Cannes: Critics’ Week Lineup Unveiled

The roster for Cannes Film Festival sidebar Critics’ Week was announced this afternoon with seven films in competition and two special screenings, along with the opening and closing titles. Figuring amongst the mix is Inglourious Basterds star Mélanie Laurent with her second directorial outing, Respire, which grabbed a special screening berth. Out of the competition titles, two are from return helmers: Self Made by Israel’s Shira Geffen, whose 2007 Les Méduses won the Cannes Camera d’Or; and horror pic It Follows by David Robert Mitchell. Mitchell was in Critics’ Week in 2010 with The Myth Of The American Sleepover. British filmmaker Andrea Arnold is presiding over the jury for the 53rd edition of Critics’ Week (aka Semaine de la Critique). France’s Rebecca Zlotowski is overseeing the jury for the section’s new Sony CineAlta Discovery Prize. While some Critics’ Week titles can appear somewhat obscure at first glance, it’s worth recalling that the section has been a proving ground for such talent as Guillermo del Toro, Gaspar Noé, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Emanuele Crialese, and Jeff Nichols. The section runs this year from May 15-23. Here’s the full list of titles:

Opening Film: Faire L’Amour, dir: Djinn Carrénard (France)
Closing Film: Hippocrate, dir: Thomas Lilti (France)

Special Screenings
Respire, dir: Mélanie Laurent (France)
L’Institutrice, dir: Nadav Lapid (Israel)

Critics’ Week Features
Più Buio Di Mezzanote*, dir: Sebastiano Riso (Italy)
The Tribe*, dir: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy (Ukraine)
It Follows, dir: David Robert Mitchell (U.S.)
Gente De Bien*, dir: Franco Lolli (Colombia)
When Animals Dream*, dir: Jonas Alexander Arnby (Denmark)
Hope*, dir: Boris Lojkine (France)
Self Made, dir: Shira Geffen (Israel)

* Denotes first film, eligible for the Camera d’Or

Critics’ Week Shorts
Safari, dir: Gerardo Herrero (Spain)
The Chicken, dir: Una Gunjak (Croatia)
Crocodile, dir: Gaëlle Denis (UK)
Une Chambre Bleue, dir: Tomasz Siwiński (Poland)
TrueLoveStory, dir: Gitanjali Rao (India)
Petit Frère, dir: Rémi St-Michel (Canada)
A Ciambra, dir: Jonas Carpignano (Italy)
La Contre-Allée, dir: Cécile Ducrocq (France)
Les Fleuves M’Ont Laissée Descendre Où Je Voulais, dir: Laurie Lassalle (France)
Boa Noite Cinderela, dir: Carlos Conceiçao (Portugal)

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