It seems everywhere is the same, critics are complaining about the Palme d’Or being “boring“, “made for the cannes audience only“… One strange fact though, the two asian films rewarded this year have been co-produced by french companies.
One of them, Arte, was lucky enough to see 20+ of its co-productions picked for Cannes. Which brings some questions about the whole ‘Cannes system’;
• Do asian directors need to be co-produced by french companies (Arte, MK2, Wild Bunch…) to go to Cannes & hope to win?
• To be co-produced by Arte is the best thing that can happen to an asian director?
• And so, to please this french co-producer, do asian directors need to do “auteur” films?
Looks like a closed system. It’s not even about the quality of films – I do insist on this point, it’s about a system/model. Now, can you guess why each year some US blockbusters are invited to premiere at the festival?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
it would seem that way. I know ‘Confessions’ tried to get into competition and they wouldn’t take it even though it’s better than both Housemaid and Outrage. Cannes is always very obvious about what it picks though, especially for asian films
Big mistake from Nakashima: he forgot the french co-producor!