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Cannes Film Festival · 2019

Cannes Film Festival 2019

Directors' Fortnight

Programme

23 films · 8 reviews

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Alice And The Mayor (Alice et le Maire)

The mayor of Lyon, Paul Théraneau, is in a delicate position. After 30 years in politics, he is running out of ideas... his solution is to hire a new employee, who has very different ideas to his own.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Nicolas Pariser; Writer: Nicolas Pariser; Stars: Fabrice Luchini, Anaïs Demoustier, Nora Hamzawi, Léonie Simaga, Antoine Reinartz, Maud Wyler, Alexandre Steiger, Pascal Rénéric, Thomas Rortais, Thomas Chabrol, Gwenaëlle Simon, Sébastien Autret, Fabrice Luchini, Anaïs Demoustier, Nora Hamzawi)

World premiere

And Then We Danced

Review preview for And Then We Danced

A passionate energy courses beneath the surface of Levan Akin's tale of love and repression

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
A dancer falls in love with his fiercest rival.

(Country: Sweden, Georgia; Year: 2019; Director: Levan Akin; Writer: Levan Akin; Stars: Ana Javakishvili, Giorgi Tsereteli, Tamar Bukhnikashvili, Marika Gogichaishvili, Kakha Gogidze, Levan Gabrava, Ana Makharadze, Nino Gabisonia, Mate Khidasheli, Aleko Begalishvili, Nia Gvatua, Lucas Hesling, Ketie Danelia, Giorgi Aladashvili, Soso Abramishvili)

Full review

World premiere

An Easy Girl (Une fille facile)

Naima is 16 years old and lives in Cannes. While she gives herself the summer to choose what she wants to do in life, her cousin Sofi comes to spend the holidays with her. Together, they will spend an unforgettable summer.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Rebecca Zlotowski; Writer: Rebecca Zlotowski, Teddy Lussi-Modeste; Stars: Benoît Magimel, Clotilde Courau, Nuno Lopes, Zahia Dehar, Lise Lomi, Mina Farid, Cédric Appietto, Henri-Noël Tabary, Nico Max Tedeschi)

World premiere

The Bare Necessity

Pierre Perdrix has been enjoying an enchanted though restless existence since the enigmatic Juliette Webb burst into his life. A stranger who landed in his family’s unique world like a meteorite, and who by her presence alone will force this tight-knit microcosm to redefine their boundaries and finally begin to fully live their lives.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Erwan Le Duc; Writer: Erwan Le Duc; Stars: Alexandre Steiger, Fanny Ardant, Maud Wyler, Nicolas Maury, Patience Munchenbach, Swann Arlaud)

World premiere. First film

Blow It To Bits (On va tout péter)

Documentary, set in a factory. A musical with lyrics written by workers who have had enough.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Lech Kowalski)

World premiere

Deerskin (Le Daim)

Review preview for Deerskin

The director proves a master of the tragicomic as he observes one man's slip from midlife crisis to madness by way of obsession.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Georges, 44, and his jacket, 100 per cent deerskin, have a plan.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Quentin Dupieux; Writer: Quentin Dupieux; Stars: Jean Dujardin, Adèle Haenel, Albert Delpy, Pierre Gommé, Laurent Nicolas, Coralie Russier, Stéphane Jobert, Franck Lebreton, Marie Bunel, Panayotis Pascot, Youssef Hajdi, Simon Thomas, Tom Hudson, Maryne Cayon, Thomas Blanchard)

Full review See: Quentin Dupieux in conversation on Deerksin

World premiere

Dogs Don't Wear Pants (Koirat eivät käytä housuja)

Review preview for Dogs Don't Wear Pants

Dogs Don’t Wear Pants ultimately relishes its uncomfortable themes buoyed by a little humour and hopes of a life happy ever after for our two damaged human beings

Tony Sullivan · 3.5 out of 5
A widower is struggling years after his wife drowned... meeting Mona, a dominatrix, changes everything.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2019; Director: Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää; Writer: Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää; Stars: Krista Kosonen, Pekka Strang, Jani Volanen, Oona Airola, Tomi Salmela, Eeva Soivio, Samuel Shipway, Ilona Huhta, Iiris Anttila, Helmi Lahti, Viivi Ihalainen, Sofia Kaipainen, Krista Kosonen, Pekka Strang, Jani Volanen)

Full review

World premiere

First Love (Hatsukoi)

Set over one night in Tokyo, we follow Leo, a young boxer down on his luck as he meets his ‘first love’ Monica, a call girl and an addict but still an innocent. Little does Leo know, Monica is unwittingly caught up in a drug-smuggling scheme, and the two are pursued through the night by a corrupt cop, a yakuza, his nemesis, and a female assassin sent by the Chinese Triads.

