Apart from my personal bout of bad bronchitis and several thefts (but that’s another story), 2018 was a great year for the Festival de Cannes in it’s 71st edition.
Highlights included Australian actress and activist Cate Blanchett as head of the jury, opening night with Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem and the presence of many many top artists and technicians on the tapis rouge, screenings and events with gender equality the theme of the festival.
There were, as usual, incredible functions surrounding the Cannes Film Festival to encourage networking and entertain and relax the festival goers with top local and international artists at Villa Schweppes (DJ Morad Moox & friends), Nespresso Plage, Majestic Plage (including the incredible soiree Orange feat. La Blaze where I managed a mini tap break to Territory ;), STING & Shaggy performed for the public on the red carpet(!) and of course many events took place on yachts and boats (including Nicholas Ullman’s great opening bash).
On another note, a special ceremony was held on the plage next to the Palais to honour Indigenous Australian actor and singer/songwriting legend Tom E. Lewis who suddenly passed away during the festival (back in Australia). Close friends and colleagues held a sand ceremony with laurel palm and eucalyptus. It’s 40 years since the Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival and in 2005 a doco inspired by his life, starring Tom was in competition in Un Certain Regard.
As for the Cannes official selection films- they were surely startling, the debates were passionate and the winners included Australian Charles Williams for his short ‘ALL THESE CREATURES’, a special Palme d’or for Le Livre d’image by Jean-Luc GODARD and the jury prize went to CAPHARNAÜM (kafarnaoum) by Lebanese director Nadine LABAKI.
Here are some of our moving image memoires. Bon ‘projection’.
Full list of Awards
FEATURE FILMS PALME D’OR
MANBIKI KAZOKU (Shoplifters) directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu
GRAND PRIX BLACKKKLANSMAN (Black Klansman) directed by Spike LEE
JURY PRIZE CAPHARNAÜM directed by Nadine LABAKI
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR Marcello FONTE in DOGMAN directed by Matteo GARRONE
BEST DIRECTOR PRIZE ZIMNA WOJNA (Cold War) directed by Pawel PAWLIKOWSKI
BEST SCREENPLAY EX-ÆQUO Alice ROHRWACHER for LAZZARO FELICE (Happy as Lazzaro) Jafar PANAHI for SE ROKH (3 Faces) directed by Jafar PANAHI
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS Samal YESLYAMOVA in AYKA directed by Sergey DVORTSEVOY
SPECIAL PALME D’OR LE LIVRE D’IMAGE (Image Book) directed by Jean-Luc GODARD
SHORT FILMS – COMPETITION PALME D’OR ALL THESE CREATURES directed by Charles WILLIAMS
SPECIAL DISTINCTION BY THE JURY YAN BIAN SHAO NIAN (On the Border) directed by WEI Shujun
UN CERTAIN REGARD
UN CERTAIN REGARD PRIZE GRÄNS by Ali ABBASI
PRIZE FOR BEST SCREENPLAY SOFIA by Meryem BENM’BAREK
PRIZE FOR BEST PERFORMANCE Victor POLSTER for GIRL by Lukas DHONT
PRIZE FOR BEST DIRECTOR Sergei LOZNITSA for DONBASS
JURY SPECIAL PRIZE CHUVA É CANTORIA NA ALDEIA DOS MORTOS (The Dead and the Others) by João SALAVIZA and Renée NADER MESSORA
CAMÉRA D’OR GIRL directed by Lukas DHONT presented as part of UN CERTAIN REGARD
CINÉFONDATION FIRST PRIZE EL VERANO DEL LEÓN ELÉCTRICO (The Summer of the Electric Lion) directed by Diego CÉSPEDES Universidad de Chile – ICEI, Chili
SECOND PRIZE EX AEQUO KALENDAR (Calendar) directed by Igor POPLAUHIN Moscow School of New Cinema, Russie DONG WU XIONG MENG (The Storms in Our Blood) directed by SHEN Di Shanghai Theater Academy, Chine
THIRD PRIZE INANIMATE directed by Lucia BULGHERONI NFTS, Royaume-Uni L
PRIX VULCAIN DE L’ARTISTE-TECHNICIEN 2018 SHIN Joom-Hee, BURNING
