As the Festival de Cannes closed, jury president (and filmmaker) Emir Kusturica was quoted as saying that the films were not as good as he anticipated they would be. As reported by Reuters, he said:

"We had a selection where I think the average wasn't very high," he told a final news conference. "I felt that most of the films were a little bit less good than I expected." He said three movies could have won the coveted Palme d'Or, which eventually went to Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for "L'Enfant," a powerful, documentary-style film about a young thief who sells his own child.

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne tonight in Cannes.
[Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE]

8:05 p.m. (local time), indieWIRE: Cannes | The awards have been presented.

Palme d'Or:
"L'Enfant", directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Grand Prix (runner-up):
"Broken Flowers," directed by Jim Jarmusch

Prix de la Mise en Scene (Best Director):
Michael Haneke for "Cache"

Prix du Scenario (Best Screenplay Award):
Guillermo Arriaga for "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada"

Camera d'Or (For best first feature) - shared:
Vimukthi Jayasundara for "Sulanga Enu Pinisa" (The Forsaken Land)
Miranda July for "Me and You and Everyone We Know"

Prix du Jury (Jury Prize):
"Shanghai Dreams," directed by Wang Xiaoshuai

Prix d'interpretation feminine (Best Actress):
Hanna Laslo for "Free Zone"

Prix d'interpretation masculine (Best Actor):
Tommy Lee Jones for "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada"

Court-Metrage (Short Film):
Palme d'Or (short film): "Podorozhini" (Wayfarers) directed by Igor Strembitskyy
Prix Du Jury: "Clara," directed by Van Sowerwine

"Me And You And Everyone We Know", directed by Miranda July, has been awarded the Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique.

The Prix SACD screenwriting prize was shared by Uchida Kenji for "Unmei Janai Hito" (A Stranger of Mine) and Karin Albou for "La Petite Jerusalem".

The Prix ACID to support distribution was awarded to Zhang Lu for "Mang Zhong" (Grain in Ear).

Michael Haneke's "Caché" won the 31st Ecumenical Jury award at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

The jury gave a special commendation to S. Pierre Yameogo "Delwende".

Michael Haneke's "Cache" was awarded the FIPRESCI Critics Prize for a film in or out of competition at the 58th Cannes Film Festival.

In the Un Certain Regard Section the award went to Amat Escalante's "Sangre" and Ryoo Seung-wan's "Crying Fist" was selected from the parallel Directors Fortnight or Critics' Week section.

Cristi Puiu's "Moartea Domnului Lazarescu" (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu) from Romania has won the Prix Un Certain Regard for best film in the festival's Un Certain Regard section. The jury included president Alexander Payne along with Betsy Blari, Gilles Marchand, Eduardo "Quintin" Antin, Sandra Den Hamer, Katia Chapoutier, and Genevieve Welcomme."

Alain Cavalier won the Prix L'Intimite for "Le Filmeur" while S. Pierre Yameogo won the Prix de L'Espoir for "Delwende".

In Cannes, Sergio Machado's "Cidade Baixa" (Lower City) was awarded the 24th Prix de la Jeunesse, the youth prize of the Festival de Cannes. The first feature from Brazilian director Sergio Machado was selected by a jury of nine young film buffs.

In a statement the film was described as following "the stormy course of a love triangle: Deco and Naldinho have been buddies since childhood. Now they own a motorboat, which they use for their illicit dealings and their career as petty criminals. One day, they meet the stripper Karinna, and, of course, both fall in love with her."

Tommy Lee Jones explores often the brutal life along the U.S.-Mexican border, playing a Texas ranch foreman in a powerful film he also directs that made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday. "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" deftly slips back and forth between English and Spanish dialogue with a refreshing portrayal of frontier realities in both countries. "There is a lot of misunderstanding and prejudice on both sides of the border," said Jones, a Hollywood stalwart who doubled as director for the first time on a major cinema film. Reuters reports.

Among the prizes awarded in Cannes this weekend...a prize for the top canine in a Cannes film -- The Palm Dog. Reuters reports:

The winner, who appeared in Mongolian film "The Cave of the Yellow Dog," was not in Cannes to receive the award, but Wolfram Skowronnek Schaer, a German involved in selling the film, picked it up on its behalf. "I hope the dog is still alive," he said. "He is in Mongolia and we will do our best to bring this to him."

