News

Strife Sentence: Senez Presents Quietly Effective Domestic Drama

Director Guillaume Senez teams with writer Raphaëlle Desplechin for sophomore feature, Our Struggles, a quiet, unassuming domestic drama about a blue-collar dad left in the lurch. It’s a scenario we’ve seen countless times before, and yet, like his 2015 debut Keeper, Senez balances a fine line between kitchen-sink and human rights subtexts.

Sans any major dramatic outbursts, the simmering humanistic narrative of this French-Belgian co-production is kept afloat by a strong performance from Romain Duris in one of his finest dramatic leads in a decade.…...

Is actor Mathieu Amalric becoming a Cannes staple as a director? He's making all the right movies -- in 2010 he made his first appearance on the Croisette as a director with "Tournée," winning Best Director and a Fipresci prize for his efforts. This year, he's returning with "La Chambre Bleue," this time shifted from Competition to Un Certain Regard, and it promises a fair bit of skin and sweat. Starring Amalric as well, alongside Léa Drucker, the film is based on the novel Georges Simenon, and it tracks the intermittent affair between two people that soon grows into something a bit more sinister. Here's the book synopsis from Amazon to give a bit more detail:  Vain, womanising Tony and passionate, manipulative Andree met eight times in eleven months in the blue room at the Hotel des Voyageurs for afternoons of abandoned love. For Tony the conversation that last time was just the casual,...

Updated through 6/26.

"The golden age of New York moviegoing is now," argues Ao Scott in the New York Times. "Two events in the coming days offer confirmation of this hunch." Tonight "in Brooklyn the BAMcinemaFest opens with Weekend, Andrew Haigh's bracing, present-tense exploration of sex, intimacy and love, the first of 26 features that will play, along with 24 short films, over the next 10 days. And Friday is the official opening night of the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, a charming two-screen jewel box carved (by the architect David Rockwell) out of garage and office space at Lincoln Center." He touches on the Museum of the Moving Image and the reRun Gastropub Theater as well, before returning to BAMcinemaFEST: "Not everything in the lineup is quite so perfectly realized as Weekend, but the range and generosity of the sampling make it hard to go wrong. Even the misfires and train wrecks are interesting,...

by Steve Dollar

Everyone's favorite French leading man, Mathieu Amalric, won the best director prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival for Tournée (also known as On Tour), an ambling backstage saga about an American burlesque troupe on the road in France, playing the creaky-theater circuit in a string of port towns as their manager Joachim (Amalric) sorts out his own personal drama. Many of the performers will be familiar to fans of the latter-day burlesque revival: Julie Atlas Muz, Kitten on the Keys, Dirty Martini, Mimi Le Meaux. They'll join Amalric for a screening and party as part of the third annual BAMcinemaFest's closing weekend. Earlier this week, Amalric spoke about his profound fascination with the ecdysiasts' art from Toronto, where he'd just arrived to begin shooting in David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis.

Continued reading Interview: Mathieu Amalric...

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Check out the links below — and check back often — for our preview, reviews, blogs and more from the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival.

Preview

Siff Kicks Off 37th Edition

Audience-centric 25-day Seattle International Film Festival screens festival-circuit favorites, premieres and local projects as well as fetes Ewan McGregor and Warren Miller

Features

Editors’ Choice: 12 Best Films Filmed in Seattle

With the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival in full swing, Moving Pictures counts down the dozen greatest movies shot in the Emerald City

Siff Fetes Ewan McGregor

The Seattle International Film Festival gives an audience its fill of the star of “Beginners” during an all-evening tribute to the beloved actor

Long “Weekend”

British writer-director Andrew Haigh writes for Moving Pictures about the making of “Weekend,” which starts with a one-night stand that becomes something else.

Finding My Way in the “Steam of Life”

Writers-directors Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen write for Moving Pictures...

Check out the links below — and check back often — for our preview, reviews, blogs and more from the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival.

Preview

Siff Kicks Off 37th Edition

Audience-centric 25-day Seattle International Film Festival screens festival-circuit favorites, premieres and local projects as well as fetes Ewan McGregor and Warren Miller

Features

Editors’ Choice: 12 Best Films Filmed in Seattle

With the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival in full swing, Moving Pictures counts down the dozen greatest movies shot in the Emerald City

Siff Fetes Ewan McGregor

The Seattle International Film Festival gives an audience its fill of the star of “Beginners” during an all-evening tribute to the beloved actor

Long “Weekend”

British writer-director Andrew Haigh writes for Moving Pictures about the making of “Weekend,” which starts with a one-night stand that becomes something else.

