A Film Buff’s Essential Festival Viewing Guide for the Year Ahead
8 minutes
Originally published by Cinematik (ID: cinematik).
Cannes Classics
The full line-up for this year’s Cannes Classics has been announced. Focused on the year’s restoration work on classic films, the programme is also an important reference for selections at film festivals in China over the coming year. Save this viewing checklist for future reference.
Alongside the premiere of a new film by Bertrand Tavernier, a masterclass with William Friedkin, and tributes to documentary masters Raymond Depardon and Frederick Wiseman, the programme includes nine documentaries about cinema and 21 newly restored films. The latter include Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Dekalog, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris, and the French epic Indochine. The full programme follows.
1. Bertrand Tavernier
Premiere of Journey Through French Cinema
Bertrand Tavernier’s new film, Voyage à travers le cinéma français (Journey Through French Cinema), is a documentary about French cinema. Over three hours and fifteen minutes, Tavernier guides viewers through French films of the 1930s to the 1970s. The format recalls Martin Scorsese’s A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies and My Voyage to Italy. This is one of the year’s most anticipated cinephile documentaries: a history of French cinema told through images.
Tavernier said the film was a way to thank the directors, screenwriters, actors, and musicians who had shaped his life: “Memory rekindles; this film is like a small coal glowing on a winter’s night.”
2. William Friedkin
Masterclass
William Friedkin received a lifetime achievement award at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in 2013.
This year’s masterclass will be hosted by critic Michel Ciment. Friedkin will introduce two restored films, one a surprise title and the other his own Sorcerer (1977).
Sorcerer
3. Looking back at the 1966 Palme d’Or
A double winner
This year’s programme revisits restored versions of the two films that shared the 1966 Palme d’Or. The jury was chaired by Sophia Loren; it was the first time in Cannes history that two films shared the award.
Pietro Germi, The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (Signore & signori):
Claude Lelouch, A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme):
4. Tributes to Raymond Depardon and Frederick Wiseman
The festival pays tribute to French filmmaker Raymond Depardon and American documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.
Raymond Depardon
Frederick Wiseman
Two restored works will also be screened:
Raymond Depardon, News Items (Faits divers, 1983):
Frederick Wiseman, Hospital (1970):
Wiseman himself will attend Cannes to receive an award from France Culture radio.
5. The first FIPRESCI Prize winner
Restored version of Farrebique
Georges Rouquier’s Farrebique, ou Les Quatre Saisons won the first International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) prize at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival. For its 70th anniversary, the film will be screened in a 2K digital restoration by Eclair.
6. Nine documentaries about cinema
As in previous years, Cannes Classics presents documentaries about cinema and its history. Since these are new films and little information is available, each is introduced briefly.
The Cinema Travelers (2016)
Directed by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya · India · 96 min
A vanishing tradition, and a glimpse of contemporary Indian cinema.
The Family Whistle (2016)
Directed by Michele Russo · Italy · 65 min
The story of how the Coppola family came to America, its ties to Italy and to music, and of course its connection with cinema.
Cinema Novo (2016)
Directed by Eryk Rocha · Brazil · 90 min
A film essay about the Brazilian New Wave that is both political and poetic.
Midnight Returns: The Story of Billy Hayes and Turkey (2016)
Directed and written by Sally Sussman Morina · United States · 99 min
Behind the scenes of Alan Parker’s Midnight Express, the film’s influence on the image of Turkey, and the real-life story of Billy Hayes.
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2016)
Directed by Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens · United States · 95 min
The story of Carrie Fisher (Star Wars) and her mother Debbie Reynolds (Singin’ in the Rain), seen against both the sweep of history and the intimacy of family life. It offers a glimpse into two golden ages of American film.
Gentleman Rissient (2015)
Directed by Benoît Jacquot, Pascal Mérigeau, and Guy Seligmann · Featuring Pierre Rissient · France · 58 min
A portrait of Pierre Rissient, a cinephile known in France and around the world. He helped bring many Asian films to Cannes, including King Hu’s A Touch of Zen (1970), which he brought to the festival in 1975.
Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond (2016)
Directed and written by Pierre Filmon · France · 82 min
A portrait of the legendary Hungarian cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, who worked with many leading European and American directors. His films include Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Deer Hunter, and The Black Dahlia.