Harry, a small dog and president of the jury, posed for the paparazzi on the beach, digging the Palm Dog from the sand. "There were a lot of dogs at Cannes this year," said Derek Malcolm, another jury member. "I stepped on one on my way back to the hotel last night."

The Associated Press weigns in with a look at the competition titles vying for prizes, writing that the press seemed underwhelmed, it singles out a few contenders:

In the leading pack are Canadian director David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" and Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke's "Cache." Based on the "clapometer," or audience reactions at the press and official screenings, Germany's Wim Wenders and "Don't Come Knocking" could steal it at the last, shown as it was late on Thursday. American Jim Jarmusch is a contender with his "Broken Flowers," starring Bill Murray, as are Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne with their gritty "L'Enfant."

In a Hollywood Reporter piece from Reuters, Anne Thompson reports on the tough road facing some of the notable competition filmmakers when they try to take their films to theaters back in the States:

The Cannes perennials -- Jarmusch, Gus Van Sant, Lars von Trier, Wim Wenders, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Amos Gitai, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan and Michael Haneke -- are far more prized names overseas than stateside. Most U.S. moviegoers wouldn't recognize most of them.

"You almost look at this year's competition films and don't have to worry about buying anything," says Warner Independent Pictures president Mark Gill, who, having viewed about 90 films at the festival and market, might not buy any. "They may be good, but none of them are remotely accessible to an American audience."

Antonio Campos from NYU won the 1st Prize in the Cinendation competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festiva for his film, "Buy It Now". 18 films were in competition this year for the award, judged by jurors Edward Yang, Chantal Akerman, Sylvie Testud, Colin MacCabe, and Yousry Nasrallah.

The 2nd Prize was shared by Nikolay Khomeriki for "Vdvoyom" (A Deux) from La fes in France and Maya Dreifuss for "Bikur Holim" from Tel Aviv University in Israel. The 3rd Prize was shared by Roland Edzard for "La Plaine" from Le Fresnoy in France and Sameh Zoabi for "Be Quiet" from Columbia University.

At the Carlton Beach this afternoon, Sam Shepard and Wim Wenders (pictured left to right in the center), talk with reporters about their Cannes competition film "Don't Come Knocking," during a Sony Pictures Classics lunch.
[Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE]

Sony Pictures Classics confirmed that it has indeed acquired Michael Haneke's "Cache" (Hidden). The film is considered a front-runner for the Cannes Palme d'Or which will be awarded tomorrow. The film was hotly pursued by numerous, including many of New York's independent distribution companies, with the studio specialty division ultimately closing the pact.

[Cannes Dispatch and photo by Eugene Hernandez]

In the Cannes competition, for this sixth time, this year with "Three Times", filmmaker Hou Hsiao Hsien explained that the English translation of his new film's title is a bit misleading. Dubbed "Three Times" here, the Chinese title for the movie is "The Best Moments," or as Hou explained (in Mandarin, translated to English from French), "The best instances of your life."

[Photo: At this morning's press conference, Shu Qi and Chang Chen chat as Hou Hsiao Hsien stands to the side, while photographers shoot photos.]

[Photo by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE]

Yesterday afternoon's event was not quite the glitzy raucous party that one might assume should come out of a "Morning After" report, but it was so nice, it deserves the attention. Cannes Mayor, Bernard Brochand (also a member of France's parliament), pictured standing on the far right, hosted a fab lunch atop Cannes at the Musee de la Castre for international press, and the Festival de Cannes jury.

[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez, photo by Brian Brooks]

The closest thing to a real nail-biter bidding war among U.S. based buyers here in Cannes is the battle for Michael Haneke's "Cache" the Cannes competition entry that first screened a week ago. One insider told indieWIRE that some half-dozen offers are in as companies wait to see who the winner will be.

What's especially unique about this rights fight is that it is being waged by the real indie companies, studio specialty divisions are understood to be sitting this one out, concerned that the film is just too small. So some of the companies understood to have offers on the table are IFC Films, Samuel Goldwyn, ThinkFilm, Wellspring, and others.