Finding My Way in the “Steam of Life”

Writers-directors Joonas Berghäll and Mika Hotakainen write for Moving Pictures...

Here's what Julie Atlas Muz who stars in Mathieu Amalric's burlesque film Tournée wore to the Césars  (aka the French Oscars) yesterday.

 

poll by twiigs.com

 

 

How much would you pay to see the uproar at the Oscars if some attendee wore something like that?

Celebrities just don't take enough chances on the red carpet. Like the chance to be arrested for indecent exposure. Live a little movie stars. Come on. No more simple black gowns. We better see something crazy tomorrow night. Who can save us from the boring fashion parade to come?

.p.s. catch up on Oscar posts if you've been slacking!

The nominations for this year’s César Awards (France’s Oscar equivalent) has been announced. In addition the awards ceremony has also chosen Quentin Tarantino as the recipient of the ceremony’s honorary award. Alain Terzian, the president of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma announced at a press conference this morning confirmed that the director would be present to ick up his award in person.

It is also worth noting that there are three American movies among the seven nominees for Best Foreign Film: Inception, The Social Network and perhaps the biggest surprise, Invictus.

The 36th edition of the Césars will take place on February 25 in Paris.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best Movie

L’arnacoeur by Pascal Chaumeil

Le nom des gens by Michel Leclerc

The Ghost Writer by Roman Polanski

Tournée by Mathieu Amalric

Des Hommes et des Dieux by Xavier Beauvois

Gainsbourg...

Three U.S. films are among the seven nominees for best foreign film in this year’s César Awards, France’s version of the Oscars. Meanwhile, American director Quentin Tarantino has been selected to receive an honorary award and will be at the Feb. 25 ceremony in Paris to accept it, it was announced Friday.

The three American films cited by the Académie des arts et techniques du cinema are Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” an Oscar contender in the States last year.

Xavier Beauvois’ “Of Gods and Men” (“Des hommes et des Dieux”) — not one of the nine films still in contention for the best foreign film Oscar — leads with 10 nominations, while Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” and Joann Sfar’s “Gainsbourg” (“Vie Héroïque”) are also nominated in multiple categories.

Presiding over this year’s awards is American actress and director Jodie Foster.

It’s going to be an American night at this year’s César Awards (France's Oscar equivalent). For starters, Quentin Tarantino is the recipient of the ceremony’s honorary award, Alain Terzian, the president of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma announced at a press conference this morning in Paris. It was also confirmed that the Inglorious Basterds director will pick up his trophy in person. Additionally, three American movies are among the seven nominees for Best Foreign Film: Christopher Nolan’s Inception, David Fincher’s The Social Network and Clint Eastwood’s Invictus. Presided by Jodie Foster and hosted for the second year running by French actor Antoine de Caunes — a witty guy but meek compared to Ricky Gervais — the 36th edition of the Césars will take place on February 25 in Paris. See the full list of César nominees after the jump. As an overview, Xavier Beauvois...

Quentin Tarantino will receive an honorary achievement award at the 36th annual Cesar Awards on Feb. 25. The Cesars are the French equivalent to the American Oscars, and Tarantino is being recognized for being a “great international artist,” according to Cesar president Alain Terzian. The French Academy’s nominations also were announced, with Xavier Beauvois’ Of Gods and Men and Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer dominating the major categories. Several American films were nominated for Best Foreign Film, including Oscar frontrunner, The Social Network. See below for the list of the best films:

Best Film

Heartbreaker

Of Gods and Men...

Roman Polanski directing The Ghost Writer Best Film Heartbreaker produced by Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun, directed by Pascal Chaumeil Of Gods And Men produced by Pascal Caucheteux, Grégoire Sorlat, Etienne Comar, directed by Xavier Beauvois Gainsbourg (Vie HÉROÏQUE) produced by Marc du Pontavice, Didier Lupfer, directed by Joann Sfar Mammuth produced by Jean-Pierre Guérin, Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern, directed by Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern The Names Of Love produced by Caroline Adrian, Antoine Rein, Fabrice Goldstein, directed by Michel Leclerc The Ghost Writer produced by Robert Benmussa, Alain Sarde, directed by Roman Polanski TOURNÉE produced by Laetitia Gonzalez, Yaël Fogiel, directed by Mathieu Amalric Best Foreign Film Les Amours Imaginaires, Xavier Dolan Bright Star, Jane Campion The Secret In Their Eyes, Juan José Campanella ILLÉGAL, Olivier Masset-Depasse Inception, Christopher Nolan Invictus, Clint Eastwood The Social Network, David Fincher Best First Film Heartbreaker, Pascal Chaumeil, produced by Nicolas Duval Adassovsky,...

