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Cannes:
not your average seaside resort - but one of the most beautiful
and trendy locations on the Cote d'Azur, France. The Cannes Film
Festival: not your average Oscars type event - but one of the biggest
and most prestigious showcases of the world's best film making.
Did you know that there are seven competitions involved in the Cannes
Film Festival? The range of films that are shown there include major
blockbusters, directorial debuts and smaller, under-funded projects.
It puts on show the true essence of great cinema. The awards will
be announced on 21 May 2005.
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foreign
language films at Cannes Film Festival 2005 - in competition
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This film
festival makes a distinct effort to recognise and award foreign
films and to make them more accessible to the public. The
esteemed jury who will be judging the films include the Mexican
actress Salma Hayek ('From Dawn till Dusk', 'Frida'), Spanish
actor Javier Bardem ('A Sea Inside'), Bollywood actress Nandita
Das and Sarajevo born director Emir Kusturica.
Most of
the world's attention will turn to the films within the 'In
Competition' event. This is the Festival's main event where
the most prestigious award, The Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) is
given for best picture. Last year's winner was the US film
'Fahrenheit' by Michael Moore (US). Here is a brief run down
of the foreign language films that are included in this year's
Cannes Film Festival 2005 In Competition event.
There
are 12 foreign films in this competition alone. And they are:
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Lemming
France (French)
Directed by Dominik Moll
This
is the opening film for this competition and tells of a young
couple who have just moved to a new town. They organise a dinner
party and invite their boss and his wife. They discover the
body of a mysterious animal and their life will fall into the
surreal. |
L'Enfant
France/Belgium (French)
Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Bruno,
a young musician, spends his life playing with this band and
robbing other people. His life is turned upside down with the
arrival of a son by his girlfriend, Sonia. Bruno learns how
to become a father and is thrown onto a journey of profound
emotional and moral complexities. |
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Shanghai
Dream
China (Cantonese)
Directed by Xiaoshuai Wang
In the 1960's many families in China moved from
the big towns to the countryside where the Government was developing
the economy. A young woman discovers her first love in the province
of Guizhou, whereas her father wants to leave the countryside
and head back home…to Shanghai. |
Best
of our Times
Taiwan (Cantonese)
Directed by Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Three stories, three moments in life (1911, 1966,
2005) in which the same couple May and Chen will live the same
story of infinite love. Reincarnation and nostalgia for the
best moments in life are important themes. |
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Cache
France (French)
Directed by Miichael Haneke
Georges,
who hosts a TV literary review, receives packages containing
secret videos of himself with his family as well as obscure
drawings. He has no idea who may be sending them and as the
tapes becomes more personal the police refuse to help him. This
film stars French actress Juliette Binoche. |
Peindre
ou Faire L'amour
France
(French)
Directed by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu
When the only son of William and Madeleine leaves
home, she decides to paint a house in the surrounding hills.
A blind man, Adam, shows her a house. She falls in love with
it and enthusiastically ropes in William to buy it. Whilst in
the house, William and Madeleine discover more about, Adam and
his girlfriend Eva. |
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Free
Zone
USA/Israel (English & Hebrew)
Directed by Amos Gitai
Natalie
Portman and Hana Laszlo embark on a road trip after they are
brought together by circumstance. This film starts US actress
Natalie Portman and Spanish actress Carmen Maura. |
Batalla
en el Cielo
Mexico,
Belgium, France, Germany (Spanish)
Directed by Carlos Reygadas
Marcos,
a driver for a revered General, is haunted by the memory of
the tragic ending of a kidnapped child. Fragile and full of
sorrows, he decides to confess his sins to Anna, the general's
daughter. |
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Bashing
Japan (Japanese)
Directed by Masahiro Kobayashi
A drama about a Japanese man who was once captured
by the Iraqi insurgents. |
Election
China
(Cantonese)
Directed by Johnnie To
A drama-thriller centered on a democratic election
within an organized crime society. |
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Quando
Sei Nato non Puoi Piu Nasconderti
Italy (Italian)
Directed by Giordana Marco Tullio
Sandro, the only son of a rich family is on holiday
on a cruise ship with his parents. He falls into the water but
is rescued by a boat full of immigrants sailing to Italy. Mostly
Romanians, Sandro befriends Radu a young boy on the boat. During
the trip life changes for Sandro. A coming-of-age drama set
in contemporary Italy. |
Kilometre
Zero
Iran/France
(tba)
Directed by Hiner Saleem
In 1988 during the war between Iran and Iraq, Ako,
a young Kurd wants to escape the country whereas his wife decides
to stay with her father. Ako is sent to the front as part of
Hussein's army but tries his best to get injured and so be sent
home. One day he is asked to drive a body back to its family.
And so begins their journey from South to North. |
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foreign
language films at Cannes Film Festival 2005 - out of competition
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of the biggest films at the Cannes Film Festival can be the
ones within the 'Out of Competition' competition. Films shown
in this category generally do not fit into any other section
of the festival and are typically special events or films that
the Festival feels deserve the honour of being screened at Cannes.
Amongst the smattering of UK and US English language films such
as Woody Allens' 'Match Point' and George Lucas' much anticipated
'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith' are 8 foreign language
films: |
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Joyeux
Noel
France, Germany, UK (French/German)
Directed by Christian Carion |
Dal
Kom Han In-Saeng
(A Bittersweet Life)
South Korea (tba)
Directed by Jee-woon Kim |
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Crossing
the Bridge
Germany (German)
Directed by Fatih Akin |
Cindy
France
(French)
Directed
by Bertrand Bonello |
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Les
Artistes du Theatre Brule
(Artists of the Burning Theater)
Cambodia (tba)
Directed by Rithy Panh |
C'est
pas tout a Fait la Vie Don't J'Avais Reve
(It's Not Totally the Life
that I Dreamed)
France (French)
Directed by Michel Piccoli |
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Nekam Achat Misthey Aynay
(Only for One of My Two Eyes)
Israel (tba)
Directed by Avi Mograbi |
Operetta
Tanukigoten
(Princess Raccoon)
Japan
(Japanese)
Directed by Seijun Suzuki |
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learn
a language with a foreign language movie
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Your next holiday
abroad may be some time away, but why not make good use of the evenings
to build up your language skills with a foreign language movie.
Turn the heating up high, snuggle under a blanket on the sofa with
a nice warm drink in your hands … and press play. With a DVD, you
can choose the language for the soundtrack and the language for
the subtitles. With a video, choose to buy it in the original language
version. Always check that the DVD or video
is in the right format and/or region for your particular country
and your particular player ... especially if you are buying on-line.
DVDs now make
it very easy for us to get our favourite films in many different
languages. Most DVDs come with the soundtrack in a selection of
languages and accompanied by a selection of subtitles. On some DVDs
you can get up to 25 language and subtitle combinations - so you
could end up watching the film in Greek with Hebrew subtitles. A
language learning dream.
A word of warning
though. The film industry has adopted a Region system for all DVDs
- and consequently DVD players. You need to check closely that the
DVD you are purchasing is the correct region for your DVD player.
Even if you manage to buy a multi-region DVD player, still check
that the DVD that you are purchasing has the correct language and
subtitle combination. For example, you may have to buy your DVDs
from France to get the French/English language combination, as the
UK version doesn't have French, but may have Swedish, Danish and
Greek.
Also,
visit our Language Advantage Films for more
foreign language films and movies and Language
Advantage Courses for more of the best and most innovative language
providers in the world.
For more articles, read our Language
Advantage Features.
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