The Cannes Festival Blog

Stone Doing Stoners: Director Oliver Stone talks about upcoming Marihuana Movie �Savages�

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:56:00 -0400

Doing press work during the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily, Italy, Director Oliver Stone (Wall Street, Natural Born Killers, Platoon, JFK) gave some interesting background on his new movie �Savages�. With shooting to start in three and a half weeks, the movie features a top cast including Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Salma Hayek, Blake Lively and Benicio Del Toro. �California has legalized marihuana for medical purposes. As a result very high grade weed is grown in southern California, some of the best in the world in my personal opinion, Very fine quality. They really work at it. They�re good at it.� �To have a nice brand O.G. LA (original gangster LA) is hard work. It�s also expensive, very expensive. It�s like creating a fine wine. We learned how to do that from other countries, now we make great marihuana. We have great marihuana, better than anywhere in the world. It used to be Thai weed, or afghan, now it�s Southern California.� �The movie is about those people and people from Mexico who sell their weed everywhere. The Mexican cartels are very aggressive, and competitive with southern Californians. It seems there would be a coming conflict between the two groups, The Mexicans trying to take over the Californian business.�

Oliver Stone: "I�m not just a filmmaker"

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:01:53 -0400

Some directors specialize in sequels to create movie franchises. Oliver Stone has developed another angle: he does new cuts of �Alexander�. At the Taormina Film Festival, he presented the third cut, entitled somewhat geeky but certainly precise �Alexander Revisited: The Final Unrated Cut�. In the master class, he talks about the movie, his ongoing Marihuana film project and why he�s not making political films. Q: Can you say more about the first version of �Alexander�? Oliver Stone: It cost a lot of money. We did manage to do break even in foreign countries, but not in the UK and the US. We ended up in the list of top 20 top grossing films of the year. It wasn�t what I wanted it to be. People made it sound like it was the worst film of time. It was horrible for me. I knew Alexander well, and I assumed the audience knew what I know. Q: When seeing �Alexander�, I saw certain parallels with Jesus. Oliver Stone: I never thought of Alexander with the reference to Jesus. I see Alexander as a model for myself. He admired the Indian philosophy. He brought philosophers with him on this journey. His was a world of survival and strength. It is interesting they both died at 33, but a lot of people die at or before 33. I think of him as a pre-Jesus. Jesus is the guy who turned the other check. And that�s not at all Alexander. Most of the Greek stories come from the east. Greek heroes go to the east, and they bring something to the west. The truth is Alexander never came home. He wanted to become more and more eastern. He made 500 of his officers intermarry. He goes beyond most Greek mythology. The Christians didn�t like Alexander. The Christians destroyed a lot of Alexander literature. A lot of what we know about Alexander came from the east. Q: What are your next projects? Oliver Stone: I am finishing a documentary for television, which I�ve been working on for three to four years. I�m trying to make history entertaining for young people to see it. It is really the untold history of the US. We have been brainwashed. America is a closed society in many ways, even though we are a free society. We are not as educated about history; there is s certain uniformity of thought. We see ourselves as the good guy. I will start a new movie in three and a half weeks. It�s about the Marihuana production in Southern California. In that area, southern California rules. The do the most advance work in genetics. So it�s an interesting time. In our movie we are proposing that the Mexican cartels have a big influence. They come after our young people. It becomes an interesting story like a western, the good and the bad. Q: When JFK came out it sent shock waves trough the US. How do you see it now? Oliver Stone: The movie was a shock at the time. There was lots of editorializing about it. They ignored fact it was a movie. I was using new techniques. We did a lot of revolutionary stuff. It got all politicized. We did a lot of research. I continue to defend this film. I continue to think JFK was murdered. I continue to follow the case. JFK was going to do a peaceful coexistence, but the American military didn�t want to go down this path. Q: I am surprised you are surprised that critics focus on political issues. Very few directors pick political subjects. I think you are the only one who picks political subjects for every film. Is every film a political one as Godard said? Oliver Stone: Politics is very confusing to people in America. I think political film is impossible in that sense. I try to make my films entertaining. I�m a dramatist primarily. When I speak sometimes extremely, I speak as private citizen. It doesn�t affect the work. I think you have to separate. I�m a citizen; I�m not just a filmmaker.