(Country: Japan, UK; Year: 2019; Director: Takashi Miike; Writer: Masaru Nakamura; Stars: Masataka Kubota, Nao Omori, Shota Sometani, Sakurako Konishi, Becky, Jun Murakami, Sansei Shiomi, Seiyo Uchino)

World premiere

For The Money (Por el dinero)

A miserable Argentine troupe of actors, dancers, musicians, film-makers and a girl embark on a theatre tour to some country, probably in Latin America. If ever love and money were irreconcilable, Por el dinero is the story of that tragedy.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2019; Director: Alejo Moguillansky; Writer: Alejo Moguillansky, Luciana Acuña, Walter Jakob; Stars: Alejo Moguillansky, Gabriel Chwojnik, Luciana Acuña, Matthieu Perpoint)

World premiere

Ghost Tropic

A woman finds herself on a nocturnal journey after she falls asleep on a train and has to make her way home on foot.

(Country: Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Bas Devos; Writer: Bas Devos; Stars: Maaike Neuville, Nora Dari, Saadia Bentaïeb, Stefan Gota)

World premiere

Give Me Liberty

Review preview for Give Me Liberty

Disabled people just haven't had this kind of representation.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When a riot breaks out in Milwaukee, America's most segregated city, medical transport driver Vic is torn between his promise to get a group of elderly Russians to a funeral and his desire to help Tracy, a young black woman with ALS.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Kirill Mikhanovsky; Writer: Alice Austen, Kirill Mikhanovsky; Stars: Maxim Stoyanov, Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, Chris Galust, Maxim Stoyanov, Lauren 'Lolo' Spencer, Chris Galust)

Full review See: Kirill Mikhanovsky and Alice Austen in conversation on the screenplay, the cast, the title, and the conflicts they overcame to make Give Me Liberty , Lolo Spencer in conversation on Give Me Liberty and casting people with disabilities

World premiere of the definitive version

The Lighthouse

Review preview for The Lighthouse

The trouble with all this mood, is that it eventually gets laid on too thick.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
A tale of two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Robert Eggers; Writer: Max Eggers, Robert Eggers; Stars: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe)

Full review

World premiere

Lillian

Stranded in New York as a porn actress, Lillian decides to return to her homeland, Russia... on foot.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2019; Director: Andreas Howarth; Writer: Andreas Howarth; Stars: Patrycja Planik)

World premiere. First film

Oleg

Review preview for Oleg

Ogrodnik - so impressive in 2017's Silent Night - is magnetic.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A migrant to Belgium loses his job and finds himself in trouble thanks to his non-citizen status.

(Country: Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Juris Kursietis; Writer: Liga Celma-Kursiete, Juris Kursietis, Kaspars Odins; Stars: Valentin Novopolskij, Dawid Ogrodnik, Anna Próchniak, Guna Zarina, Adam Szyszkowski, Toussaint Colombani, Ronald Beurms, Marcos Adamantiadis, Valentin Novopolskij, Dawid Ogrodnik, Anna Próchniak, Guna Zarina, Adam Szyszkowski, Toussaint Colombani, Ronald Beurms)

Full review

World premiere

The Orphanage (Parwareshgah)

In the late 1980s, 15-year-old Qodrat lives in the streets of Kabul and sells cinema tickets. He is a big Bollywood fan and he daydreams himself in some of his favourite movie scenes. One day, the Police bring him to the Soviet orphanage. But in Kabul, the political situation is changing. Qodrat and all the children want to defend their home.

