Cannes Film Festival 2013 Program Announced

Here it is, fresh off this mornings press conference - on first look, it looks quite strong!

First reactions of interest include

• a prediction that the "golden palm" Cannes Film festival top prize will be hashed out between Soderberg, Sorrentino and Refn ("Drive" director, in the Cannes Festival Program with another movie starring Ryan Gosling)
• the observation that only one woman director is part of roster (after last year's zero women)<.li>

Opening night film: The Great Gatsby, dir Baz Luhrmann

Closing night film: Zulu, dir Jérôme Salle

In competition

Jury chair: Steven Spielberg

• Only God Forgives, dir Nicolas Winding Refn
• Borgman, dir Alex Can Warmerdam
• La Grande Bellezza, dir Paulo Sorrentino 
• Behind the Candelabra, dir Steven Soderbergh
• La Venus a la Fourrure, dir Roman Polanski
• Nebraska, dir Alexander Payne
• Jeune et Jolie, dir François Ozon
• La Vie d'Adele, dir Abdellatif Kechiche
• Wara No Tate, dir Takashi Miike
• Soshite Chichi Ni Naru, dir Kore-Eda Hirokazu
• Tian Zhu Ding, dir Jia Zhangke
• Grisgris, dir Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
• The Immigrant, dir James Gray
• Heli, dir Amat Escalante 
• Le Passe, dir Asghar Farhadi
• Michael Kohlhaas, dir Arnaud Despallieres
• Inside Llewyn Davis, dir Ethan and Joel Coen
• Un Chateau en Italie, dir Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi

Un Certain Regard

Jury chair: Thomas Vinterberg

• The Bling Ring, dir Sofia Coppola
• L'INCONNU DU LA, dir Alain GUIRAUDIE
• BENDS, dir Flora LAU
• L'IMAGE MANQUANTE, dir Rithy PANH
• LA JAULA DE ORO, dir Diego QUEMADA-DIEZ
• ANONYMOUS, dir Mohammad RASOULOF
• SARAH PRÉFÈRE LA COURSE, dir Chloé ROBICHAUD
• GRAND CENTRAL, dir Rebecca Zlotowski
• FRUITVALE STATIO, dir Ryan COOGLER
• LES SALAUDS, dir Claire DENIS
• NORTE, HANGGANAN NG KASAYSAYAN, dir Lav DIAZ
• AS I LAY DYING, dir James FRANCO
• MIELE, dir Valeria GOLINO
• OMAR, dir Hany ABU-ASSAD
• DEATH MARCH, dir Adolfo ALIX JR

Cinefondation

Jury chair: Jane Campion

Special screenings

• Weekend of a Champion, dir Roman Polanski 
• Seduced and Abandoned, dir James Toback
• Otdat Konci, dir Taisia Igumentseva
• Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, dir Stephen Frears
• Stop the Pounding Heart, dir Robero Minervini

Midnight screenings

MONSOON SHOOTOUT, dir Amit KUMAR
BLIND DETECTIVE, dir Johnnie TO

Homage to Jerry Lewis

MAX ROSE, dir Daniel NOAH

Out of Competiton 

• ALL IS LOST by J.C CHANDOR
• BLOOD TIES by Guillaume CANET

[source: The Guardian]

Cannes Film Festival 2013 Program: US stars to attend in full force?

With the official announcement just a few days away, rumors are flying around on who will make it onto the program for the Cannes Film Festival 2013 and compete for the prestigious "Golden Palm" of the Cannes Film Festival.
For those who can't wait for April 18, the day of the official announcement of the 2013 Cannes Festival program, the usually well-informed local newspaper Nice-Matin ran an article in its weekend edition on the hottest candidates for the this years festival program.
One category: "les americains" - whether there is suffient or too much US participation is always a hotly discussed topic. For one, US films often mean Hollywood stars will attend the festival, ensuring excitement with the general public and the paparazis.
So how will the 2013 Cannes Film Festival fare? Well, it seems Michael Douglas and Matt Damon are likely to attend for Steven Soderbergh's "Behind the Candelabra" who is likely to be selected for the festival program. Also attending will be Justin Timberlake as star of likely slected "Inside Llewyn Davis" by the Cohen brothers.
And it seems Brad Pitt will be back as well (see his 2012 appearance in video below), in Steve McQueen's "Twelve years a slave", also including Michael Fassbender. Also, Joaquin Phoenix is rumored to attend as part of the cast in James Gray's "Nightingale". Last, but not least, Hollywood legend Robert Redford might come as part of J.C Chandor's "All is lost".
But that's not all: there will be Leonardi DiCaprio for the already confirmed opening film "Gatsby" by Baz Luhrman as well as Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom for the also already confirmed film "Zulu" by Jerome Salle.
So it seems that 2013 Cannes Festival Jury President Steven Spielberg had a positive effect on US attendance - it looks as if this year will be a great year for stars from the US will show up in the 2013 Cannes Film Festival program.
[source: Nice Matin]