I'm working on a short list of *black feature films* that could be making their debuts at the 2012 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, and I hope to have that posted in the next 24 hours, since the official selection announcement is scheduled to be made on the 19th (today's the 17th).
Ahead of that announcement, this morning, the festival unveiled its Official Selections in the Cinéfondation and Short Films categories, competing for the 2012 Short Film Palme d'or.
As the press release notes, the short list of films was selected from over a total of 6,200 films that were submitted to the selection committee, and for the first time, both a Syrian and a Puerto Rican filmmaker are participating in the competition.
And skimming the list, I immediately noticed 1 title that we've already profiled on S&A; Grainger David's The Chair, which Vanessa wrote about last week; as she noted, The Chair screened at the SXSW Film Fest last month, and won the Jury Award for Best Short Film. However, unfortunately, neither of us was aware of it while at the festival, and so we didn't get to see it!
Boo-hoo.
What's the film about? Synopsis:
THE CHAIR is the story of a mysterious outbreak of poisonous mold in a small town, and one boy's attempt to understand his mother's death, his grandmother's obsession with their discarded recliner, and the roots of this short-lived, strange, and inexplicable plague.
The film stars newcomers King Hoey and Khari Lucas, and just picked up more accolades, winning the 1st Prize King Award and the Wasserman Directing Award at the NYU First Run Film Fest.
I'm actually surprised Cannes is screening it; I thought they preferred world premieres especially in the competition categories; but maybe that's just for feature films only.
Anyway, congrats to Grainger who seems to be making a bit of a splash with his 12-minute film.
We'll go through both lists below thoroughly to make sure nothing is missed; but in the meantime, check out the trailer for The Chair if you missed it last week.
Alvaro APONTE-CENTENO | MI SANTA MIRADA | Puerto Rico | 15' | ||||
Eicke BETTINGA | GASP | Germany | 15' | ||||
Mohamed BOUROKBA (aka Hamé) |
CE CHEMIN DEVANT MOI | France | 15' | ||||
Bassam CHEKHES |
FALASTEIN, SANDOUK AL INTEZAR (WAITING FOR P.O. BOX) |
Syria | 15' | ||||
Grainger DAVID | THE CHAIR | United States | 12' | ||||
Zia MANDIVWALLA | NIGHT SHIFT | New-Zealand | 14' | ||||
Chloé ROBICHAUD | CHEF DE MEUTE | Canada | 13' | ||||
Michael SPICCIA | YARDBIRD | Australia | 13' | ||||
Emilie VERHAMME | COCKAIGNE | Belgium |
13' |
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L.Rezan YESILBAS |
SESSIZ-BE DENG (SILENT) |
Turkey | 14' |
The Cinéfondation Selection
Fifteen films have been selected out of more than 1,700 submissions from 320 film schools across the globe. For the first time, a Lebanese school features in the selection, which covers fiction and animation and highlights films sharing the same film-making ambition and the expression of a very personal vision.
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Pascale ABOU JAMRA ALBA, Lebanon |
DERRIÈRE MOI LES OLIVIERS (Behind Me Olive Trees) |
20’ | |
Shoichi AKINO Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan |
RIYOUSHI (The Barber) |
39’ | |
Arthur CAHN La Fémis, France |
LES RAVISSEMENTS (The Raptures) |
50’ | |
Morten HELGELAND The Animation Workshop, Denmark |
SLUG INVASION |
6’ | |
Michal HOGENAUER FAMU, Czech Republic |
TAMBYLLES | 58’ | |
Leni HUYGHE Sint-Lukas Brussels, Belgium |
MATTEUS | 18’ | |
Cristi IFTIME UNATC, Romania |
TABĂRA DIN RĂZOARE (The Camp in Razoare) |
22’ | |
Taisia IGUMENTSEVA VGIK, Russia |
DOROGA NA (The Road to) |
32’ | |
Piero MESSINA CSC, Italy |
TERRA (Land) |
23’ | |
Miguel Angel MOULET EICTV, Cuba |
LOS ANFITRIONES (The Hosts) |
16’ | |
Meryl O'CONNOR UCLA, USA |
THE BALLAD OF FINN + YETI | 18’ | |
Timothy RECKART NFTS, United-Kingdom |
HEAD OVER HEELS | 10’ | |
Matthew James REILLY NYU, USA |
ABIGAIL | 17’ | |
Eti TSICKO TAU, Israël |
RESEN (Dog Leash) |
26’ | |
Eduardo WILLIAMS UCINE, Argentina |
PUDE VER UN PUMA (Could See a Puma) |
17’ | |