Jack Black On the Meaning of Kung Fu Panda, Life and the Rest of the Universe

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 13:59:00 -0400

In town for the screening of �Kung Fu Panda 2� in 3D in the Greek theatre, Jack Black opened this year�s series of master classes at the Taormina Film Festival 2011. Somewhat struggling in his role as professor with questions on destiny, quantum theory and God, Black managed to kept it light and funny, repeatedly interrupting his lecture bellowing out (yes, that�s the word) songs covering a repertoire from AC/DC to � would you believe it? � Vivaldi.

Q: Kung Fu Panda has a lot to do with destiny. Do you believe in destiny?

Jack Black: I�m not the smartest man in the world but I do believe in destiny � I like the way this lecture is going, I feel like a professor. Are there any more questions about life and the rest of the universe?

Q: What�s your take on quantum theory?

Jack Black: I love science fiction � I better get some easier questions, or this is going to end very soon!

Q: Does the Kung Fu Panda character resemble you? Is it your inner part?

Jack Black: Yeah, I think we have a lot in common. The panda is like a boy who loves Kung-fu with all his heart. He has his heroes, the Kung Fu idols. That�s how I was when I was a kid � I had my comedian heroes, my rock heroes. We�re both bumbling innocent buffoons but in the end we achieved our dreams.

Q: Is it true that the Director of the movie, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, taught you Kung Fu?

Jack Black: No, she is not a practitioner herself.

Q: Tell us about your favorite directors.

Jack Black: �School of Rock� was a great job of directing by Robert Linklater. I just did another movie with him called �Bernie�. The best directors are the ones that get the best performances out of me. Those who not just tell actors what to do, but work with them. They don�t go: I am the genius, and you are the puppet!

Steven Frears from High Fidelity is also brilliant.

Q: Did you have fun working on �Tropic Thunder�?

Jack Black: I did. Ben Stiller is a friend of mine from long ago - here�s what�s amazing about him: he gets an idea and then work on it for twenty years. He got the idea for �Tropic Thunder� when he was an extra in �Empire of the Sun� by Steven Spielberg. I don�t have the kind of patience that directors have.

Q: What was it like working for the Beastie Boys? And do you believe in God?

Jack Black: It was awesome. When I got the call that they were working on a music video it was an automatic yes. They have been the coolest band for so long.

Do I believe in God? I don�t know, maybe. Every moment that we are alive is a miracle � it�s impossible � how does any of this work? I don�t believe in organized religion. I don�t believe there�s any chosen people.

It�s getting pretty important again � I need some dumb questions.

Q: Would you agree your wife has three kids at home?

Jack Black: Not sure I understand � oh, of course! You mean I am the third � hm, yes, yes and yes. I love my work, its� all about staying a child. When you are a kid, you are pretending to be a space warrior � I love to pretend. Acting is a trick to hold on to it.

Q: Would you like to play in a movie with Monica Bellucci?

Jack Black: Was she in the Matrix part 2 or 3? She was really good in that � I like Monica Bellucci � we don�t have anything in development now. But I�m sure she can contact my agent � we could be like Mr. and Ms. Smith � Black, Belucci, Beauty and the Beast.

Q: How is your music career coming along?

Jack Black: We are just recording an album. We have seven really good songs, and three really bad songs. I don�t want to rush any album � everyone needs to be a masterpiece. There�s a song called �Seniorita�. There�s also a song called �Rise of the Phoenix part 1, 2 3� which is about how we are rising from the failure of our last album.

Q: Where do you love being in your free time?

Jack Black: I have a favorite movie theatre. The Arclight � I love LA � I was born and raised there. I had an incredible time in New Zealand, when I worked on King Kong. I�m not a great vacationer. I haven�t learned how to relax just yet. I like to ski. I like to eat.

Q: What�s on your ipod at the moment?