(Year: 2019; Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat; Writer: Shahrbanoo Sadat; Stars: Hasibullah Rasooli, Masihullah Feraji, Qodratollah Qadiri, Sediqa Rasuli)

World premiere

Particles (Les Particules)

(Country: France, Switzerland; Year: 2019; Director: Blaise Harrison; Writer: Mariette Désert, Blaise Harrison; Stars: Thomas Daloz, Salvatore Ferro, Léo Couilfort, Nicolas Marcant, Néa Lueders, Emma Josserand, Johana Untersinger, Thomas Jansson, Emma Daloz, Liam Gras, Thomas Daloz, Salvatore Ferro, Léo Couilfort, Nicolas Marcant, Néa Lueders)

World premiere. First film

Sick Sick Sick (Sem seu sangue)

Review preview for Sick Sick Sick

The director has an eye for a strong image that bodes well for future projects, but their use here is often smack on the nose.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A teenager becomes fascinated with a new kid in class who is a haemophiliac. When tragedy strikes, she finds a new obsession.

(Country: Brazil, Netherlands, France; Year: 2019; Director: Alice Furtado; Writer: Alice Furtado, Leonardo Levis; Stars: Luiza Kosovski, Juan Paiva, Digão Ribeiro, Silvia Buarque, Lourenço Mutarelli, Ismar Tirelli Neto, Valentina Luz, Nahuel Perez Biscayart)

Full review

World premiere. First film

Song Without A Name (Canción Sin Nombre)

Review preview for Song Without A Name

This small, heartbreaking story illuminates much bigger issues.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Peru, at the height of the political crisis of the 1980s. Georgina is a young woman from the Andes whose newborn daughter is stolen at a fake health clinic. Her desperate search for the child leads her to the headquarters of a major newspaper, where she meets Pedro Campos, a lonely journalist who takes on the investigation.

(Country: Peru, United States; Year: 2019; Director: Melina León; Writer: Melina León, Michael J White; Stars: Pamela Mendoza, Tommy Párraga, Lucio Rojas, Maykol Hernández, Ruth Armas, Pamela Mendoza, Tommy Párraga, Lucio Rojas, Maykol Hernández, Ruth Armas)

Full review See: Interview with Melina León about Song Without A Name (Canción Sin Nombre)

World premiere. First film

Tlamess

Following the death of his mother, “S”, a young Tunisian soldier, returns home. He deserts the army and is sought by the authorities. After several altercations with the police, “S” is seriously injured, and takes refuge in a nearby forest. “F”, a young pregnant woman, lives in a luxurious villa in the same forest. There she meets the strange “S”, who is undergoing some unusual changes of his own.

(Country: Tunisia, France; Year: 2019; Director: Ala Eddine Slim; Writer: Ala Eddine Slim; Stars: Abdullah Miniawy, Souhir Ben Amara)

World premiere

To Live To Sing (Huo Zhe Chang Zhe)

Zhao Li manages a Sichuan Opera troupe that lives and performs together in a rundown theatre in the outskirts of Chengdu. When she receives an order of demolition, she hides the news, fearing that this could spell their end.

(Country: China, France; Year: 2019; Director: Johnny Ma; Writer: Johnny Ma; Stars: Ping Ge, Yilin Fu, Mu Luo, Wenjun Yuan, Lei Chen, Yibing Li)

World premiere

Wounds

Disturbing and mysterious things begin to happen to a bartender in New Orleans after he picks up a phone left behind at his bar.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 2019; Director: Babak Anvari; Writer: Babak Anvari; Stars: Dakota Johnson, Armie Hammer, Zazie Beetz, Karl Glusman, Brad William Henke, Kerry Cahill, Ritchie Montgomery, Jim Klock, Terence Rosemore, Martin Bats Bradford, Alexander Biglane, Lawrence Turner, Xena Zeit-Geist, Luke Hawx, Ben Sanders)

International premiere

Yves

A smart refrigerator has unexpected talents... as a ghost writer.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Benoît Forgeard; Writer: Benoît Forgeard; Stars: William Lebghil, Doria Tillier, Philippe Katerine, Alka Balbir, William Lebghil, Doria Tillier, Philippe Katerine, Alka Balbir)

World premiere. Closing film

Zombi Child

Haiti, 1962. A man is brought back from the dead only to be sent to the living hell of the sugarcane fields. In Paris, 55 years later, at a boarding school, a Haitian girl confesses an old family secret to a group of new friends – never imagining that this strange tale will convince a heartbroken classmate to do the unthinkable.

(Country: France; Year: 2019; Director: Bertrand Bonello; Writer: Bertrand Bonello)

World premiere