"I was not angry since I came to France / Until this instant." 'Tis bard quote is inevitably uttered by the Ferroni Brigade, while suffering the Cannes juggernaut, usually sooner than later—often enough, in fact, during the opening movie. But this year it was somwehat different: Robin Hood, that turgid revisionist doodle by Sir Ridley ("the wrong") Scott, had been inflicted on most of the international press beforehand, so by the point it screened half-faded was the memory of a tradition besmirched, and, yes, that would stretch past the obvious reference point of Richard Lester's touching Robin and Marian (1976) to Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1991). After all the only, extremely dubious achievement of the wrong Scott's slick, humourless hodgepodge was that it even failed when it tried to make fun of the French. Inconceivable, but it probably helped its opening night selection ("irony"), thus helping to...

Cannes 2010 Coverage

David Cairns

The Forgotten: Trigger Happy Punks

The Forgotten: Mood Swings

The Forgotten: Seduced and Abandoned

Adrian Curry

Movie Poster of the Week: "Guns"

Movie Poster of the Week: "Tentacles"

Movie Poster of the Week: "Tropical Malady"

Movie Poster of the Week: "La religieuse"

Daniel Kasman

Image of the Day. Records of Material Objects in the Cinema #1

R.I.P. William Lubtchansky

Images of the Day. Ideal Couples

Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Days 1 & 2

Cannes 2010. An Actor-Director and His Women: "Tournée" (Mathieu Amalric, France)

Cannes 2010. 3-Wall Realism: "Tuesday, After Christmas" (Radu Muntean, Romania)

Cannes 2010: Sincere Love: "The Strange Case of Angelica" (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal)

Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Day 3

Cannes 2010: A Devil without the Details: "Aurora" (Cristi Puiu, Romania)

Cannes 2010. Love-Hate Relationships: "Au petite bonheur" (Marcel L’Herbier, France, 1946)

Cannes 2010. Playful Protest: "Hands Up" (Romain Goupil, France)

Cannes 2010. Favorite Moments: Day 4

Cannes 2010. Today's Quiet City: "I Wish I Knew" (Jia Zhangke,...

Well, after about two weeks, the Cannes Film Festival has just come to a close, and the jury has come in with what they think are the best of the best from this year’s festival.

Jury head Tim Burton and company have come in, and it appears as though they’ve picked some interesting choices. The Palme d’Or went to Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s film Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives. The film beat out Xavier Beauvois’ Of God And Men, with the latter garnering the most buzz as a possible Best Foreign Film Oscar contender this year. Big names have taken home the top acting prizes, with Javier Bardem and Juliette Binoche taking home best actor and actress for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s polarizing Biutiful and Abbas Kiarostami’s beloved Certified Copy respectfully. The final big award was also quite a shocking pick, as Best Director...

I guess the merging styles and a willingness to test the boundaries of a conventional narrative was something the jury appreciated in Mathieu Amalric's Tournée (On Tour). The picture, a sort of gonzo styled docu-fiction means that the actor can officially be recognized as a filmmaker. Despite not having cared about the quasy road trip, traveling Burlesque show, kudos all the same to the highly likable Amalric - who was perhaps the nights happiest winner! - I guess the merging styles and a willingness to test the boundaries of a conventional narrative was something the jury appreciated in Mathieu Amalric's Tournée (On Tour). The picture, a sort of gonzo styled docu-fiction means that the actor can officially be recognized as a filmmaker. Despite not having cared about the quasy road trip, traveling Burlesque show, kudos all the same to the highly likable Amalric...

I guess the merging styles and a willingness to test the boundaries of a conventional narrative was something the jury appreciated in Mathieu Amalric's Tournée (On Tour). The picture, a sort of gonzo styled docu-fiction means that the actor can officially be recognized as a filmmaker. Despite not having cared about the quasy road trip, traveling Burlesque show, kudos all the same to the highly likable Amalric - who was perhaps the nights happiest winner! This was perhaps the big shocker of the evening - I had Mike Leigh has my top pick for the category.

Mathieu Amalric’s On Tour (top); Yun Junghee in Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry (middle); Monica del Carmen, Gustavo Sanchez Parra in Michael Rowe’s Leap Year (lower middle); Serge Avedikian’s Barking Island (bottom) Juliette Binoche, Javier Bardem, Elio Germano Win Acting Awards: Cannes 2010 Mathieu Amalric, best known for his work as an actor in films such as The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and A Christmas Tale, won the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Director award for Tournée / On Tour — that in addition to its surprising International Critics’ Prize victory. On Tour received its share of negative reviews when it opened near the beginning of the festival. In the film, Amalric plays the manager of a troupe of American burlesque [...]...

