For the Festival de Cannes 2019, BLINKCO Magazine is pleased to introduce Lara Gaillard, special correspondent in France for the coverage of the events surrounding the film festival.

CANNES, FRANCE. May 17, 2019: Debbie Honeywood, Katie Proctor, Rhys Stone, Kris Hitchen & Ken Loach at Festival de Cannes. | Paul Smith, Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com

There was much anticipation today for Ken Loach’s presence at Cannes. Winner of two Palme d’Or, and only the ninth filmmaker to achieve this feat for The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), and I, Daniel Blake (2016), this year’s entry Sorry We Missed You is a drama that explores the struggles of a British family due to difficult labor contracts which echoes the reality of many households living in Newcastle. Loach’s deliberate selection of unknown actors lends a helping hand to deliver a work that achieves his vision of realism. The film highlights the rough lives of ordinary citizens of the United Kingdom and presents itself as a social awareness campaign, like much of his previous works. Deeply moving and socially conscious, Sorry We Missed You is poised to garner the attention needed on a world stage. For Loach, this could mean another Palme d’Or. But good things always come in three, don’t they?

Video: Antoine Landrieu

The night also included a special surprise during the screening of La Cité de la peur (1994) at the Cinéma de la Plage. Filled with puns and cultural references that cater specifically to a French audience, the spoof film that parodies major American movies became a much loved cultural darling over the years. To thank its fans for the film’s 25th anniversary, the mythical scene featuring Alain Chabat and Gérard Darmon performing La Carioca was suddenly interrupted, only to be replaced by a live re-enactment of the entire dance by the two actors themselves, in full tuxedos no less! It is for moments like this that make the Festival de Cannes a truly unmissable event.

Lara Gaillard (Cannes, France)

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