Cannes Directors’ Fortnight: Michael Cera Christmas Movie, Sundance Breakout ‘Good One’ and Sophie Fillières’ Posthumous Film Among Lineup

Elsa Keslassy
·3 min read

The 77th edition of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight will kick off with “This Life of Mine,” a dramedy directed by Sophie Fillières, a renowned French filmmaker who died last year. Presented posthumously, the film is headlined by French stars including Agnès Jaoui, Philippe Katerine and Valérie Donzelli. The independent selection, which has recently gone through a rebranding and is now spearheaded by artistic director Julien Rejl, will close with another French film, Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s “Plastic Guns,” an offbeat crime comedy headlined by popular actor Jonathan Cohen.

The lineup includes as many as four U.S. features, three of which are feature debuts, including India Donaldson’s coming-of-age film”Good One” which premiered at Sundance and garnered solid reviews. Set in upstate New York, “Good One” follows 17-year-old Sam as she joins her father and his oldest friend, Matt, on their annual backpacking trip in the Catskill Mountains. “Good One” has recently been sold to Metrograph Pictures for North American distribution. The film stars newcomer Lily Collias, alongside James Le Gros (“Showing Up”) and Danny McCarthy (HBO’s “Somebody, Somewhere”).

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The other U.S. films slated for Directors’ Fortnight include two more debut features, Ryan J. Sloan’s “Gazer” and  Carson Lund’s “Eephus,” along with Tyler Taormina’s “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” starring Michael Cera, Francesca Scorsese and Sawyer Spielberg.

“Gazer” stars Ariella Mastroianni as Frankie, a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition. “Eephus” is set against the backdrop of a small-town baseball field where two New England recreation league teams face off for the last time. The film stars renowned documentarian Frederick Wiseman and Keith William Richards (“Uncut Gems”).

The roster also include a pair of Japanese films, Yôko Yamanaka’s “Desert of Namibia” and Yôko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s “Ghost Cat Anzu”; several more French films, such as Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel’s science-fiction film “Eat the Night,” Patricia Mazuy’s “Visiting Hours” and Thierry de Peretti’s “In His Own Image;” and Jonás Trueba’s “Volvereis” from Spain.

As previously announced, Directors’ Fortnight will launch its People’s Choice Award this year. The prize is endowed by the Fondation Chantal Akerman and will be awarding the filmmaker of the winning feature a grant of €7,500 which will be presented at the closing ceremony. Akerman’s 1989 film “American Stories: Food, Family and Philosophy” will also have a special screening at this year’s event.

British filmmaker Andrea Arnold, who will present her latest film “Bird” in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, will receive the Golden Coach Award during the opening ceremony for Directors Fortnight.

See the full lineup below.

Feature Films

“This Life of Mine,”  Sophie Fillières (Opening Film)

“In His Own Image,” Thierry de Peretti

“Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point,” Tyler Taormina

“Desert of Namibia,” Yôko Yamanaka

“East of Noon,” Hala Elkoussy

“Eat The Night,” Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel

“Eephus,” Carson Lund

“Gazer,” Ryan J. Sloan

“Ghost Cat Anzu,” Yôko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita

“Good One,” India Donaldson

“Mongrel,” Chiang Wei Liang, You Qiao Yin

“Visiting Hours,” Patricia Mazuy

“Savanna And The Mountain,” Paulo Carneiro

“Sister Midnight,” Karan Kandhari

“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed,” Hernán Rosselli

“The Falling Sky,” Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha

“The Hyperboreans,” Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña

“To a Land Unknown,” Mahdi Fleifel

“Universal Language,” Matthew Rankin

“Volvereis,” Jonás Trueba

“Plastic Guns,” Jean-Christophe Meurisse (Closing Film)

Special Screenings

“American Stories: Food, Family and Philosophy,” Chantal Akerman

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