News

Séamas McSwiney is our guest film correspondent with decades of experience in film journalism, and work published in some top international publications. For the past fortnight he has been reporting for us from the Cannes film festival, and here he reveals the big winners. 

The cloud filled skies in the middle days of Cannes 2012 also coincided with some of the darkest films, three of which are already described here in this blog. Despite their "feel-bad" impact, their artistic quality was such that they finally ended up with awards at Sunday night's closing ceremony.

Séamas McSwiney is our guest film correspondent with decades of experience in film journalism, and work published in some top international publications. He is reporting from Cannes 2012, and today looks at four films from what is ofter an forgotten continent.

"It's a Cannes constant to comment on the absence of films from the African continent. Perhaps quality cinema production could even be considered a rough benchmark for economic development. This year there were films a plenty from South America and the Asian presence is now a constant both in terms of film production and audiences. China will be the new goldmine for revenue generated by the silver screen and by its digital offspring.

Still, there were four films flying in from four separate corners of the biggest continent: two from North Africa, Egypt and Morocco, dealing respectively with The Arab Spring and jihadi suicide bombers; and two from sub-Sahara, East and West, telling stories that again confront the dangers and indignities that deprivation will drive people to.

Séamas McSwiney is our guest film correspondent with decades of experience in film journalism, and work published in some top international publications. Here he looks at three difficult but brilliant films that have perfectly matched this year's dark, wet Cannes film festival:

"After a somewhat stuttering start, over the weekend, the Cannes Competition delivered three hard-hitting quality films from three directors who have also shone darkly in the past. Their individual subject matter springs from the banal and the quotidian, but is cruel and sometimes difficult to watch. There is hardly a joke made or a smile raised during their combined running time of over six hours.

Séamas McSwiney is our guest film correspondent with decades of experience in film journalism, and work published in some top international publications. Here he previews this year's Cannes film festival. 

"Moonrise Kingdom is this year's Cannes opener. It also opens in UK cinemas on May 25th, giving a welcome opportunity to keep up with the latest buzz from planet cinema, a world that systematically migrates to the French Riviera once a year in May. As usual it will have a Cannes competition programme that goes beyond the standard all-American multiplex fare and will again provide a wide range of celluloid offerings from the planet's finest filmmakers.

American Offerings

This said, Cannes 2012 also offers a particularly fine crop of quality contemporary American movies. For starters there is the afore mentioned opener, Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson. On the surface it tells an all-American simple story of a little boy who loves a little girl in 60s USA, all trammelled with scout camping trips and indulgent parents, too dim to understand the essence they lost by growing up. But add the oddball, the quirky and surreal, the habitual tones of Wes Anderson's cine-palette, and you have quite a different and hilariously memorable experience.

Bonne Année is French for Happy New year and, if you ever felt like organising a French film festival, this is the year and now is the time. You can start next week and the whole thing will be done and dusted by the end of the month.

Usually you would need to plan a long way ahead, find sponsors, staff and cinemas. Then you would need to pick the films, negotiate the rights, arrange the transport of the celluloid spools and the special guests and ...pray that they arrive on time for the advertised screening. And that is only half of the joys, headaches and suspense that are part and parcel of managing a cultural event like a film festival. It's like that on a large scale for Cannes, Berlin, London and all of the major film festivals, and also for the thousand local festivals happening somewhere in the world every single day of the year. One thing they all have in common is that the organisers never have the time or the peace of mind to enjoy the films.