Critics' Week announces titles

In Waves Photo: Silex Films

Cannes Critics' Week has announced its selection today. The parallel section at the festival shines a spotlight on first and second films.

It will open for the first time with an animated film. In Waves, directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen, is the tale of a skateboarder who falls for surfer, but whose relationship is hit by illness. The English-language voice cast of this adaptition of AJ Dungo’s graphic novel is led by Will Sharpe and Stephanie Hsu.

Of the 11 films that are in the selection, nine are first features competing for the Camera d’Or. The selection will close with Adieu Monde Cruel, directed by first-timer Felix De Givry, about a teenager who goes into hiding after a failed suicide attempt.

Poster for this year's edition Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Critics' Week

There is British and Irish interest in the selection, as The Station, the first narrative feature by Yemeni-Scottish director Sara Ishaq - whose shorts include The Mulberry House and Karama Has No Walls - joins the fray. Set in a nameless village torn apart by civil war, the only place where women can gather in peace is the petrol station run by Layal. A sisterhood where they smoke hookah in secret and where the only man allowed is the boss’s younger brother. It is described as "part drama, part fable".

French-Irish director Alexander Murphy (Goodbye Sisters) will present his second documentary feature Tin Castle, which he talked to Eye For Film about last year, telling us: "It’s about a family trying to get by in a world that doesn’t quite fit with their way of life."

Also presenting their second feature is Kosovar director Blerta Basholli, who follows up 2021 Sundance-premiered Hive with Dua, about a teenager whose life is upended as the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia intensifies.

The full list of films is below:

Competition

● The Station (Yemen-Jor-Fr-Ger-Neth-Nor-Qat), Dir. Sara Ishaq

● Dua (Kosovo-Switz-Fr), Dir. Blerta Basholli

● La Gradiva (Fr-It), Dir. Marine Atlan

● A Girl Unknown (Chi-Fr), Dir. Zou Jing

● Six Months In A Pink And Blue Building (Mex-Den-Bra), Dir. Bruno Santamaría Razo

● Tin Castle (Ire-Fra), Dir. Alexander Murphy

● Alive (Sp), Dir. Aina Clotet

Special Screenings

● In Waves (Fr-Bel) - Opening film, Dir. Phuong Mai Nguyen

● Stonewall (Fr), Dir. Julien Gaspar-Oliveri

● Flesh And Fuel (Fr-Pol), Dir. Pierre Le Gall

● Adieu Monde Cruel (Fr-Bel) - Closing film, Dir. Félix de Givry