Ragesh Dipu
The Critics’ Week of 2019 Cannes Film Festival has unveiled its lineup. The prestigious sidebar to the Festival showcases 11 features and 10 short films. Out of the 11 features, seven films are in competition from the jury and the rest screen as out of the competition. The Critics’ Week is celebrating its 58th anniversary this year. Ciro Guerra, who is best known for the Oscar-nominated ‘Embrace of the Serpent’ and ‘Birds of Passage,’ serves as the president of the Critics’ Week jury. Amira Casar, Marianne Slot, Djia Mambu, and Jonas Carpignano serve as jury members.
The Critics’ Week screens directorial debuts and sophomore features, and the debut movies compete for the honor, Camera d’Or. The major attractions in the competition lineup include ‘Vivarium’ a sci-fi thriller from Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan. The movie features Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg as a couple stranded inside a supernatural labyrinth. Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason’s ‘A White, White Day’ is based on a widower’s dilemma of his wife’s loss and doubts about her infidelity.
Another attraction in the competition lineup is Jérémy Clapin’s animated feature ‘I Lost My Body.’ The French production depicts the journey of a young man’s severed hand in search of its owner. The movie is co-written by Guillaume Laurant, who is known for ‘Amélie.’ Guatemalan director César Díaz’s feature directorial debut, ‘Our Mothers’ tells a burning chapter from the violent history of the country. Moroccan director Alaa Eddine Aljem debuts in the Critics’ Week with ‘The Unknown Saint.’ The movie chronicles a thief’s desperate attempts to recover his buried loot, ‘Abou Leila,’ is the first feature from Algerian filmmaker Amin Sidi-Boumédienne. The movie is set in the backdrop of the Algerian Civil War in the mid-90s. Costa Rican director Sofía Quirós Ubeda’s debut feature, ‘Land of Ashes’ centers on the life of a Costa Rican teen who feels the weight of loneliness in the countryside home after the death of her grandparents.
Out of the four special screenings in the section, French-Colombian filmmaker Franco Lolli’s ‘Litigante’ is picked up as the opening film. ‘Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains,’ which is the directorial debut of young Chinese filmmaker Gu Xiaogang, is the closing film. The other special screenings include ‘Heroes Don’t Die,’ the feature debut of Aude Léa Rapin, and ‘Tu Mérites Un Amour’ from the first time director Hafsia Herzi. The Critics’ Week runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival from May 15 to 23.
Check out the full lineup of 2019 Cannes Critics’ Week below.
Special Screenings (Features)
Litigante, dir: Franco Lolli (Opening Film)
Heroes Don’t Die, dir: Aude Léa Rapin
Tu Mérites Un Amour, dir: Hafsia Herzi
Dwelling In The Fuchun Mountains, dir: Gu Xiaogang (Closing Film)
Special Screenings (Short Films)
Demonic, dir: Pia Borg
Naptha, dir: Moin Hussain
Please Speak Continuously And Describe Your Experience As They Come To You, dir: Brandon Cronenberg
Invisible Hero, dir: Cristèle Alves Meira
Tenzo, dir: Katsuya Tomita
Competition (Features)
About Lelia, dir: Amin Sidi-Boumédiène
Land Of Ashes, dir: Sofía Quirós Ubeda
A White, White Day, dir: Hlynur Pálmason
I Lost My Body, dir: Jérémy Clapin
Our Mothers, dir: César Diaz
The Unknown Saint, dir: Alaa Eddine Aljem
Vivarium, dir: Lorcan Finnegan
Competition (Short Films)
Party Day, dir: Sofia Bost
The Trap, dir: Nada Riyadh
Ikki Illa Meint, dir: Andrias Høgenni
Journey Through A Body, dir: Camille Degeye
Community Gardens, dir: Vytautas Katkus
Lucia En El Limbo, dir: Valentina Maurel
The Manila Lover, dir: Johanna Pyykko
Tuesday From 8 To 6, dir: Cecilia de Arce
She Runs, dir: Qiu Yang
The Last Trip To The Seaside, dir: Adi Voicu
