CANNES
2002
'CRITICS
WEEK' ANNOUNCES ITS SELECTION
It
could only be in France. The country that invented cinema
critics has also its Union. It is the 'Syndicat Français
de la Critique de Cinéma', which is very active,
and has organized for over forty years an annual selection
of new or promising talents. The list of the 41st International
Critics Week came out this morning (25/4). The Week is one
of the highlighted sections at the 55th Cannes Festival.
Five
out of the eight features selected by the Critics Week are
by debutant directors and potential candidates to the coveted
award 'Caméra d'Or'. "Le Pornographe",
by the French Bertrand Bonello, was one that stood out at
the 2001 selection. In 2000 the Mexican "Amores Perros",
by Alejandro González Iñárritu, came
out of its selection.
This
year the Critics Week has an immediate odd impact - "Les
Fils de Marie", a Canadian movie that registers the
debut of the serene and sweet actress and singer Carole
Laure in the direction. The film seems like a continuation
to the Italian Nanni Moretti's "The son's room",
winner of the Golden Palm in Cannes 2001. It follows the
drama of a mother who loses her 15 year-old son in a car
accident. Unable to cope with the loss she puts ads on newspapers
searching for children who lost their mothers.
The
other first films of the Critics Week are "Filles Perdues,
Cheveux Gras", by the French Claude Duty; "Too
Young to Die", by the south Korean Park Jin Pyo; "Kabala",
by the Malian Assane Kouvaté, a French co-production;
and the Spanish "Intacto", by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo,
set aside to open the critics panorama. "More",
by the veteran Barbet Schroeder (selection of the São
Paulo IFF with "Koko, Le Gorile qui Parle", 1977)
will have a special screening.
While
the Cannes festival (May 15 to 26) doesn't start, the French
Critics Union prepares for this Sunday its participation
in the big demonstrations in Paris against the presence
of the fascist candidate Le Pen in the second round of the
Presidential elections in France. The Union asks all sympathizers
to express their indignation and uneasiness regarding the
threats against democracy and expression freedom. More information
at www.critique-cinema.fr.
FROM THE READERS
I
am not happy either with the present moment in French politics,
but to insinuate that Asterix's success has something to
do with Le Pen's xenophobe is a mistake. Asterix has always
represented the best in France and, besides that, the film
has an actor in leading role (Jamel Debbouze) who has Arab
origins.
Martim
Ardaillon Simões
Só
mesmo na França. O país que inventou a crítica
cinematográfica também tem o seu sindicato. E é
o 'Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma' que
é muito ativo, que organiza há mais de quarenta
anos uma seleção anual de talentos novos ou promissores.
Saiu esta manhã de 25/4 a lista da 41ª Semana Internacional
da Crítica que forma uma das seções de destaque
do 55o Festival de Cannes. 
