2013 CANNES: Ari Folman’s THE CONGRESS to Open Directors’ Fortnight

Ari Folman, familiar with this name? Sure you are, we’re talking about an Israeli film director and screenwriter who’s probably best known for 2008 project Waltz with Bashir.

And no, we’re not here to chat about that title, but to report that Folman’s latest movie The Congress will open the 45th Director’s Fortnight sidebar during the Cannes Film Festival on May 16th!

Based on Stanislaw Lem’s novel titled “The Futurological Congress”, Folman’s live action/animation film has an awesome cast on board which includes Robin Wright, Paul Giamatti, Jon Hamm, Harvey Keitel, Danny Huston and Frances Fisher.

The Congress revolves around an aging actress with a disabled child who agrees to a large payment to have a full body imaging that will be digitized and utilized to create a digital actress.

In other words, the movie explores the ramifications of how the new digital actress affects the future of the woman and society as a whole. Or, as artistic director Edouard Waintrop revealed: “it is a haunted look on our future and the future of cinema”.

We’re happy to hear that Folman’s movie will open an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. As you already know – we’re talking about a section that showcases a programme of shorts and feature films as well as documentaries from all over the world.

Make sure you stay tuned and read the full Directors’ Fortnight lineup which will be unveiled on Tuesday!