Jack Black: I�ve been listening to a lot of Zeppelin. They are the best band in the history of rock�n roll. I think they�re even better than The Beatles. I like anything that Jack White ever puts out. I was sad when they said the White Stripes was over. I love The Strokes. The new Beastie Boys is really good, not just because I�m in the video.

Q: What kind of advice do you have for someone who wants to get into comedy these days?

Jack Black: Just go out and do it � I�ve never done much stand-up comedy myself � it�s so scary. There are some good clubs in New York and LA. To get started, I just sort of wandered around, and just got invited. Just do what you love to do. I wish I had some better advice for you. I think people who want to get into entertainment should do a little bit of everything � do a little bit of acting, a little bit of writing, a little bit of directing. If you�re just going to perform, you need other people to give you a break. If you write your own ticket, that�s usually better.

Q: What�s your relationship with videogames?

Jack Black: �Brutal Legend� came along because the author called me when I had just finished his other game. I love videogames, and I wanted to act in a videogame. I think it�s the next frontier. There�s some really fantastic acting in them. It�s the future.

Q: One could argue you�re not in the movie we�re going to see here tonight because there�s voice over in Italian. What�s your opinion of voiceover?

Jack Black: I feel an ownership in the role because I was there when the role was created. I shaped the character. It was a collaborative effort with me and the director and the writers. So I still think it�s part of me up there. I feel they stole all my faces and body movements as well.

Q: What were you like when you were little?

Jack Black: When I was little, I loved to make people laugh. It was like a drug. I would do anything for a laugh

Cannes Film Festival 2012 Dates: May 16 to May 27

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:26:03 -0400

The next Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 16 to May 27 2012 - a few days later than 2011.

And yes, Christina, in case you are still not quite sure, it will be in Cannes, as usual!

Cannes Film Festival Winners 2011

Sun, 22 May 2011 21:11:00 -0400

FEATURE FILMS Palme d'Or THE TREE OF LIFE directed by Terrence MALICK Grand Prix Ex-aequo BIR ZAMANLAR ANADOLU'DA (ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA) directed by Nuri Bilge CEYLAN LE GAMIN AU V�LO (THE KID WITH A BIKE) directed by Jean-Pierre et Luc DARDENNE Award for Best Director Nicolas WINDING REFN for DRIVE Award for Best Screenplay Joseph CEDAR for HEARAT SHULAYIM (Footnote) Award for Best Actress Kirsten DUNST in MELANCHOLIA directed by Lars VON TRIER Award for Best Actor Jean DUJARDIN in THE ARTIST directed by Michel HAZANAVICIUS Jury Prize POLISSE (POLISS) directed by MA�WENN SHORT FILMS Palme d'Or - Short Film CROSS (CROSS - COUNTRY) directed by Maryna VRODA Jury Prize - Short Film BADPAKJE 46 (SWIMSUIT 46) directed by Wannes DESTOOP

80 Cannes Film Festival 2011 Trailers!

Wed, 11 May 2011 06:42:21 -0400

Trailers galore! Trailers for all 80 movies to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival 2011 are now available!

Check out

The trailer of today's Cannes Film Festival opening film, Woody Allen's "Midgnight in Paris"
" Pirates Of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" Trailer starring Johnny Depp and premiering this Saturday at the Cannes Festival
Trailers of all films in competition

Cannes Film Festival Screening Schedule

Mon, 09 May 2011 17:00:03 -0400

The schedule for the daily screenings at the Cannes Film Festival 2011 is now available for download in PDF format

