Michael Haneke
FRANCE-GERMANY-AUSTRIA
127 min.
Opening film
Winner of the Golden Palm at the last edition of the Festival de Cannes, the latest movie from Michael Haneke stars Georges and Anne, two music teachers in their 80s whose love is put to the test when she has a stroke that leaves her body paralysed. The film headlines Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva and Isabelle Huppert.
Benh Zeitlin Zeitlin
The directorial debut brought to us by Benh Zeitlin landed the Caméra d'Or at the last Festival de Cannes and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. The waters will rise, strange animals will return from the grave and everything beyond the levee will disappear in this story about Hushpuppy, a 6 year old girl who lives with her father Wink at the edge of the world.
Paolo Taviani
Brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani won the Golden Bear at the last edition of the Berlin Festival with this film about the efforts of a group of prisoners to put on a performance, in jail, of Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar.
Pablo Larraín
CHILE-USA-MEXICO
110 min.
Pablo Larraín, who participated in the Horizontes Latinos section with his earlier films, Tony Manero (2008) and Post Mortem (2010), won the Directors' Fortnight Award at Cannes with this film. International pressure forced the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to call a referendum in an effort to maintain his presidency in 1988. The leaders of the opposition convince René Saavedra, a gutsy young advertising executive, to head the campaign to vote NO. Despite their limited resources and the iron-fisted control of the despot's police force, Saavedra and his team carry out an audacious plan to win the referendum.
Ken Loach
UK-FRANCE-BELGIUM-ITALY
101 min.
Closing film
The new film from Ken Loach, one of the best known British filmmakers on the international scene, competed in the Official Selection at the last Festival de Cannes, where he carried off the Jury Prize. The story follows a young boy intent on making up for his violent past for the benefit of his newborn baby son who discovers an unexpected flair for whisky tasting.
Olivier Assayas
The new film from Olivier Assayas, competitor at the Venice Festival, stars a young student caught up in France's political and creative turmoil of the 70s torn between his radical commitment and his personal aspirations.
David Frankel
Tommy Lee Jones, Meryl Streep and Steve Carell headline this comedy revolving around Kay and Arnold, a couple with more than thirty years of married life behind them. But what outwardly appears to be perfect harmony and stability in a mature couple has in fact become monotonous and tedious for Kay. She misses the spark of the early years, the desire, the passion, the lust... Determined to do something about it, she turns to a famous sexologist for therapy...
David Frankel
The documentary reconstructs the tale of a young boy who pretends to be the missing son of a North American family. Although he has brown hair instead of blond, is French and ten years older than the child who disappeared, the family accepts him. This film by Bart Layton competed at the Sundance and Edinburgh festivals, and won a prize in Miami.
Bernardo Bertolucci
Presented at the Festival de Cannes out of competition, this is the latest work from the veteran Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci, author of classics like Ultimo tango a Parigi (Last Tango in Paris, 1972), Novecento (1976), The Last Emperor (1987) and The Sheltering Sky (1990). His new film stars Lorenzo, a solitary 14 year-old with difficulties relating to his family and the world around him, who chooses to spend a week hidden in the basement of his house. But Lorenzo's fragile and rebellious step-sister appears at her brother's place of refuge and disturbs the quiet.
Oliver Stone
Director Oliver Stone, winner of three Academy Awards and helmer of classics like Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July and JFK, returns with a fast-moving thriller based on Don Winslow's hard-boiled best seller about the clashes between a couple of marihuana growers and a relentless drug cartel in Baja California. The film has a star-studded cast: Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor Johnson, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and Demian Bichir.
Ben Lewin
Winning film of the Audience Award and Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Festival. Based on the autobiographical writings of the journalist and poet Mark O'Brien, we follow the tale of a man confined to an iron lung who decides, at age 38, to lose his virginity, with the help of a therapist and the blessing of a priest. The film stars John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy.
Ana Murugarren, Joaquín Trincado
SGAE-FUNDACIÓN AUTOR SPECIAL SCREENING (OUT OF COMPETITION)
Cinéma Vérité, road movie, pure comedy. This film produced in 2006 shows a Krahe for whom time doesn't really seem to pass, who lives free from the ties of the industry and gives more than 70 performances a year. It draws a particular map of Spain where his faithful audience waits for him year upon year. Fragments recovered by the film, like his controversial performance with Sabina against NATO and Felipe González, censored in its day, or the super 8 Sobre la Cristofagia (On Eating Christ) once again generate unaccustomary harassment and controversy.
Not in competition