Underwhelmed by the recent announcement of the full Cannes Film Festival lineup and perhaps its lack of big-name auteurs? Some of the suspects you are looking for, Claire Denis, Terry Gilliam, et al, are still missing and may never turn up frankly, but today’s Directors’ Fortnight announcement may give cinephiles more to look forward to in May.
The 50th edition of the Director’s Fortnight announced its full lineup and highlights include the surprise inclusion of a new, previously unknown Gaspar Noé picture called “Climax.” Never before discussed or reported, “Climax” follows on the heels of “Love,” Noé’s pornographic/erotic 3D drama that premiered in Competition at Cannes in 2015. His latest is about a group of urban dancers in the 1990s who succumb to madness after being mysteriously drugged, which sounds a little bit like it has shades of the hallucinatory “Enter The Void.”
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Also announced was “Pajaros De Verano” (“Birds Of Passage”), the latest film by “Embrace Of The Serpent” director Ciro Guerra, co-directed with one of his producers Cristina Gallego. The drama is about the drug trade in Colombia and the consequences of pursuing criminality for a quick buck. The trailer recently landed and you can watch it here.
The Fortnight lineup also includes the Sundance horror/genre film “Mandy,” from director Panos Cosmos. Set in the primal wilderness of 1983, it stars Nicolas Cage as a broken and haunted man hunting an unhinged religious sect who slaughtered the love of his life (our glowing review). Debra Granik‘s celebrated Sundance drama “Leave No Trace” will also be in attendance.
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The full lineup of feature films for Directors’ Fortnight:
“Pajaros De Verano” (“Birds Of Passage”), Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra
“Amin,” Philippe Faucon
“Climax,” Gaspar Noé
“Carmen y Lola,” Arantxa Echevarria
“Comprame un Revolver,” Julio Hernandez Cordon
“Les Confins du Monde,” Guillaume Nicloux
“El Motoarrebatador,” Agustin Toscano
“En Liberté,” Pierre Salvadori
“Joueurs,” Marie Monge
“Leave No Trace,” Debra Granik
“Los Silencios,” Beatriz Seigner
“Ming Wang Xing Shi Ke De,” Ming Zhang
“Mandy,” Panos Cosmatos
“Mirai,” Mamoru Hosoda
“Le Monde Est a Toi,” Romain Gavras
“Petra,” Jaime Rosales
“Samouni Road,” Stefano Savona
“Weldi” (“Dear Son”), Mohamed Ben Attia
Gaspar Noe’s latest “never before discussed or reported”? What? You are the ones who reported about it back in February: https://theplaylist.net/gaspar-noe-psyche-20180223/