The 65th edition of Cannes Critics Week will open with Huong My Nguyen’s animated feature In Waves and conclude with Félix de Givry’s coming-of-age drama A Cruel Farewell.
Nguyen’s debut feature, In Waves, will be the first animated film in Cannes’ parallel selection dedicated to the first and second films, curated by Eva Caen. This feature – produced by Silex Films and co-produced by Anonymous Content, France 3 Cinema and Panique. — Based on illustrator AJ Dango’s famous graphic memoir.
“In Waves,” voiced by Will Sharp and Stephanie Hsu, is “a touching love story between a young male skater and a young female surfer who are challenged by an illness,” Kayen said. She described the film as “a bright melodrama that unfolds majestically under the pink and blue skies of California.”
Critics Week concludes with “A Cruel Separation,” starring Milo Machado-Graner and Jane Beaver, the boy who broke out in “Anatomy of the Fall,” directed by Justine Triet, which won the Palme d’Or. The film follows a teenager grappling with the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt. Caen advertised the film as a “realistic story that strikes a delicate balance between meticulous mise-en-scène and the spontaneous emotions of the 14-year-old protagonist.”
Selected from 1,050 feature films and 2,400 short films, this year’s Critics Week lineup consists of 11 features and 13 shorts, with seven titles in competition (including a first feature and two second features) and four special screenings.
“The poster for the 65th Semene de la Critique is a breath of fresh air,” Cahen said during the lineup presentation, noting the section’s enduring mission to “introduce up-and-coming filmmakers and actors and support them as they take their promising first steps.”
The lineup includes films from Europe, Mexico, Asia, and the Middle East. Commenting on the broad themes that run through this year’s list, Caen said that “this selection witnesses a society in disintegration, yet remains unyielding” and that “questions the times we live in and…offers a sensitive vision with hope gushing from every corner.”
Among the anticipated masterpieces are Zou Jin’s “A Girl Unknown,” Bruno Santamaria Lazo’s “Six Months in the Pink Building,” and Alexander Murphy’s “The Tin Castle.”
“Girl Unknown,” headlined by rising star Li Genshi (“Resurrection”), depicts “the intense exploration of identity of a young Chinese woman torn between childhood, adolescence, and three families,” Kaen said, adding that the film offers an intimate portrait that “immerses us in the plight of abandoned girls in China from the 1980s to the 2000s.”
“Six Months in the Pink Building” is a Mexican drama set in 1996 that tells the story of a young boy whose father is diagnosed with HIV. “The director takes us back to the ’90s, when awareness of HIV was still weak and stigma was still strong,” Caen said. The film, starring Armando Espitia and Sofia Espinosa, is “decorated with warm tones that celebrate love and childhood, and gracefully embraces the conventions of family films,” continued Kaen.
“Tin Castle” is a documentary about a large family of Irish travelers living in a roadside trailer. “Between the freedom of the surrounding fields where the children play and the pressures of normative society that creep in on older children, life unfolds with the seasons,” said Cawen, who called the film “an ode to Irish Travelers and their way of life.”
The competition will also screen films from Kosovo and Yemen for the first time with Blerta Bashori’s “Dua” and Sara Ishak’s “Al Mahatta” respectively.
Vasholi previously directed the short film Hive, which premiered at Sundance in 2021 and won the Grand Jury Prize, Director’s Award, and Audience Award.
The Critics Weekly jury will award three awards: the Sony Discovery Award for Short Film, the Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award, and the AMI Paris Prix.
The 65th Cannes Critics Week will be held from May 13th to May 21st.
The lineup is as follows:
competition
“Al Mahatta” (“The Station”), Sarah Ishak
“Dua” Blerta Basholi
“La Gradiva” Marin Atran
“Wu ming nü hai” (“A Girl Unknown”), Zou Jin
“Six Months in the Pink Building” Bruno Santamaria Lazo
“Tin Castle” Alexander Murphy
“Viva” (“Alive”), Aina Clotet
Special screening
“A Cruel Farewell” (Closing Film), Felix de Givry
“In Waves” (opening work), Phuong My Nguyen
“La Frappe” (“Stonewall”), Julien Gaspard-Oliveri
“Du Fioul dans les artères” (“Body and Fuel”), Pierre Le Gall
