“New York, I Love You” Promo Trailer
Take a look at the promo trailer for “New York, I Love You” from the producer of “Paris, je t’aime” that opened the 2006 ‘Un Certain Regard’ section of the Cannes Film Festival.
“New York, I Love You” is a collection of 12 short films that will be a cinematic love letter to the Big Apple.
Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson are making their directorial debuts and helming their own segments. Portman also plays a Jewish bride.
Shia LeBeouf with Julie Christie and John Hurt is in a segment scripted by the late Anthony Minghella, which he was also set to direct until his death. He is replaced by Shekhar Kapur.
Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Chris Cooper, Anton Yelchin, Ethan Hawke and Kevin Bacon will take acting roles, whilst X-Men 3 helmer Brett Ratner will direct a segment. Read the rest of this entry
New Soderbergh’s “Che” (Guevara) Poster
We’ve got today a brand new Cannes Film Festival promo poster for the Steven Soderbergh’s drama “Che“.
Latest Soderbergh’s project is a set of two films shot back-to-back about Che Guevara titled individually “The Argentine” and “Guerrilla“. Both are premiered at the Cannes Film Festival under the name “Che” as a 268 minute presentation.
Benicio Del Toro won the best actor prize at Cannes Film Festival 2008 for his role in “Che”.
“The Argentine”: On November 26, 1956, Fidel Castro sails to Cuba with eighty rebels. One of those rebels is Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine doctor who shares a common goal with Fidel Castro - to overthrow the corrupt dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Che proves indispensable as a fighter, and quickly grasps the art of guerrilla warfare. As he throws himself into the struggle, Che is embraced by his comrades and the Cuban people. This film tracks Che’s rise in the Cuban Revolution, from doctor to commander to revolutionary hero. Read the rest of this entry
First Soderbergh’s “Che” (”Guerilla”) International Trailer
A pair of films by Steven Soderbergh about the life of Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara
debuted at Cannes Film Festival 2008.
Benicio Del Toro as “Che” won the best actor prize at Cannes Film Festival 2008 for his role.
“Che” - “The Argentine” and “Guerilla,” are two-part biopic with a total running time of 268 minutes.
Each of the two films will focus on a different episode in Che’s life:
“The Argentine” dramatises the struggle of Che and Fidel Castro to topple Cuba’s Batista regime in 1956, and “Guerrilla” will chart the episode when, eight years later, Che travelled to New York to address the United Nations.
Scarlett Johansson denies premiere snub
Scarlett Johansson has dismissed claims that she snubbed the premiere at Cannes Film Festival of her new film because her “diva” demands were not met.
The actress sparked speculation when she failed to show up at the screening of Woody Allen movie Vicky Christina Barcelona at Cannes on Saturday.
It was rumoured that the French arm of distributor Warner Bros had refused to agree to her list of demands, which were said to include a £4,000-per-day makeup artist.
Her publicist denied the reports that Johansson’s absence was a result of unavoidable “scheduling conflicts”.
Cannes Film Festival CAM - Live From Croisette
What’s happening on the Cannes Cam today (all times local; red carpets kick off approximately 45 minutes before start of film):
20. May 2008.
Premiere of Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling“ (8:30 - 12:00 / 19:00 - local time)
Premiere of Kornel Mondruczo’s “Delta” (16:00- local time)
Midnight Screening:
Emir Kusturica’s “Maradona” (23:30 - local time)
‘Hunger’ - Steve McQueen - Cannes 2008
‘Hunger‘ is showing at the Cannes Film Festival 2008, opening the ‘Un Certain Regard‘ category, from British director Steve McQueen, the artist who hit the headlines recently with his design for a postage stamp that replaced the Queen’s head with the faces of soldiers killed in Iraq.
Turner Prize-winnng British artist Steve McQueen makes his big-screen debut with Hunger, an account of the 1981 hunger strike in Northern Ireland’s Maze prison.
The film follows the last six weeks in the life of Republican Bobby Sands, who died during the strike.
It plunges viewers into the world of the early 1980s H-Blocks uprising and of republican prisoner Bobby Sands (played with formidable force by Michael Fassbender), who died 66 days into a hunger strike.
The film depicts the hellish conditions in the prison, not only through the experiences of the hunger strikers but also through the prison wardens with whom they were in constant battle.
McQueen is best known for his film installations, which are usually projected on to gallery walls. One of the most famous of these is ‘Deadpan’, a recreation of a Buster Keaton stunt.
Synopsis:
Raymond Lohan wearily follows his normal routine: an ordinary man doing the job of a prison officer in the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland, 1981. Working within one of the infamous H-Blocks, where republican prisoners are on the Blanket and No-Wash protest, is a living hell for both prisoner and prison officer.
A young, new prisoner Davey Gillen is brought into this environment for the first time. Although terrified, Davey resolutely refuses to wear the prison uniform - he is no common criminal. So joining the Blanket protest, he shares a filthy cell with another ‘non-conforming’ republican prisoner Gerry Campbell. Gerry, hardened to the horrific realities of Maze life, guides Davey through the daily routine, he trains him how to smuggle items and exchange ‘comms’ (communications) with the outside world, passing them on to their H-Block leader Bobby Sands at Sunday Mass.
Cannes 2008 - Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir
Playing in the Official Selection, Israeli director Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir, a documentary about the Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of 1982, is a major revelation.
Waltz with Bashir documents the struggle of the filmmaker, Ari Folman, to come to terms with the gaps in his memory surrounding the part he played in the first Lebanese war and the 1982 massacre of Palestinian civilians in the West Beirut refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila.
An animation that is visually bold and politically combustible, it’s based on the director’s own experiences as a draftee soldier. The film begins with him confessing to a friend about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by savage dogs. This is interpreted as being something to do with his military past, a past he has blocked out over subsequent decades.
Synopsis:
One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs.
Every night, the same number of beasts.
The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties.
Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life.
Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself.
As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images…
Ari Folman - Director / Screenplay
Yoni Goodman - Animation
David Polonski - Cinematography
Max Richter - Music
Waltz With Bashir official site