Yep, that funky "Ghost Monkey" with red eyes seen above was the winner of the Palme d'Or this year. Well, sort of at least, as the very trippy Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives won the coveted Golden Palm at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival. The awards were announced tonight and we have the full list below. The jury this year was led by Tim Burton and included Kate Beckinsale, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Alberto Barbera, Emmanuel Carrere, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Erice, Alexandre Desplat & Shekhar Kapur. I really wanted Iñárritu's Biutiful to win, but instead the one film that I walked out of is the one that won. Palme d'Or (Golden Palm): Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul Grand Prix (Runner Up): Of Gods and Men directed by Xavier Beauvois Special Jury Prize: A Screaming Man directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun...

The 63rd Cannes Film Festival has come to a close. And while I still have a couple more reviews to file, I must first write about the awards. As you know, Tim Burton presided over the official Jury this year at the festival, and Sunday night the prize winners were revealed during the closing Ceremony. Full results after the jump. Official Winners: Kristin Scott Thomas hosted Charlotte Gainsbourg on the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière to award the Palme d’or to the best film among the 19 films in this year's Competition. Julie Bertuccelli’s closing film The Tree starring Gainsbourg, was screened at the end of the ceremony. Feature Films In Compettion Palme d'Or Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat (Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives) by Apichatpong Weerasethakul Grand Prix Des Hommes Et Des Dieux (Of Gods And Men) by Xavier Beauvois Award for the Best Director...

Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" won the coveted Palme d'Or capping the 63rd Festival de Cannes. Mathieu Amalric won Best Director for "Tournée" and Xavier Beauvois took the Grand Prix for "Of God and Men." "The Tree" by Julie Bertuccelli will close the festival tonight. The full list of winners follows with links to individual film pages. Catching up with Cannes: Day 1 | ...

Cannes Film Festival 2010: Full List Of Winners Palme d’Or (Top Prize) Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul Grand Prix (Runner-Up) Des Hommes Et Des Dieux, directed by Xavier Beauvois Prix de la Mise en Scene (Best Director) Mathieu Amalric for Tournée Prix du Scenario (Best Screenplay) Poetry by Lee Chang-dong Camera d’Or (Best First Feature) Año Bisiesto, directed by Michael Rowe Prix du Jury (Jury Prize) A Screaming Man, directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Prix d’interpretation feminine (Best Actress) Juliette Binoche for Certified Copy Prix d’interpretation masculine (Best Actor) (tied) Javier Bardem for Biutiful (tied) Elio Germano for La Nostra Vita Palme d’Or (Short Film) Chienne d’Histoire, directed by Serge Avedikian (Previously Announced) Un Certain [...]...

Deadline Hollywood has just posted the winners of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival!

The big winner was "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives," directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

There was only one American film in competition at Cannes this year and it did not end up winning any awards.

Here are the winners:

Cannes Film Festival 2010 Winners

Palme d’Or (Top Prize)

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Grand Prix (Runner-Up)

Des Hommes Et Des Dieux (Of Gods And Men), directed by Xavier Beauvois

Prix de la Mise en Scene (Best Director)

Mathieu Amalric for Tournée (On Tour)

Prix du Scenario (Best Screenplay)

Poetry by Lee Chang-dong

Camera d’Or (Best First Feature)

Año Bisiesto directed by Michael Rowe

Prix du Jury (Jury Prize)

A Screaming Man directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Prix d’interpretation feminine (Best Actress)

Juliette Binoche for Certified Copy

Prix d...

The Palme d’Or isn’t given out until Sunday but awards are starting to come in from Cannes. The Un Certain Regard award, created in 1998, was chaired this year by director Clair Denis and this year’s winner is Hahaha by Hong Sangsoo. The film beat out such competition as the Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams film Blue Valentine and the new film by Jean-Luc Godard. The biggest surprise, however, came from the International Federation of Film Critics who awarded theirFIPRESCI prize to Tournee (“On Tour”) by Mathieu Amalric, a film that opened the first day of Cannes and was largely derided in most quarters as inconsequential fluff.

Un Certain Regard: Hahaha by Hong Sangsoo

Cinefoundation Awards:

1st Prize: Taulukauppiatt (“The Painting Sellers”) by Juho Kuosmanen

2nd Prize: Coucou-Les-Nuages (“Anywhere Out of the World”) by Vincent Cardona

3rd Prize (tie): Hinkerort Zorasune (“The Fifth Column”) by Vatche Boulghourjian...

