- The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
The 2014 Cannes Film Festival, led by jury president Jane Campion, will release its lineup this Thursday, and, per usual, there’s lots of speculation about which films will compete for the top prize. But for over a decade, the more interesting category at Cannes hasn’t been the Palme d’Or but the Un Certain Regard, which has already announced the first film in its lineup: Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger, and Samuel Theis’s directorial debut, Party Girl. The Palme d’Or remains one of the top prizes in international cinema, but it has long favored specific kinds of filmmakers: white, middle-aged men from the United States and Europe. There are always exceptions, of course, but you’re much more likely to find female filmmakers, minority filmmakers, and films from countries whose cinematic reputations aren’t the strongest (Cambodia, Senegal, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Philippines, etc) in Un Certain Regard; additionally, you’re just as likely (if not more likely) to see work by a major filmmaker, as directors like Claire Denis, Hong Sang-Soo, Manoel de Oliveira, and Jean-Luc Godard are seemingly barred from Palme d’Or contention.
- Dogtooth (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009) When this Greek satire won the Prize Un Certain Regard, it drew attention to a supposed new Greek cinema, marked by a decidedly disparaging view of Greek nationalism and disturbing subject matters. I’m not sure how viable the idea of a Greek New Wave is, but I can’t deny the greatness of Dogtooth, whose director, like so many to win this award, has since become an international staple.