[Article by Brian Brooks, Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE

Wednesday night's going out scene was all about finding an invitation to the "Sin City" party in Cannes, at least if you were not at some hush-hush non-invite party at a private villa or yacht. To make a long story short, we walked out to the Palm Beach casino at the end of the Croisette (actually quite a pleasant stroll) and made it into the party. We luckily had our names on the list, and the person checking names said we were, in fact, the first people he had looked up and had actually found names. Phew! We're in... At first glance, we thought, "well, it looks better then the 'Star Wars' party." Well friends, it wasn't...

Worth reading for nice Festival de Cannes tidbits and perspective (not to mention some nice pix) is Jeffrey Wells' "Hollywood Elsewhere." The writer is everywhere, posting often, usually from the same table that indieWIRE's Brian Brooks has staked out in the busy American Pavilion:

I hate writing a daily column, but I love nailing it and doing it well when my energy's up and the synapses are firing away like the spark plugs inside the humming engine of Jimmy Stewart's The Spirit of St.Louis over the icy north Atlantic at 5 ayem. People seemed to be getting irritable yesterday, which I attribute to the fact that people always get irritable after going 18 hour days for seven says straight.

Writing in her Cannes journal, NY Times critic Manohla compares the festival to high school:

True but embarrassing: Cannes is, in some major respects, a replay of high school. So many of the same issues and agonies apply here. Just as in high school, a lot of people sit together at the screenings in cliques. There are posses of Austrian and British critics here, and of course various Americans, many of whom either sit right next to one another or in close proximity. (I have repeated my old high school habit of floating clique to clique, though last year I also started intentionally sitting apart from everyone I know, mostly because I don't want to listen to my friends sigh and whisper their way through films that I like.)

The Associated Press reports on "Sin City" in Cannes, where Frank Miller defended the film:

"Sin City" isn't typical fare at the Cannes Film Festival, more accustomed to art house flicks than Frank Miller's dark world of tough guys in trench coats and scantily clad ladies. At a news conference Wednesday, where "Sin City" is competing for the top prize, a few journalists wanted to know: Is the movie sexist? And what about all that violence?

In Cannes, shortly before yesterday's "Sin City" press conference, Robert Rodriguez walks through the Palais to meet the press.
[Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE]

Sony Pictures Classics has nabbed that Cannes competition entry "Joyeux Noel" (Merry Christmas) for distribution in the U.S., U.K., Italy and Latin America, according to Screen International. The pact marks the first Cannes official selection acquisition to close during this year's festival. Christian Carion's film is set during the first World War and was eyed by numerous buyers.

[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez]

In Wim Wenders and Sam Shepard's new collaboration, the Cannes competition entry "Don't Come Knocking", a hard living actor making a western disappears from the set and returns home to his mother in Montana where he discovers parts of a lost family. For Wenders (pictured left with Sam Shepard, center, and T Bone Burnett), this is a film about the disintegration of the family, as he explained this morning at a press conference following today's screening.

The film marks a return to Cannes for Wenders who won the Palme d'Or in 1984 for "Paris, Texas," also written by Shepard. Unable to convince Shepard to star in that film he said he was thrilled when Shepard told him that he wanted to play the lead in this new movie.

The main competition at this festival might be compared to an exclusive club with a significant number of permanent members. (A gentleman's club, mainly, since shockingly few women - none this year - are invited to join.) Some filmmakers pass through an initiation period in satellite programs like Un Certain Regard and the Directors' Fortnight, while others vault right onto the main stage, but it is remarkable how many of them, once they are voted in, keep showing up year after year. A.O. Scott reports for the New York Times (free subscription required to view).

This is William Hurt's first visit to Cannes in 20 years. He last flew here in 1985, promoting his Oscar-winning performance in Hector Babenco's Kiss of the Spider Woman. He was a conquering hero: a movie star with a glittering career ahead of him. This time, he comes trailing baggage, and the reception has been more circumspect. Xan Brooks talks to Hurt in The Guardian.

