Cannes Directors’ Fortnight’s most high-profile films:
Butterfly Jam
Dir/Wri: Kantemir Balagov (Cannes breakout Beanpole)
Cast: Barry Keoghan, Monica Bellucci, Riley Keough, Harry Melling (Pillion)
Int. Sales Rep: Goodfellas
Synopsis:
A Circassian-American teen in New Jersey balances working at his family’s struggling ethnic diner with his wrestling aspirations, until his father’s risky decision forces him to face harsh realities and grow up quickly.
Never would I have predicted a movie set in New Jersey would be one of the headlining films at Cannes, but crazier things have happened!
Opening the section, Balagov’s English-language debut features a cast of strong young actors and a raw coming-of-age story that feels both personal and universally relatable.
Clarissa
Dir: Aerie and Chuko Esiri (This Is My Desire)
Cast: Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), David Oyelowo (Selma)
Worldwide Dist/Int. Sales Rep: Neon
Synopsis:
A re-imagining of Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway” set in Lagos.
Woolf’s 1925 landmark novel perfected a stream of consciousness style that, reimagined today, with Edebiri in the titular role, could bring the story’s interiority to life in a really cool, cinematic way.
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Dir: Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant)
Cast: Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air), Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders), Daryl McCormack (Wake Up Dead Man)
Prod. Comp: BBC Film
Int. Sales Rep: Charades (Int. Sales The Testament of Ann Lee)
Synopsis:
Five childhood friends face adult struggles: Patrick and Shiv’s relationship strains over a secret, Oli parties destructively, Conor awaits fatherhood with business dreams, and wealthy Rian can’t escape his past despite moving away.
In addition to direction from BAFTA nominated Barnard, screenwriter Enda Walsh who’s fantastic track record of book to screen adaptations (Die My Love, Small Things Like These) makes this one to definitely look out for.
Diary of a Chambermaid (Journal d’une femme de chambre)
Dir: Radu Jude (Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn)
Cast: Ana Dumitrascu (Immaculate), Amélie Prevot (Band of Spies)
Prod. Comp: SBS Productions (Benedetta)
Synopsis:
A young Romanian woman living in France works for a French family and joins a theatre company who are adapting Octave Mirbeau’s “The Diary of a Chambermaid.”
Jude’s comedy and contemporary adaptation of Octave Mirbeau’s classic novel is bringing him to Cannes (shockingly) for the first time. Diary… marks back-to-back projects for Dumitrascu, who starred in Jude’s satirical horror Dracula last year.
Mini Tidbits:
Two American directors are being featured in this year’s Directors’ Fortnight lineup. Reed Van Dyk is making both his Cannes and directorial debut with Atonement, an Iraqi war drama starring Kenneth Branagh and Succession’s Hiam Abbass.
One of the few documentaries in the section Neon’s Once Upon A Time in Harlem is from New York’s own David Greaves, the son of the late great William Greaves (dir. Symbiopsychotaciplasm: Take One), making its way to Cannes after a strong reception at its premiere at Sundance earlier this year.
The widely absurd and quirky French director Quentin Dupieux (Rubber) is bringing two films to the festival this year. Full Phil, the father-daughter dramedy starring Woody Harrelson and Kristen Stewart, will screen in the midnight section, and his debut animated feature Le Vertige is closing out the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar.