European Films

French actor Michaël Youn in the dark in Bruno Merle's Cannes' Critics' Week opener 'Héros' (Hero). Photo (c): Jaïr Sfez/Rezo Films, 2007. All rights reserved.

The Official Selection of the 60th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will be announced on Thursday, but some information has already been made public, including the selection of the Bruno Merle thriller Héros (Hero) as the opening film of Cannes' Critics' Week. The opening and closing ceremonies will be hosted by German model-turned-actress Diane Kruger, who is perhaps most famous for her roles in US productions National Treasure and Troy but who also starred in several French films including Les brigades du Tigre (The Tiger Brigades) and Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas). This year's masterclass will be given by recent Oscar-winner Martin Scorcese (The Departed), who will also officially unveil his World Cinema Foundation. As for jury presidents: British director and Oscar-nominee Stephen Frears (The Queen) will guide the Official Competion jury; French director Pascale Ferran (Lady Chatterley) will preside over the Un certain regard jury and Mexican actor Gael García Bernal (La mala educaciòn/Bad Education) will head the Critics' Week jury.

A few titles of the Official Selection have been revealed, including the Out of Competition title Ocean's Thirteen from US director Steven Soderbergh. Two other American titles have also been confirmed for the Director's Fortnight sidebar: Smiley Face from Gregg Araki and Chop Shop from New York-based filmmaker Ramin Bahrani. The first officially confirmed French title is the thriller Héros (Hero) from Bruno Merle, which will open the Critics' Week section. It stars French comic Michaël Youn as Pierre Fôret, a man who is funny, which happens to be his drama. He is an animator at a TV studio who keeps audiences entertained before and during the breaks of live TV programmes, though he would rather be famous himself. One day he decides that enough is enough and takes his idol Clovis Costa (Patrick Chesnais) hostage. 

As it is the 60th anniversary of the cinematic fairground on the Côte d'azur, 33 directors have each been asked to deliver a 3-minute shortfilm. The shorts will be stitched together to form one 100-minute feature called Chacun son cinéma (To Each His Own Cinema). The challenge: each short should reflect the makers' "current state of mind as inspired by the motion-picture theatre" and also show "a promise of Paradise".  The 33 directors are: Theo Angelopoulos, Olivier Assayas, Bille August, Jane Campion, Youssef Chahine, Chen Kaige, Michael Cimino, Ethan & Joel Coen, David Cronenberg, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Manoel De Oliveira, Raymond Depardon, Atom Egoyan, Amos Gitai, Hou Hsiao Hsien, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, Aki Kaurismaki, Abbas Kiarostami, Takeshi Kitano, Andrei Konchalovsky, Claude Lelouch, Ken Loach, Nanni Moretti, Roman Polanski, Raul Ruiz, Walter Salles, Elia Suleiman, Tsai Ming Liang, Gus Van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Wim Wenders, Wong Kar Wai and Zhang Yimou.

Stay tuned to european-films.net, as we will cover the entire festival live, with daily updates including reviews, interviews and red carpet photos. The Cannes Film Festival runs between May 16-27, 2007.