And the Woman Created Hollywood (Et la femme créa Hollywood, 2015)
Directed and written by Clara and Julia Kuperberg · France · 52 min
The story of early women filmmakers in Hollywood, from Lois Weber to Mary Pickford and Dorothy Arzner—women who were later forgotten.
Bernadette Lafont et Dieu créa la femme (2016)
Directed by Esther Hoffenberg · Documentary · France · 65 min
Bernadette Lafont was a prominent actress of the French New Wave who worked with François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, and others.
7. Twenty-one restored films
Cannes Classics presents around twenty restored films each year. This time it has invited several countries whose national film heritage has rarely appeared in the programme, including Slovenia, Switzerland, Pakistan, the Czech lands, Cuba, Thailand, Hungary, and Poland.
1. The Last Chance (Die letzte Chance, 1945)
Director: Leopold Lindtberg · Drama / war · Switzerland
2. Valley of Peace (Dolina mira, 1956)
Director: France Štiglic · John Kitzmiller · Drama / war · Slovenia
3. Ikarie XB 1 (1963)
Director: Jindřich Polák · Ivo Vrstal · Zdeněk Štěpánek · František Smolík · Science fiction · Czechoslovakia
4. Daybreak (Jago hua savera, 1959)
Director: A. J. Kardar · Drama · Pakistan
5. Memories of Underdevelopment (Memorias del subdesarrollo, 1968)
Director: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea · Tomás Gutiérrez Alea · Edmundo Desnoes · Sergio Corrieri · Drama · Cuba
6. Santi-Vina (1954)
Director: Thavi Na Bangchang · Drama · Thailand
7. Love (Szerelem, 1971)
Director: Károly Makk · Lili Darvas · Mari Törőcsik · Iván Darvas · Drama · Hungary
8. Howards End (1992)
Director: James Ivory · Anthony Hopkins · Emma Thompson · Vanessa Redgrave · Drama / romance · United Kingdom / Japan
9. Dekalog: “A Short Film About Killing” / “A Short Film About Love” (1989)
Director: Krzysztof Kieślowski · · Poland
10. Momotaro, Sacred Sailors (1945)
Director: Mitsuyo Seo · Animation / adventure / family / musical / war · Japan
11. One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Director: Marlon Brando · Marlon Brando · Karl Malden · Katy Jurado · Western · United States
12. Solaris (1972)
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky · Natalya Bondarchuk · Donatas Banionis · Yuri Jarvet · Drama / science fiction / mystery · Soviet Union
13. Ugetsu (1953)
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi · Kinuyo Tanaka · Masayuki Mori · Eitarō Ozawa · Drama / mystery / fantasy · Japan
14. Dragées au poivre (1963)
Director: Jacques Baratier · Comedy · Italy / France
15. Valmont (1989)
Director: Miloš Forman · Colin Firth · Annette Bening · Meg Tilly · Drama / romance · France / United States
16. Gueule d’amour (1937)
Director: Jean Grémillon · Jean Gabin · Mireille Balin · Pierre Etchepare · Drama / romance / war · France
17. Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis (1966)
Director: Jean-Luc Godard · Jean-Pierre Léaud · Chantal Goya · Marlène Jobert · Drama · France / Sweden
18. Indochine (1992)
Director: Régis Wargnier · Catherine Deneuve · Vincent Perez · Linh Dan Pham · Drama / romance · France / Vietnam
19. Adieu Bonaparte (1985)
Director: Youssef Chahine · Michel Piccoli · Drama / history / war · Egypt / France
20. Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Director: Roger Corman · Vincent Price · John Kerr · Barbara Steele · Horror / thriller · United States
21. Rendez-vous de juillet (1949)
Director: Jacques Becker · Daniel Gélin · Brigitte Auber · Nicole Courcel · Comedy / drama · France
The 1954 film Santi-Vina was long thought lost. In 2014, an original negative was found at the British Film Institute, while release prints turned up at the China Film Archive and Russia’s Gosfilmofond. The L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory then made a 4K restoration from the BFI negative.
8. Special screenings
Planet of the Vampires (Terrore nello spazio, 1965)
Directed by Mario Bava · Written by Mario Bava and Alberto Bevilacqua · Starring Barry Sullivan, Norma Bengell, and Ángel Aranda · Science fiction / horror · Italy / Spain · 88 min
Time to Die (Tiempo de morir, 1966)
Directed by Arturo Ripstein · Written by Carlos Fuentes and Gabriel García Márquez · Drama / western · Mexico · 90 min
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