Program Cannes Film Festival 2011

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 05:38:14 -0400

Opening Film Woody ALLEN MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (Out of Competition) 1h40 Competition Pedro ALMODOVAR LA PIEL QUE HABITO 2h00 Bertrand BONELLO L'APOLLONIDE - SOUVENIRS DE LA MAISON CLOSE 2h02 Alain CAVALIER PATER 1h45 Joseph CEDAR HEARAT SHULAYIM 1h45 Nuri Bilge CEYLAN BIR ZAMANLAR ANADOLU'DA (Once upon a time in Anatolia) 2h30 Jean-Pierre et Luc DARDENNE LE GAMIN AU V�LO 1h27 Aki KAURISMAKI LE HAVRE 1h43 Naomi KAWASE HANEZU NO TSUKI 1h31 Julia LEIGH SLEEPING BEAUTY - 1st film - 1h44 MA�WENN POLISSE 2h01 Terrence MALICK THE TREE OF LIFE 2h18 Radu MIHAILEANU LA SOURCE DES FEMMES 2h15 Takashi MIIKE ICHIMEI (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samura�) 2h06 Nanni MORETTI HABEMUS PAPAM 1h42 Lynne RAMSAY WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN 1h50 Markus SCHLEINZER MICHAEL - 1st film - 1h34 Paolo SORRENTINO THIS MUST BE THE PLACE 1h58 Lars VON TRIER MELANCHOLIA 2h10 Nicolas WINDING REFN DRIVE 1h35 Un Certain Regard Gus VAN SANT RESTLESS - Opening Film - 1h31 Bakur BAKURADZE THE HUNTER 1h50 Andreas DRESEN HALT AUF FREIER STRECKE 1h35 Bruno DUMONT HORS SATAN 1h50 Sean DURKIN MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE - 1st film - 1h41 Robert GUEDIGUIAN LES NEIGES DU KILIMANDJARO 1h47 Oliver HERMANUS SKOONHEID 1h38 HONG Sangsoo THE DAY HE ARRIVES 1h19 Cristian JIMENEZ BONSAI (Bonsa�) 1h42 Eric KHOO TATSUMI 1h34 KIM Ki-duk ARIRANG 1h40 Nadine LABAKI ET MAINTENANT ON VA OU ? 1h50 Catalin MITULESCU LOVERBOY 1h35 NA Hong-jin YELLOW SEA 2h20 Gerardo NARANJO MISS BALA 1h53 Juliana ROJAS, Marco DUTRA TRABALHAR CANSA - 1st film - 1h40 Pierre SCHOELLER L'EXERCICE DE L'ETAT 1h55 Ivan SEN TOOMELAH 1h46 Joachim TRIER OSLO, AUGUST 31ST 1h35 Out of Competition Xavier DURRINGER LA CONQUETE 1h45 Jodie FOSTER THE BEAVER 1h40 Michel HAZANAVICIUS THE ARTIST 1h40 Rob MARSHALL PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES 2h20 Midnight Screenings CHAN Peter Ho-Sun WU XIA 2h00 Everardo GOUT DIAS DE GRACIA - 1st film - 2h13 Special Screnings Frederikke ASPOCK LABRADOR - 1st film - 1h30 Rithy PANH LE MA�TRE DES FORGES DE L'ENFER 1h45 Michael RADFORD MICHEL PETRUCCIANI 1h30 Christian ROUAUD TOUS AU LARZAC 2h00

Oscar winner Colin Firth on Punks, Pimps, the English Class system and how Mamma Mia nearly ended his career

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 20:01:59 -0500

Right on time for Oscar night, we publish excerpts from a master class �Best Actor� nominee Colin Firth held at the 2010 Taormina Film Festival in Italy, having just finished the work on �The King�s Speech�. The film nominated for a whopping total of eleven Oscar�s - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction - and won the two most important ones - Best Picture and Best Actor for Colin Firth.

Firth talked about his work with Directors in general and Tom Ford in particular, the English Class system, his view of Hollywood, his humanitarian work and how he feels about making �Mamma Mia�

On Directors

How do you respond best to a director?

Colin Firth: There is no absolute manual on how to direct a film. It's and extremely unpredictable human process, a combination of human beings. There are of course techniques, but every case is different. A director who is brilliant for me may not work for an another actor.

Does it come down to personal relationships outside of the work?

Colin Firth: It's not necessarily outside of the work but it is personal relationships. One of the most essential skills of a director is personal. You have to have a vision and the story to tell. You don�t need to know about the camera or the lighting, but you have to be able to communicate your vision. The best directors don�t necessarily do that with words.There are directors that speak very little.