Surprisingly, Mathieu Amalric’s Tournée / On Tour, the tale of a French manager and his American burlesque performers touring France and one of the least liked films at this year’s Official Competition for the Palme d’Or, bagged the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci) Prize for best film in the official line-up. According to a statement made by Fipresci jury president Alin Tasciyan, this year the awards were handed out to "the future, new auteurs and masters." That may explain Amalric’s win, as he’s best known for his work in front of the cameras, e.g., The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Kings and Queen. Fipresci’s Un Certain Regard award went to Hungarian filmmaker Agnes Kocsis‘ Pal Adrienn, about an obese nurse’s [...]...

Winners Of Official Selection Winner of the Palme D'or: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. (ISA: The Match Factory) Grand Prix (runner-up): Des Hommes Et Des Dieux (Of God and Men), directed by Xavier Beauvois. (ISA: Wild Bunch) Prix de la Mise en Scene (best director): Mathieu Amalric for Tournée (On Tour) (ISA: Le Pacte) Prix du Scenario (best screenplay): Poetry by Lee Chang-dong (ISA: Finecut) Camera d’Or (best first feature): Año Bisiesto directed by Michael Rowe…...

Welcome aboard Film Weekly's second Cannes film festival special, in which Jason Solomons rounds up a who's who of world cinema: the cream of British acting talent from Mike Leigh's Another Year; French actor-director-Bond villain Mathieu Amalric on his film Tournée; and Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai talks Chongqing Blues. Plus, our critics take a punt on who will take the Palme d'Or home on Sunday.

Mike Leigh is back in competition in Cannes for the first time in eight years with Another Year, about a married couple whose happy home is a magnet for unhappy friends. It is already being seen as one of the frontrunners for this year's Palme d'Or. Serial Leigh collaborators Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen and Lesley Manville tell Jason about their shared experience and the rewards of film-making in the director's unique way.

Next up is Wang Xiaoshuai, the Chinese director who brought us Beijing Bicycle and Shanghai Dreams.

Best known for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, actor Mathieu Amalric is also a writer, director and unabashed ladies' man. He tells Catherine Shoard how it all came together in his new film

The opening night of this year's Cannes was full of pomp. Russell Crowe plodded up the red carpet, all trouble and sulk, with an icy Cate Blanchett and band of unmerry men in his wake. Robin Hood may be an action movie, not even in the running for the Palme d'Or, but don't you dare fail to take it seriously.

A day later, and the premiere of the first film in actual competition was a riot. Five burlesque dancers tottered towards the Palais for the gala screening of Tournée (On Tour), in 8in heels, cleavages struggling for traction in their micro-frocks. They danced; they blew kisses at a whooping crowd. One – was it Dirty Martini? Kitten on the Keys?...

I'm here for five days, to announce my new film Chicken with Plums

I'm here for five days, to announce my new film Chicken with Plums. It's a chance to watch a couple of great movies, enjoy the festival – and get some nice presents. Handbags, shoes – the highlight of my day is the goody bag. There's nothing you can actually use, but I like it anyway. I got washing machine powder in one bag.

When I've been on the jury, or when I came here with Persepolis, I didn't really have time to enjoy the festival. With Persepolis, we [co-director Vincent Paronnaud and I] were so scared. It was over-exciting: either we were going to have heart attacks or we had to be completely numb. We took all these pills that my mother had given us. I've seen the photos: we look half-dead or half-asleep.

Last week we saw Mathieu Amalric's new film, Tournée.

French actor Mathieu Amalric’s fourth feature is an ungainly, but flexible creature. Shot: drawn out one way with the Amalric not just filming but acting as well, fulfilling a by-the-books character study of a theater troupe manager, divorced, trying to manage his burlesque performers, his children, his life, etc., to such a trite degree that what with all the mingling amongst the American female actresses suggest that Amalric-as-frazzled-Amalric is just another “act.” It could be, but it isn’t very interesting. Reverse shot: Much more interesting is the girls’ side of the film, which freesTournée (On Tour) up, while not free enough to re-shape the direction of the picture entirely (which sometimes suggests but could never resemble Jacques Rozier’s natural-surreal approach inMaine Océan), but at least is powerful enough to free the shot or the moment. They stall the film’s trajectory and punch open asides. Frequent use...

This week, Film Weekly has decamped to the 63rd Cannes film festival. From the Croisette, we talk to Mark Strong, one of the stars of Cannes opener Robin Hood, Craig McCall on his documentary of Cannes favourite Jack Cardiff and Haim Tabakman about his Cannes 2009 hit Eyes Wide Open. Also, a preview of what's still to come at Cannes 2010.

