And there are some must-watch films in there which cannot be missed.
Aside from having the coolest poster in Cannes, by Takeshi Kitano — so far we haven’t seen the official poster for the festival, or am I wrong? This year’s Quinzaine des Cinéastes, the Director’s Fortnight as it’s known in English also has some cool films, which were just announced this week.
The parallel section, overseen by the French Directors Guild, is in its 56th edition and will run from May 15th to 23rd.
The 2024 edition will open with late director Sophie Fillières’ final feature This Life of Mine, starring Agnès Jaoui. Fillières passed away in August of 2023 and her children have helped finish the film, which she had just wrapped shooting on. French director Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s dark comedy Plastic Guns will close this year’s edition.
Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point is the third feature from American writer and director Tyler Taormina. The film stars Michael Cera, Elsie Fisher, Maria Dizzia, Francesca Scorsese, Ben Shenkman, Gregg Turkington, Sawyer Spielberg and newcomer Matilda Fleming.
The North Americans are coming, as far as the Fortnight is concerned. Apart from Taormina, there is the debut film by cinematographer Carson Lund and the feature debut of India Donaldson, Good One which premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Ryan J. Sloan’s Gazer is also a first film and that rounds out the US auteurs. While Universal Language (Une Langue Universelle) by Matthew Rankin is the sole Canadian film in the line up. The film is set between Tehran and Winnipeg and is a drama weaving the lives of different people.
Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel’s To a Land Unknown is a highly anticipated title from the MENA region, as is Egyptian helmer Hala Elkoussy’s East of Noon (Sharq 12).
Now moving onto Critics’ Week (Semaine de la Critique in French) and there are two “babies” of mine in the line up. They are projects I mentored earlier this March in Qatar, as part of the Doha Film Institute Qumra event. I hold these projects always near and dear to my heart and the Cannes announcements keep me on the edge of my seat for days.
Locust is the feature debut of KEFF, a Taiwanese-American writer, director, musician, and artist who grew up in Hong Kong. He’s cool and his film is a must-watch, just take my word for it.
The other projects I was proud to mentor is La mer au loin (Across the Sea) Saïd Hamich Benlarbi. Benlarbi is a French-Moroccan screenwriter, director, and producer, a Femis graduate and winner of the Lagardère Foundation and this is his second feature — featuring a cool cast but also some gorgeous Raï music for a multi-sensory experience that is just beyond words.
French director Jonathan Millet’s psychological manhunt thriller Ghost Trail (Les Fantômes) will open the section. The film stars Adam Bessa, who has wowed us in both Harka, for which he won the Un Certain Regard prize for his performance, and Who Do I Belong To by Meryam Joobeur, which screened in Competition at this year’s Berlinale.
Find the complete lists of titles in both section below.
Directors’ Fortnight 2024 Line-Up
Feature Films
This Life Of Mine (Ma Vie Ma Gueule) OPENING FILM
Dir.Sophie Fillières
(France)
In His Own Image (A Son Image)
Dir. Thierry de Peretti
(France)
Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point
Dir. de Tyler Taormina
(U.S)
Desert of Namibia (Namibia no sabaku)
Dir. Yôko Yamanaka
(Japan)
East of Noon (Sharq 12)
Dir. Hala Elkoussy
(Egypt)
Eat The Night
Dir. Caroline Poggi & Jonathan Vinel
(France)
Eephus *
Dir. Carson Lund
(U.S.)
Gazer *
Dir. Ryan J. Sloan
(U.S)
Ghost cat anzu (Bakeneko Anzu-chan / Anzu, chat-fantôme)
Dir. Yôko Kuno & Nobuhiro Yamashita
(Japan)
Good One *
Dir. India Donaldson
(U.S.)
Mongrel (白衣蒼狗) *
Dir. Chiang Wei Liang & You Qiao Yin
(Taiwan)
Visiting Hours (La Prisonnière De bordeaux)
Dir.Patricia Mazuy
(France)
Savanna and the Mountain (A savana e a montanha)
Dir. Paulo Carneiro (Portugal)
Sister Midnight
Dir.Karan Kandhari
(U.K.)
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed (Algo viejo, algo nuevo, algo prestado)
Dir. Hernán Rosselli
(Argentina)
The Falling Sky (A queda do céu)
Dir. Eryk Rocha & Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha
(Brazil)
The Hyperboreans (Los hiperbóreos)
Dir. Cristóbal León & Joaquín Cociña
(Chile)
To A Land Unknown
Dir. Mahdi Fleifel
(Palestine, Denmark)
The Other Way Around
Dir. de Jonás Trueba (Spain)
Universal Language (Une Langue Universelle)
Dir. Matthew Rankin (Canada)
Plastic Guns (Pistolets en Plastique) CLOSING FILM
Dir. Jean-Christophe Meurisse
(France)
Special Screening
American Stories: Food, Family and Philosophy
Dir. Chantal Akerman
(Belgium)
Short Films
Après Le Soleil (After the Sun)
Dir. Rayane Mcirdi (France, Algérie / Algeria)
Extremely short (Totemo mijikai)
Dir. Maryam Tafakory (Japon / Japan)
Immaculata
Dir. Kim Lêa Sakkal (Liban / Lebanon)
Antoine, Élise and Léandre (Les Météos d’Antoine)
Dir. Jules Follet (France)
Mulberry Fields (Một lần dang dở)
Dir. Nguyễn Trung Nghĩa (Vietnam)
Our Own Shadow (Nuestra sombra)
Dir. Agustina Sánchez Gavier (Argentine / Argentina)
The Moving Garden (O jardim em movimento)
Dir. Inês Lima (Portugal)
Very Gentle Work (Travail très soigné)
Dir. Nate Lavey
(U.S.)
When The Land Runs Away (Quando a terra foge)
Dir. Frederico Lobo (Portugal)
Cannes Critics’ Week 2024 Line-up
Competition
Baby
Dir. Marcelo Caetano
(Br-Fr-Nl)
Blue Sun Palace
Dir. Constance Tsang
(U.S.)
The Brink of Dreams (Rafaat einy ll sama)
Dir. Nada Riyadh, Ayman El Amir
(Egy-Fr-Dk-Qat-Saudi)
Julie Keeps Quiet (Julie zwijgt)
Dir. Leonardo Van Dijl
(Bel-Sw)
Locust
Dir. KEFF
(Tai-Fr-U.S.)
Block Pass (La Pampa)
Dir. Antoine Chevrollier
(Fr)
Simon of the Mountain (Simon de la montaña)
Dir. Federico Luis
(Arg-Chile-Ur)
Special Screenings
Ghost Trail (Les Fantômes) OPENING FILM
Dir. Jonathan Millet
(Fr-Ger-Bel)
Queens of Drama (Les Reines du Drame)
Dir. Alexis Langlois
(Fr-Bel)
Across The Sea (Le mer au loin)
Dir. Saïd Hamich Benlarbi
(Fr-Mor-Bel-Qat)
Animale CLOSING FILM
Dir. Emma Benestan
(Fr-Bel)
Top images courtesy of the Quinzaine, used with permission.