Today, the selection of Quinzaine des Cinéastes 2024 was unveiled. The strand has been around since 1969 and was formerly known as Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. The section runs parallel to the main festival and has typically been the place to find the best and most original works by directors who would later become famous. This year, the 21 new features were chosen from 1590 submissions. The opening film is Ma vie ma gueule (This Life of Mine), a posthumous film by Sophie Fillières. The closing film will be Les pistolets en plastique (Plastic Guns), directed by Jean-Christophe Meurisse. A special screening is dedicated to Chantal Akerman, and the choice of film is Histoires d’Amérique: Food, Family and Philosophy.
The rest of the films are the following.
À SON IMAGE (In His Own Image)
by Thierry de Peretti (France)
CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT
by Tyler Taormina (USA)
DESERT OF NAMIBIA (Namibia no sabaku)
by Yôko Yamanaka (Japan)
EAST OF NOON (Sharq 12)
by Hala Elkoussy (Egypt)
EAT THE NIGHT
by Caroline Poggi & Jonathan Vinel (France)
EEPHUS
by Carson Lund (USA) first feature film
GAZER
by Ryan J. Sloan (USA) first feature film
GHOST CAT ANZU (Bakeneko Anzu-chan / Anzu, chat-fantôme)
by Yôko Kuno & Nobuhiro Yamashita (Japan)
GOOD ONE
by India Donaldson (USA) first feature film
MONGREL (白衣蒼狗)
by Chiang Wei Liang & You Qiao Yin (Taïwan) first feature film
LA PRISONNIÈRE DE BORDEAUX (Visiting Hours)
by Patricia Mazuy (France)
SAVANNA AND THE MOUNTAIN (A savana e a montanha)
by Paulo Carneiro (Portugal)
SISTER MIDNIGHT
by Karan Kandhari (India)
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED (Algo viejo, algo nuevo, algo prestado)
by Hernán Rosselli (Argentina)
THE FALLING SKY (A queda do céu / La Chute du ciel)
by Eryk Rocha & Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha (Brazil)
THE HYPERBOREANS (Los hiperbóreos)
by Cristóbal León & Joaquín Cociña (Chile)
THE OTHER WAY AROUND (Volveréis / Septembre sans attendre)
by Jonás Trueba (Spain)
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
by Mahdi Fleifel (Palestine, Denmark)
UNE LANGUE UNIVERSELLE (Universal Language)
by Matthew Rankin (Canada)
Surprisingly, there are four films from the US and one from Canada. The European selections are limited to seven films, five of which are French. Well-known directors such as Trueba and Mazuy don’t necessarily whet the appetite. The most interesting feature may come from Paulo Carneiro with Savanna and the Mountain, two years after Périphérique Nord. Possibly, the four first features could offer some surprises, but at a glance, the selection looks as weak as last year’s edition. None of my hopeful predictions came true, either. The choice of Akerman film is peculiar since it’s none of her more interesting works. The explanation by section head Julian Rejl that it highlights her Jewish identity rings hollow.
Semaine de la Critique 2024
Section president Ava Cahen unveiled the selections for Semaine de la Critique (Critics’ Week) yesterday. It contains eleven long features from as many countries. The most interesting to me is Marcelo Caetano’s second feature, Baby, following his debut, Corpo Eléctrico, in 2017. The main reason for my interest is that Still Moving is one of the co-producers, the company behind Feathers (Semaine 2021), Tiger Stripes (Semaine 2023), and many other great films. Baby is described as being about Wellington, who is released from a juvenile detention centre, seemingly without any prospects. One day, he meets an older man at a porn theatre, and some kind of relationship begins.
Julie Keeps Quiet (Julie zwijgt) is a Belgian-Swedish production, and the feature debut from Leonardo van Dijl. Julie’s world revolves around tennis. Suddenly, her coach is being investigated, and later suspended. Julie is still reluctant to talk about the case. What the other films can bring to the two sections remains to be seen.