The festival opened on Wednesday night with a very British affair: Ridley Scott's dark and brooding take on Robin Hood. Playing against Russell Crowe's outlaw hero is a Film Weekly favourite, Mark Strong, as the malign and treacherous Godfrey. The actor tells Jason Solomons about the pleasures of working with Scott again and the special satisfaction of playing the baddie you love to hate.

Israeli director Haim Tabakman's Eyes Wide Open was one of the biggest tips at last year's festival. The film, about a destructive gay affair...

Tournée's burlesque star Julie Atlas Muz has commented on the differences between performing on screen and stage. The dancer explained at a Cannes press conference that working on a film lacks the immediate feedback of performing in front of an audience. "The timing of my performance versus the timing of film is very different," she said. "So when you perform live you get a unique satisfaction through applause from the audience. However, being on film that satisfaction or the exchange that you feel as a performer is delayed, if it even happens at all. So I found that a challenging distinction but I'm willing to do it again." Muz's co-star Dirty Martini stated that she has (more)...

Dirty Martini of the New Burlesque troupe featured in Mathieu Amalric's Tournée has said that the group are feminists. Speaking after the Cannes screening of the movie, the dancer told reporters that she tries to help women better express themselves sexually in a world where such sentiments are completely controlled by men and the media. "Absolutely we're feminists - we're women who are concerned at the way in which women in the world are treated, and the way that women sometimes hate themselves," she said. "Me personally, part of my burlesque journey is using burlesque as a form (more)...

Robert here, scouring the internet to give you the latest on the films premiering in Cannes

Opening Film

Robin Hood Reviews for Ridley Scott & Russell Crowe's Robin Hood origin story have been up for a little while and they're decidedly mixed. Todd McCarthy over at IndieWIRE calls it "a fashionably gritty period drama, conceived by intelligent minds and handsomely decked out, but featuring no beating heart or compelling raison d’etre." But Empire Magazine declares it "the mullet-free Robin Hood movie we’ve been waiting decades for." Over at Little White Lies, the main complaint seems to be that "Robin Hood doesn’t seem too certain what to do with itself."In Competition

Chongqing Blues Director Xiaoshuai Wang's film about a Captain returning home from sea to find his son has been the victim of a police shooting is starting off the film with mixed reviews. The Hollywood...

The stars of Tournée have voiced their delight at having their movie selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by acclaimed actor Mathieu Amalric, it centres on a group of real-life American New Burlesque dancers touring France and is one of the 19 films competing for the Palme d'Or prize. Speaking at the film's Cannes press conference, troupe member Julie Atlas Muz said that she was "honoured" to be attending the festival to support her film. Co-star Mimi Le Meaux added that she left her home (more)...

Mathieu Amalric’s performance in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was widely praised a couple of years ago. However, Amalric has been less lucky with his behind-the-camera effort, Tournée / On Tour, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s Kirk Honeycutt, who wonders why Cannes’ artistic director Thierry Fremaux would "embarrass a friend by putting such an inauthentic film as On Tour (Tournée), Amalric’s first time in Cannes as a director, into competition? Why not a special screening?" In On Tour, Amalric himself plays a former French TV producer who tours France with a handful of American burlesque performers. At the A.V. Club, Mike D’Angelo is more generous, complaining that On Tour lacks focus — or sometimes is focused on too many [...]...

It's the morning after the official opening of the Cannes film festival, and the competition films have started unspooling. Xan Brooks gets stuck in

The sun is out, the sky is blue, but chaos reigns at the heart of the Palais. I can't see the sky and the sun is a dream because I'm forever inside, pinballing between the darkened screening rooms. This Cannes has opened in a rumble-tumble rush, the same as it always does. In the scramble to get through the cordons I see a man go down, spread-eagled on the carpet, and the surge of the crowd whisks me past before I can reach out to haul him up. Perhaps he is lying there still.

I watch Chongqing Blues, which is measured and engrossing; a kind of emotional post-mortem that charts an ageing ship captain's search for the truth behind his estranged son's death. I see Tournée,...

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone will walk the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. She will be attending the premiere of the French film Tournee (On Tour) directed by Mathieu Amalric, that’s competing for the top Cannes prize, the Palme d’Or, in the Competition section. “I will be representing India at the Cannes Film Festival and attending the red carpet premiere of Tournée,” she reveals. “This is my first time at the Cannes or any other film festival. I am very excited,” she says. Reportedly, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Mallika Sherawat are also heading ...

