Cannes Critics’ Week, the sidebar devoted to first and second films, has unveiled the selection for its 62nd edition running May 17-25.
Scroll down for full list of titles
A selection committee led by Ava Cahen, now in her second year in the position, chose 11 titles from 1,000 films screened and seven were selected for the competition.
All of the films in selection are world premieres. Seven are first films that will vie for the Camera d’Or and six are directed by women, including four of the seven films in competition. 13 shorts will also be added to the line-up on April 19.
French films out in force
Like the festival’s Official Selection and Un Certain Regard strands, Critics’ Week will also kick off with a French-accented opening title, Marie Amachoukeli’s Ama Gloria. Amachoukeli won the Camera d’Or in 2014 for Party Girl that she co-directed with Claire Burger and Samuel Theis. The emotional film is the story of a six-year-old girl’s deep attachment to her nanny who has to deal with her caregiver leaving her blends live-action with animated sequences.
The sidebar will close with another French title, Erwan Le Duc’s second film tragi-comedy No Love Lost. Nahuel Perez Biscayart and Céleste Brunnquell star as an inseparable father-daughter duo that Cahen says “takes us from laughter to tears in the blink of an eye.”
Special screenings include an eclectic blend of genre thriller and romantic comedy. Stéphan Castang’s first feature Vincent Must Die is a contemporary twist on the zombie thriller, starring Karim Leklou as a man who finds himself suddenly being attacked by random strangers with murderous intent as soon as they make eye contact.
Ann Sirot and Raphael Balboni will premiere The (Ex)Perience Of Love about a couple struggling to have a child whose doctor recommends they find their respective exes and sleep with them again.
The competition
While the non-competing films have a decidedly French flavour, the seven-strong competition blends titles from across the globe including the first-ever film from Jordan presented in Cannes, Inshallah A Boy from first-time director Amjad Al Rasheed about a home care worker, widow and mother (Palestinian actress Mouna Hawa) who fights for her independence.
Tiger Stripes, the first feature film from Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu, revisits the themes of teenage metamorphosis and rebellion in a fantasy feature about a teenage girl whose body begins to morph at an alarming rate.
Brazilian director Lillah Halla’s Power Alley follows a female athlete at the top of her game until she finds out that she is pregnant. The film deals with the politics of the illegality of abortion in Brazil and Cahen says “Halla opposes the conservatism that plagues her country with a queer and unifying vision.” The film was notably selected for Critics’ Week’s Next Step Program that supports filmmakers transitioning from shorts to features.
In a completely different take on parenthood, Korean director Jason Yu will world premiere his debut film Sleep. The former assistant to Bong Joon-ho’s film follows a young couple before and after the birth of their first child that, says Cahen, features “two protagonists, a crying baby, a barking dog and a lurking ghost, the perfect ingredients for a dramatic, horrific comedy.” Cahen called the film “trash and gore, but funny” and added that she hopes the canine actor makes the trip to Cannes for the premiere since “he has Palm Dog potential.”
Serbian director Vladimir Perišić’s second feature Lost Country is set in Belgrade in 1996 during the student protests against the Milosevic regime, as a teenager is torn between his own convictions and his love for his mother, a corrupt politician.
Belgian filmmaker Paloma Sermon-Daï brings bittersweet family dynamics story It Is Raining In The House about a brother and sister struggling to survive as their home floods and their bank accounts dry up.
French director Iris Kaltenbäck tackles themes of female friendship and motherhood in Le Ravissement, a psychological thriller that stars Hafsia Herzi, Nina Meurisse, Alexis Manenti and Younes Boucif.
Jury and prizes
As previously announced, French filmmaker Audrey Diwan will preside over the jury. The Venice Golden Lion-winning director of Happening will be joined by Portuguese director of photography Rui Poças, German actor, choreograph and dancer Franz Rogowski, Indian journalist, curator and advisor to the programming of the Berlin Film Festival Meenakshi Shedde as well as Sundance Film Festival programming director Kim Yutani. Last year’s jury president Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania will be back in Cannes with 2023 competition film Four Daughters.
The jury will award the Critics’ Week grand prix to the best feature film, the French Touch Prize of the Jury, the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award to the best actor/actress and the Leitz Ciné Discovery Prize for best short film.
Last year’s grand prix went to Andrés Ramírez Pulido’s The Pack (La Jauria) and UK director Charlotte Wells’ father-daughter drama Aftersun won the inaugural French Touch Prize before heading off to its prize-winning run on the international festival and awards circuit. The official poster of the upcoming 62nd edition pays homage to the film with an image of its protagonist Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio in a warm embrace.
The Cannes Critics’ Week 2022 Selection
Special screenings
Ama Gloria (Fr) (Opening film)
Dir. Marie Amachoukeli
Vincent Must Die (Fr)
Dir. Stéphan Castang
The (Ex)perience Of Love (Bel-Fr)
Dir. Ann Sirot & Raphaël Balboni
No Love Lost (Fr) (Closing Film)
Dir. Erwan Le Duc
In competition
Power Alley (Bra-Fr-Uru)
Dir. Lillah Halla
It Is Raining In The House (Bel-Fr)
Dir. Paloma Sermon-Daï
Inshallah A Boy (Jor-UAE-Qat-Fr)
Dir. Amjad Al Rasheed
Sleep (S Kor)
Dir. Jason Yu
Lost Country (Fr-Ser-Lux-Cro)
Dir. Vladimir Perisič
Le Ravissement (Fr)
Dir. Iris Kaltenbäck
Tiger Stripes (Malay-Tai-Sing-Fr-Ger-Neth-Indo-Qat)
Dir. Amanda Nell Eu
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