The 72nd Festival de Cannes concluded on May 25, 2019 amid much fanfare from the expecting public. Notables include Mati Diop as the first female director of African descent to compete on her own for the Palme d’Or, a return to form for Quentin Tarantino with his interpretation of the Manson murders, and Ken Loach’s 14th nomination at Cannes seeking for a third win. Needless to say, the Croisette was abuzz with fans and cinephiles alike, all patiently waiting for the presentation of the prestigious Palme d’Or. Here is a recap of the Official Selection in competition for the prize:
English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
Atlantics | Atlantique | Mati Diop | Senegal, France, Belgium |
Bacurau | Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles | Brazil | |
The Dead Don’t Die | Jim Jarmusch | United States | |
Frankie | Ira Sachs | United States, France, Portugal, Belgium | |
A Hidden Life | Terrence Malick | United States, Germany | |
It Must Be Heaven | Elia Suleiman | France, Canada | |
Little Joe | Jessica Hausner | Austria, Germany, United Kingdom | |
Matthias & Maxime | Matthias et Maxime | Xavier Dolan | Canada |
Les Misérables | Ladj Ly | France | |
Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo | Abdellatif Kechiche | France | |
Oh Mercy! | Roubaix, une lumière | Arnaud Desplechin | France |
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Quentin Tarantino | United States | |
Pain and Glory | Dolor y gloria | Pedro Almodóvar | Spain |
Parasite | 기생충 | Bong Joon-ho | South Korea |
Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu | Céline Sciamma | France |
Sibyl | Justine Triet | France | |
Sorry We Missed You | Ken Loach | United Kingdom | |
The Traitor | Il traditore | Marco Bellocchio | Italy |
The Whistlers | La Gomera | Corneliu Porumboiu | Romania, France, Germany |
The Wild Goose Lake | 南方车站的聚会 | Diao Yinan | China |
Young Ahmed | Le Jeune Ahmed | Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Belgium |
Source: Wikipedia
The Palme d’Or of 2019 is awarded to Parasite, a dark comedy about the twisted relationship between two families of polar opposite socio-economic class, directed by Bong Joon-ho. The Grand Prix, Cannes’ equivalent to second prize, is given to Atlantics, making Mati Diop the first black female award recipient in the festival’s history. Both films are significant in the sense that they approach themes of social inequality and justice, signalling perhaps the start of a wave of future films addressing similar issues to appear in the upcoming years in response to current global uncertainties. Whatever is in store for us will certainly be an eye-opening experience, and an entertaining one as well.
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