From jury president Tim Burton gathering his panel, to the A-lister count for tonight's gala for Robin Hood, here are the five things that Catherine Shoard is looking forward to on the opening day of the 63rd Cannes film festival

• It's not just in London that a new cabinet is assembling. Here on the Croisette, jury president Tim Burton and his eclectic cabinet, including Benicio del Toro, Shekhar Kapur, French writer-director Emmanuel Carrère and our own Kate Beckinsale, will lay out their manifesto for the next 10 days. Will they include a shout out in support of Roman Polanski and against his extradition to the Us for trial? More likely they'll namecheck Jafar Panahi, the director invited to serve on the jury in part as protest at his continued detention at the hands of Iranian security forces.

• Robin Hood, Ridley Scott's revisionist take on the good thief with Russell Crowe in stubbly trouble mode,...

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone will walk the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. She will be attending the premiere of the French film Tournee (On Tour) directed by Mathieu Amalric, which is competing for the top Cannes prize, the Palme d’Or in the Competition section. “I will be representing India at the Cannes Film Festival and attending the red carpet premiere of Tournée as part of the Chivas Regal campaign. This will be followed by an afterparty organised by them,” she reveals. “This is my first time at the Cannes or any ...

Hollywoodnews.com: On May 12, the Cannes Film Festival will start its 63rd edition. The president of the jury is Tim Burton and the jury consists of Kate Beckinsale – Actress / United Kingdom, Giovanna Mezzogiorno – Actress / Italy, Alberto Barbera – Director of the National Museum of Cinema / Italy, Emmanuel Carrere – Author – Screenwriter – Director / France, Benicio Del Toro – Actor / Porto Rico,Victor Erice – Director/ Spain, Shekhar Kapur – Director – Actor – Producer / India and Alexandre Desplat – Composer / France.

For this year’s line-up Scroll Down.

Below letter from one of the Cannes Film Festival bosses, Thierry Frémaux:

“As happens every year, the Festival´s programme was launched in January with the announcement of who would be the President of the Jury: Tim Burton! The news, which was unanimously greeted with enthusiasm, put the world of film in a good mood. The choice of Tim Burton to head the next edition of the Festival brings with...

Finally some comedy at Cannes! Check out an upcoming french film titled Tournée directed by Mathieu Amalric.

If this is not enough for start, let’s already describe this as a road movie which takes place “in the world of striptease”. Interested anyone?

Hope you are, so get ready for this one, scheduled to compete for the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival 2010.

Tournée is a story about American burlesque girls on tour in France, with an ex-show producer trying to make a comeback with a troupe of “new burlesque” dancers style.

Produced by Les Films du Poisson, the feature actually traces several days in the life of a show producer, who has left his homeland to live in the Us. He returns to France with a troupe of New Burlesque performers and tours the port cities before staging a final show in Paris.

Filming started in April 2009 and The Neo-Burlesque cabaret troupe,...

7 films in the three sections of Cannes were financed by Backup Films. Entirely dedicated to film financing, Backup Films has, in 2009 alone worked with over 60 ambitious international projects in their search of financing, whether in their development, production, or distribution phase. Backup Films is currently managing film investments funds of over €33.6M, and has brokered, last year, €4.5M in coproduction, distribution and equity deals. Over the past 8 years, the films financed through the Backup Films Agency or Backup Films’ funds have gathered 40 A-class festival selections and have won 15 major prizes.

Official Selection

Tournée (Le Pacte) de Mathieu Amalric is in Compétition. Tournée is produced by Les Films du Poisson in association with Sofica Coficup – with funds from Backup Films.

L’autre monde, aka Black Heaven (Memento) the second feature of Gilles Marchand, and his second time in Special Screenings. It is produced by Haut et Court in association avec Sofica...

Peter Bradshaw rounds up the pick of the crop at Cannes

This year's Cannes will begin and end in ways to make us meditate on the themes of property and theft. Ridley Scott's new Robin Hood film will launch the festival with what we all hope will be a beefy and resounding twang; the closing film will be Oliver Stone's Wall Street 2.

Both are out of competition, emphasising the Cannes habit of showcasing Hollywood movies in this relaxingly non-judgmental way. Glitzy American pictures will bring in the star-names and red-carpet glamour, but my first recognition has to go Stephen Frears's Tamara Drewe based on a graphic novel by Posy Simmonds.

Mike Leigh is a great British auteur and former Palme D'Or winner, back with a new ensemble drama, Another Year, starring Lesley Manville and Jim Broadbent. Leigh's relationship with Cannes has been chequered. The festival famously...

