director presents This Must Be The Place, his first feature film in English. A road movie conceived in 2008 following the Jury Prize awarded at Cannes for Il Divo, his previous film. Above all This Must Be The Place is a cinematographic love story. It is 2008, at the height of the...