In celebration of FACETS’ 48th anniversary, Film Program Director Charles Coleman has selected four Cannes Film Festival favorites that both he and FACETS’ late founder Milos Stehlik shared a love for and championed on their initial release.
The (unofficial) Festival de Cannes at FACETS: A Selection runs May 27-28, 2023 and the series features one-day-only screenings of 2014 Palme d’Or winner Winter Sleep (5/27, 3:00 pm), 2018 Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters (5/27, 7:00 pm), 2016 Best Director Award winner Graduation (5/28, 1:00 pm), and Best Actress Award winner Melancholia (5/28, 4:00 pm). Series passes and single tickets can be purchased in advance through FACETS’ website and cost $40 /series pass and $12 /single tickets.
Full synopsis, trailer, and ticketing can be found on FACETS’ website here.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
The Cannes Film Festival, which is being held this year from May 16-27, is the most prestigious film program in the world, where a jury of international talent decides on the awards for the best films of the festival, choices which have traditionally set standard for the rest of the year. First held in 1946 for the recognition of artistic achievement, the festival came to provide a rendezvous for those interested in the art and influence of film. Like other film festivals, it became an international marketplace where producers and distributors could exchange ideas, view films, and sign contracts.
FACETS has always felt a special connection to this wonderful event, as the festival is a gateway to be attuned for the latest filmmakers, trends, and also to celebrate the legendary directors whose careers are justifiably revered. Our late founder, Milos Stehlik was able to attend this festival for decades, saying that “People go to Cannes for a lot of different reasons, and that there is no other place that offers the potential for seeing so many good films.”
Series programmer and FACETS Film Program Director Charles Coleman adds: “I was also able to attend the festival for several years and even though it is an industry only event and not open to the general public, you are immersed in such a splendid experience of what cinema means on an international scale and it was such a privilege to be there. Our search was to find films that are new discoveries for exhibition and distribution as well as be on the forefront of the cultural trends in the world around us. I have selected five films, all of which have won awards and received acclaim from past Cannes Festivals, and I fondly recall discussing these films with Milos, showing the art form for which FACETS has defined itself from the very beginning. I hope that you will enjoy these choices, which broadcast the cultural range of this magnificent artform.”
WINTER SLEEP (KIS UYKUSU)
Synopsis
Shot in the breathtakingly beautiful region of Cappadocia, home to bizarre rock formations, strange spires, and underground cave homes, Winter Sleep is a brilliantly scripted chamber drama touching upon themes of pride, isolation, and class discord, and provides a riveting journey, both social and psychological, into the Anatolian landscape. FACETS was the one of the first venues to theatrically show this masterpiece in the United States after it was acquired for distribution.
Film Information
Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey/France/Germany, 2014, DCP, 196 mins. In Turkish and English with English subtitles.
Showtime
Saturday, May 27, 3:00 pm
SHOPLIFTERS (MANBIKI KAZOKU)
Synopsis
Shoplifters is a case study of the concepts that have always fascinated Kore-eda, as his body of work, while set in his native Japan, meditates on family life and contemporary society. However, he began to ambitiously venture away from the familiar portraits of his home country and Shoplifters, despite his prestige, was quite controversial in Japan, due to its critique of Japan’s economic disparity, yet was a financial blockbuster.
Film Information
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2018, Japan, DCP, 118 mins. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Showtime
Saturday, May 27, 7:00 pm
GRADUATION (BACALAUREAT)
Synopsis
Acclaimed filmmaker Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days) returns with this searing human saga about a father driven to extremes in order to protect his daughter’s future. Romeo Aldea (Adrian Titieni) is a seemingly honest doctor who regrets having settled in his native Romania, a country still teeming with corruption and back dealings. He channels his ambitions for a better life into his teenage daughter, Eliza (Maria Dragus), who’s just one exam away from securing a scholarship to a prestigious British university. But when Eliza is attacked on the eve of her test, endangering her ability to pass, Romeo takes matters into his own hands to ensure her success.
Film Information
Directed by Cristian Mungiu, 2016, Romania/France/Belgium, DCP, 128 mins. In Romanian with English subtitles.
Showtime
Sunday, May 28, 1:00 pm
MELANCHOLIA
Synopsis
Strange and deeply powerful, von Trier’s film intelligently deconstructs the nightmarish vision of existential crisis. Melancholia is a deeply upsetting story of depression that is set within the backdrop of an apocalyptic crisis, in a film that is especially unusual for a film that is centrally about despair is it is about visual splendor, that complement von Trier’s realist style.
Film Information
Directed by Lars von Trier, 2011, Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany, DCP 135 mins. In English.
Showtime
Sunday, May 28, 4:00 pm
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