With the official selections to be announced in just over a week on April 15th, more and more pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Confirmed to be joining the Tim Burton led jury are Gael Garcia Bernal and Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno (the lead of last year’s Cannes film, “Vincere”), while Canadian writer-director Atom Egoyan will head up the Cinefondation Jury and Claire Denis (“White Material“) will preside over the Un Certain Regard jury.
Of course, speculation on the films continues to run rampant. At the end of last month, we did our best prognosticating but even more films are now bubbling up for potential contention. With Bernal joining the jury, the inclusion of his latest Spanish-language film, “Even The Rain” seems likely. Julie Bertucelli’s “The Tree” (starring last year’s Cannes Best Actress winner Charlotte Gainsbourg), Peter Mullan’s “Neds” and “…But Film Is My Mistress” (the second part of Stig Bjorkman’s Ingmar Bergman tribute) are all likely to be slotted in various festival programs.
But the most exciting news are rumors that Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated sci-fi mindbender “Inception” may unspool in a work-in-progress screening at the festival. Certainly, the rumor seems to make sense as, until now, Warner Bros. didn’t really have a high profile film like “Robin Hood” to show off at the festival. They are also busy promoting the hell out of the film, and getting buzz at Cannes would be a great way to build the film’s momentum, particularly with international audiences, in the lead up to its July 16th release date. In fact, the hype around the movie is so big that even an out-of-competition, in-progress screening would be as sought after as high profile films like “Tree Of Life.” And of course, festival organizers would love to see the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine and Joseph Gordon-Levitt walk the red carpet.
Alas, this is still speculation at this point, but we like what we’re hearing so far. The Cannes Film Festival kicks off on May 12th.