Tom Ford never told me how to do anything. But when you arrived on the set there was a clear feeling of the world he wanted you to participate in.

In Cannes, I was witnessed a conversation between an Australian Director and Juliette Binoche. She listened to the project and was lovely. But at the end she said your project sounds fascinating but I would never work with a first time director. You seem exactly the opposite. Inexperience doesn�t bother you so much as long as you believe into the project.

Colin Firth: I couldn't work according to rules like that. If you are dealing with something as nebulous as story telling you cannot fix rules as precisely as that. If you rule out all first time directors, you will be ruling out the first film of every great director we have ever seen.I think there are other ways to judging this. There is an instinct you have. There needs to be rapport and engagement with the subject of the film, the world of the writers, the world of the characters. Tom Ford had that. I was completely free.

How much of the effect of a scene depends on the editor? Do you ever feel at the mercy of the director or the editor and the director?

Colin Firth: We are all at each others mercy. A Director cannot actually make a performer happy.A good editor will also save you. Yes, I have gone into despair when I saw final cuts, butI also said �Thank God the cut there� so it literally cuts both ways.

On the British Class System

You worked a lot with the British film industry where there seems to be a class-based bias saying �If its' not a working class I am not interested�.

Colin Firth: There is definitely a very clear division according to class in British cinema. BecauseI am associated with middle class cinema they put me in costume. It is very rare you get current stories on middle class. Almost everything contemporary needs to be working class.

I find it infuriating that only working class has the right to have emotions in cinema.

Colin Firth: It is true. You are deprived of representing what you are.

As a matter of fact, I didn't get a very posh education. I had a state education in a predominately working class environment. I didn't speak as I speak now when I was a child.

Has that stymied you with the roles you are getting?

Colin Firth: Until I got through drama school had no idea that I was going to be pigeon-holed in patrician and middle class roles. I thought I could play punks and pimps well. But because of our class system that was not possible.

Daniel de Lewis escaped that, although he is more patrician than I am. He established diversity very early He did �Room with a View� but also �My beautiful Launderette�.

On �The King�s Speech�

You just finished �The King�s Speech�

Colin Firth: Yes - it is about King George, the father of Queen Elizabeth, the present queen.

It is set against the abolition crisis. That was a constitutional crisis. The king of England abdicated the throne to be with his girlfriend. She was not only American but also divorced. That is a well-known story.The story that is not told very often is about his brother who had to become king although he was not prepared at all. He also had a chronic stammer. This was when live radio broadcast was the essential job of the monarchy. His job was to speak brilliantly live to the entire empire. This is the story of the speech therapist who never completely healed him but got him to the point where he could speak with a certain gravitas and he became a popular king. This was of course at the beginning of the War, and the adversaries were the best speaker of the time, Mussolini and Hitler - this is what he was up to.

You are playing posh again.

Colin Firth: I am playing very posh!

On Acting

I wonder if there are performances today that impress you by one of your peers.

Colin Firth: What I admire most is acting that really is inconspicuous. I think Robert Mitchum said �Don�t ever let them catch you acting�.

Two performances I really liked are Heath Ledger in �The Dark Knight� and Daniel de Lewis in �There will be Blood� � but both are really acting.

Colin Firth: When I said it has to be inconspicuous I don�t mean it has to be small. There is no such thing than as over the top as long as you fill it and as long as the content is there.

You don�t normally expect to see virtuosity in an action film - it is pure brilliance. When you what this guy is doing you don�t' see the acting - you see complete insanity.Everything is absolutely authentic. The behavior of the joker is inconspicuous.

It's the same with Daniel and �There will be Blood�. I see the driven man. It can be as big as you want, but you can�t let the acting show.

On Hollywood

Why have you stayed so loyal to the British film industry? You resisted the call of America. You've done some of the better British films over the last years. It is almost quixotic.

