Cannes 2008: What's on the cards?

Festivals - Wednesday April 23, 2008

The programme for the 61st Cannes Film Festival - the year's biggest and most glamorous movie event - has been announced. From Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg, to the Dardenne brothers and Walter Salles, noteworthy filmmakers and stars from around the world will gather on the Croisette from May 14th to May 25th...

The highlight of this year's schedule is clearly the opening night movie ? and yes, you already know it - Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Other out of competition gems in the festival's two week programme include Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Tokyo (a collection of city-shorts directed by Michel Gondry Bong Joon-ho Leos Carax) and Mark Osborne and John Stevenson's Kung Fu Panda.

Amongst those in Competition for some of the film industry's most prestigious awards are: Nuri Bilge Ceylan with Les Trois singes; Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne with Le Silence de Lorna; Charlie Kaufman with Synecdoche New York; Lucrecia Martel with La Mujer Sin Cabeza; Wim Wenders with The Palermo Shooting; Walter Salles with Linha de Passe and Arnaud Desplechin with Un conte de Noël.

Although the industry was anxious after a year of strikes and disruptions in the US industry, it looks like there should still be sufficient quality viewing to keep the punters and critics alike happy.

As for the prizes, they will be doled out by no less an illustrious bunch than we would expect. Sean Penn presides over this year's jury, whose other members are Alexandra Maria Lara (who stars in Youth Without Youth and James Ivory's The City of Your Final Destination), Natalie Portman, Alfonso Cuaron, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Rachid Bouchareb. The German filmmaker, Fatih Akin, will serve as president of the Certain Regard section of this year's festival, while the philosophical eye of director Bruno Dumont will be watching over this year's Camera D'Or selection.

The jury for this year's short film contest is equally high-powered, with Moma New York curator Larry Kardish, actress Marina Hands serving alongside directors Olivier Assayas and Susanne Bier. The president of this jury is the Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao Hsien.

Other celebrities to watch for during the festival fortnight are Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Monica Bellucci and Harrison Ford.

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