Opening with Ridley Scott's Robin Hood and closing with Oliver Stone's Wall Street sequel, this year's Cannes film festival is not quite the 2009 auteur smackdown, but there will be plenty of riches from Godard, Kiarostami and co

It should by rights have gone stale by now, but the announcement of the Cannes competition list is an annual event which retains for me its fascination and excitement, although I have just now made the mistake of watching the TV Cannes hype reel online, guaranteed to take the seasoned Cannes-lover from lip-smacking anticipation to nauseated satiety in just under three-and-a-quarter minutes.

Cannes 2010 sure does have a heck of an act to follow in the form of Cannes 2009, which provided four of the most avidly talked-about and enthused-over movies of last year: The White Ribbon, Inglourious Basterds, A Prophet and Antichrist. It also provided a bona fide animated classic in the form of Up,...

Today, the 2010 Cannes Film Festival revealed its official selection list. The festival will run from May 12 through May 23rd in France. Opening film: Ridley Scott - Robin Hood - Out of Competition (2h11) *** Mathieu Amalric - TOURNÉE (1h51) Xavier Beauvois - Des Hommes Et Des Dieux (2h00) Rachid Bouchareb - Hors La Loi (2h11) Alejandro GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU - Biutiful (2h18) Mahamat-Saleh Haroun - Un Homme Qui Crie (A Screaming Man) (1h40) Im Sangsoo - The Housemaid (1h46) Abbas Kiarostami - Copie Conforme (1h46) Takeshi Kitano - Outrage (2h00) Lee Chang-dong - Poetry (2h15) Mike Leigh - Another Year (2h09) Doug Liman - Fair Game (1h44) Sergei Loznitsa - You. My Joy (1h50) Daniele Luchetti - La Nostra Vita (1h33) Nikita Mikhalkov - Utomlyonnye Solntsem 2 (2h21) Bertrand Tavernier - La Princesse De Montpensier (2h15) Apichatpong Weerasethakul - Loong ...

When the line up for Cannes is announced something wonderful happens. For a shining moment the horizon of forthcoming movies expands to reveal a wealth of talent whose diversity of vision makes for an education in the variety of film making in the 21st century.

As previously announced it will be Ridley Scott’s take on Robin Hood which will open the film and I’m happy to see Mike Leigh’s Another Year in competition alongside the latest from Takeshi Kitano and Apichatpong Weerasethakul and there are so many wonderful film makers at the festival this year.

We’re pleased to tell you that HeyUGuys will be in attendance and our Cannes correspondent will be posting later tonight with his thoughts on the line up for this year – we’re really excited to be going to one of the biggest events in the film calendar – what do you think of this year’s films?...

Maybe it's because we spend most of our time rushing between a stuffy Soho office and stuffy Soho screening rooms that, for us, everything to do with the annual Festival de Cannes is normally the very pinnacle of sophistication and glamour, but this afternoon's Festival announcement at a press conference in Paris was something of a fusty and downbeat affair with festival dignatories taking pains to point out how the financial crisis has negativel affected film production blargh blargh blargh blargh... indeed, it says a lot when the day's biggest news is that Terrence Malick's eagerly anticipated Tree of Life will Not be ready for the competition.

Now, out in the cold light of day we're scanning the list of films that Did make it and can't help but be a little disappointed. Last year's compeition gave us genius, beauty and controversy in equal measure (think A Prophet, The White Ribbon,...

Another Year, Mike Leigh's ensemble piece with Jim Broadbent and Imelda Staunton, is the sole British entry in competition at this year's Cannes film festival, up against new movies from Jean-Luc Godard, Bertrand Tavernier and Alejandro González Iñárritu

Mike Leigh's Another Year, an ensemble comedy drama starring Leigh regulars Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton and Lesley Manville, will be flying the union flag in competition at this year's Cannes film festival, whose lineup was announced today.

The other British film which will debut on the Croisette is Tamara Drewe, Stephen Frears's adaptation of the Posy Simmonds Guardian comic strip turned graphic novel. Frears's picture, which stars Gemma Arterton, will screen out of competition, as will Woody Allen's London-set You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.

At a press conference in Paris today, festival director Thierry Frémaux also revealed other high-profile additions to the programme. Ridley Scott's...

New films from Mike Leigh, Oliver Stone and Woody Allen will debut at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival. Leigh's Another Year and Doug Liman's political drama Fair Game are among the 16 movies screening in competition. Also in the running for the prestigious Palm d'Or prize are Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu's Biutiful and Tournée from French actor Mathieu Amalric. Leigh has scooped the top Cannes prize before, winning in 1996 for Secrets & Lies. Last year, Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon took home the Palm d'Or. Hideo Nakata's Chatroom (more)...