News

Pacha, a Bolivian film by Héctor Ferreiro will open the first edition of the Kochi International Film Festival today. The festival that will run from December 16-23 will be inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy.

The festival will screen films from Latin America, Europe, Asia and USA, apart from films on the 100 Years of Indian Cinema and Centenary of Masters.

A total of 50 international films and 24 Indian films will be screened. Five films from Thailand, eight from Poland six films from Iran will be a part of the international section. While 18 Malayalam, one Tulu film and three Hindi films are in the line-up.

Line up of films:

100 Years of Indian Cinema

Malayalam Golden 10:

Elippathayam (The Rat Trap) by Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Chidambaram by G. Aravindan

Danny by T. V. Chandran

Amma Ariyan by John Abraham

Oppol by K. S. Sethumadhavan

Nirmalyam by M. T. Vasudevan Nair

Uppu by Pavithran

Olavum Theeravum by P.

Edouard Waintrop, Artistic Director of Directors' Fortnight, has presented the lineup for this year's edition, running from May 17 through 27.

Features

Merzak Allouache's El Taaib. Evene claims it's an angry film aimed at the malaise of Algerian society.

Rodney Ascher's Room 237. A documentary about the plethora of theories that have sprung up over the years regarding just what Stanley Kubrick was up to when he made The Shining (1980). More here. IFC Midnight picked up North American rights just yesterday.

Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner's Ernest et Célestine. From the makers of A Town Called Panic, this is an animated adaptation of a series of books about a little mouse who doesn't want to become a dentist and a big bear who doesn't want to become a notary. Site.

Benjamin Ávila's Infancia clandestina. From the San Sebastian Film Festival: "Juan lives in clandestinity. Just like his mum,...

We’ve already got a great line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but a few more quality films have been added to the Directors’ Fortnight section. Most notably is the latest film from Michel Gondry, The We and the I (more details on that one here). Then we’ve got Sightseers, the next film from Ben Wheatley, who gave us the frightening Kill List earlier this year. There’s also two Sundance films, one the excellent documentary on Stanley Kubrick‘s The Shining, Room 237, as well as the absurdly funny Wrong, from Quentin Dupieux (update: looks like it’s actually a brand-new short titled Wrong Cops, starring Marilyn Manson). Check out the line-up below.

Longs Metrages / Feature Films

3 de / by Pablo Stoll Ward (Uruguay, Allemagne, Argentine / Uruguay, Germany, Argentina) – Première internationale

Adieu Berthe, l’enterrement de mémé / Granny’s Funeral de / by Bruno Podalydès (France) – Première mondiale...

Ben Wheatley's Sightseers is selected for Directors' Fortnight special screening, while British theatre director Rufus Norris's debut Broken will open Critics' Week

The Cannes film festival's two major independent sidebars have announced their lineup for the forthcoming festival, providing UK and Us film-makers with a considerable boost to their presence on the Croisette.

Ben Wheatley, who has impressed critics and fans alike with his first two films, Down Terrace and Kill List, has seen his third, Sightseers, selected for a special screening in the Directors' Fortnight event, while British theatre director Rufus Norris's debut feature, Broken, has been given the opening slot for the Critics' Week section. Sightseers is described as a "pitch-black comedy" about a caravan trip around the north of England, while Broken is an adaptation of Daniel Clay's novel, and stars Cillian Murphy and Tim Roth.

Us film-makers have added to their total...

Yes, there's even more. With the lineup at the Cannes Film Festival already boasting a plethora of top-tier talent and highly anticipated films, the sidebar Directors' Fortnight is not to be outdone, and today they have unveiled their unusually name-brand-heavy lineup.

Michel Gondry's "The We & The I," Ben Wheatley's "Sightseers," plus new films by Pablo Lorrain, Quentin Dupieux and the late Raoul Ruiz will the lead the charge in 2012. Gondry's film has been rumored for south of France for a while now, but when it didn't show up in the Cannes lineup, and with the director already lensing his next effort "Mood Indigo," we figured we'd have to wait until the fall for "The We And The I." But the feature, which has been kept under wraps, and stars a cast of unknowns, will get a grand bow as the Opening Night film.

Elsewhere in the lineup: "Kill List...

Michael Haneke, Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant

on the set of Amour

It's been a couple of weeks since the French magazine Premiere posted "Cannes 2012: Le buzzomètre," a list of over 30 films, each of which were assigned a numerical probability of its making the lineup at Cannes this year. Speculation has only grown hotter, of course, with an official announcement slated for April 19; Critics' Week and the Directors' Fortnight will follow on April 23 and 24, respectively. "Paris is rife with rumors about who will make it," reports Fabien Lemercier at Cineuropa. "Several films by 'big fish' have not been seen yet, and many who have already shown their film are eagerly awaiting news."

A few days ago, a French blog pulled an April Fools' Day prank that thoroughly ticked off Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux. The blog claimed to have seen the full lineup, "briefly published on the official Cannes Film Festival...