Colin Firth: I am always afraid of that question. I just don't know the answer. There was not really that much of a call by Hollywood. There is not that life that was waiting for me.Even after Bridget Jones, it wasn't tempting. It's not loyalty, its not virtue, it is quite simply preference. I don' think you can never extend yourself or travel beyond your territory, but every person feeds on their roots. Resources have to mean something to you.

If you are a story teller you have to be where the stories are. Collaboration is an essential part of my business. It doesn�t have to be cronyism or a festival of reassurance. By developing relationships, by keeping in touch with the stories of your culture, your political life, by observing your own universe, I believe if I leave it behind altogether I would loose.

You can immerse yourself in other people stories, but as a base I feel more connected at home. I feel more animated and alive if I am based in London than if I were to base myself in Los Angeles.

I spent a lot of time in LA and there is a lot about that place that is very productive.

On �A Single Man�

What compelled you about �A Single Man�?

Colin Firth: I knew about Christopher Isherwood, he interested me a lot. I knew nothing about his LA period; I only knew his Berlin period. I think �A Single Man� is his best novel. LA was a great intellectual center in the time of Isherwood. You had Brecht, Thomas Mann, Stravinsky � that was fascinating to me.

Your performance is almost a full mask performance, doing infinite amounts with repressed facial movements. Is that the kind of acting that you find rewarding?

Colin Firth: I don't chose it as a technique

I imagine Tom Ford said you have to be stoic.

Colin Firth: He never said that. The scene with the phone call - there was nothing about that in the script and nothing from Tom. That scene was quite difficult. It was the day that Obama won the election and I wasn't sad. It was also the day when Proposition 8 passed in California which rescinded gay marriage.

I had just heard that John McCain lost. The sound guy played McCain�s concession speech. We sat in silent euphoria and I had to play a scene of absolute devastation.I had planned not to cry actually. But then Tom didn't cut the camera. So I was sitting there - I put the pone down. There it was a quiet, an empty room - he didn�t cut. It was a silent direct. I thought this was fantastic. This was a moment where he just let me be there. It took ten minutes for the camera to run out if film, then there was silence.

Then Tom said: Do you want to do it again? That was more difficult. I did it three times. I had to go back from devastated to happy because the scene starts happy.

On Humanitarian Work

You have an interesting live outside of film with your charity work. Does that root in your childhood that you partly spent in Nigeria?

Colin Firth: I don't know. My family travelled so much and I met people from extraordinarily diverse backgrounds, economic and social. I never ever felt territorial. My principles don't end with my passports or anybody else�s passport. To me, there�s just the human race. If compassion is worth anything it�s globally applicable.

My father was a very popular teacher in Nigeria so I grew up surrounded by Nigerians. The majority of my friends are not English and most of my romantic relationships have not been with English people.

So I do sort of see issues on a global level. I don't see geographical distance precluding caring.

On �Mamma Mia�

In your career, did you ever have moments where you thought this is the end?

Colin Firth: When I made "Mamma Mia", I thought this is the end about eight times a day.I thought this is the end when I danced, or when I sang. Me and Stelan are actually good friends, and when we did the scenes we were actually having fun. It felt like a hen party. But right after we thought: oh my god what have we done.

Cannes Film Festival Opening Film: Woody Allen

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:50:41 -0500

"Midnight in Paris" will be the opening film of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. A romantic comedy directed by Woody Allen, the movie features former super-model Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, wife of the French president, in her first movie role. When asked about her motivations, Bruni explained: "I'd like to, when I'm a grandmother, to have done a Woody Allen film." The movie also stars Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, French Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, and Gad Elmaleh.

This is the second time in the last ten years that the Cannes Film Festival will open with a Woody Allen movie ("Hollywood Ending" opened the 2002 Cannes Film Festival).While somewhat out of favor in his home country, the US director has become a Cannes Film Festival program regular. Many of his recent films have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in recent years, including some of the stronger ones such as "Match Point" and "Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona".

After London and Barcelona, this year's Allen movie is set in Paris. "Midnight in Paris is a wonderful love letter to Paris", declared Festival director Thierry Fr�maux.