A gritty Chinese drama in competition at the Cannes Film Festival explores the clash between generations and grim life in industrial hinterlands where millions of families were forcibly moved in the 1960s. The director of "Shanghai Dreams," Wang Xiaoshuai, has seen his films censored by the authorities in the past, so when the Film Bureau allowed him free rein to shoot the film, he framed the letter and displayed it in his home. Reuters reports.

Filmmaker Miranda July, at Cannes with her excellent feature, Me and You and Everyone We Know, blogs about making the rounds at Cannes doing interviews, getting not so free clothes, and buying shoes.

Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, at Cannes with their latest film, "The Child," discuss their formative years and collaborative process of co-directing and co-writing together. Manohla Dargis reports for the New York Times.

Palm Pictures has announced a pair of acquisitions here at the Marche du Film in Cannes. The company has acquired North American and Caribbean rights to Asia Argento's "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things" and Michael Almereyda’s "William Eggleston: In the Real World". Both deals were closed this week at the Cannes Market.

Strand Releasing has acquired Scott Coffey's "Ellie Parker", announcing the pact here at the Festival de Cannes. The company made a North American deal for the film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Written and directed by Coffey, the film is described as "a hilarious comic portrait of a young woman's struggle for integrity, happiness, and a Hollywood acting career."

[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez]

A few days before I saw Adam Curtis' "The Power of Nightmares", the heads of two different distribution companies separately told me they consider it to be one of the most important documentaries ever made. "Ever made?" I asked. "Yes," they both answered. So I watched it.

Adam Curtis' "The Power of Nightmares", a three part BBC series is indeed a staggering work and now, Sony Pictures Classics is leading the charge to take the film to American movie theaters. "Instead of delivering dreams, politicians now promise to protect us from nightmares," offers Curtis' provocative and surely controversial new movie that explores the parallel emergence of American neoconservatives and radical Islamists over the past 50 years. The film, which mixes potent narration with interview footage, historical images, and even pop culture clips, is a compelling, and often chilling, exploration that questions the true theat of global terrorism and states that Al Qaeda is not an organized terror network, as it has been portrayed as since 9/11 . A new two and a half hour theatrical version is being presented as a special screening in Cannes.

indieWIRE Editor Brian Brooks has been snapping memorable moments from the parties that dominated the first half of the Cannes Film Festival. His first round of shots are available now on indieWIRE.com.

[Photo by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE]

Monday night was definitely a promising one party-wise. There was a New Line event in the early evening for "The History of Violence" and there was a Brazilian bash at a villa in the hills (for the film Cidade Baixa) in addition to another villa party for German Cinema. Alas, we headed over to the hotel to drop off computers, and fell asleep, awaking at 10:30 p.m. and -- gasp! It screwed our night. Well, not screwed exactly, but our ambitious party plans were altered.

Film critics were left cold by early showings at the Cannes Film Festival this year, but things finally warmed up with the return of tried and tested veterans at the world's top cinema showcase. Informal gradings by writers and commentators, which are not always a reliable guide to what jurors think, reveal a less-than-impressive lineup by the end of the first weekend. Reuters reports.

The dark underside of the United States has taken center stage in several films at Cannes this year, capped on Monday with a scathing attack of past and present racism in America by Danish director Lars von Trier. There are a number of other films that examine dark and depressing aspects of the United States and "American Dream" losers, filled with violence, drugs and alcohol abuse. They were made by directors from the United States, Canada and Europe. Reuters reports.

Concerned by an industry person's comment to her that the new Michael Haneke film would be tough to market to an older art-house crowd, in her NY Times journal, Manohla Darghis wrote:

Well, I think it's time to kill off that audience — and grow a new audience — if the only films we are going to get from abroad are nice, nauseatingly polite works about characters who simply hold up a mirror to that audience, who wear nice clothes, live in nice houses and have discreet but finally resolvable crises. If someone doesn't buy "Caché," and give it a seriously funded push, then the state of film distribution in the United States is far worse than I thought.

Star Wars Episode III may be the blockbuster of the moment. But the movie festival-goers were fighting tooth and nail to see yesterday was not George Lucas's latest epic, but a small Mexican film that, along with Michael Haneke's Caché, is a favourite for the Palme D'Or. But the film, "Batalla en el Cielo" (Battle in Heaven), had attracted controversy for its highly explicit sexual content even before its premiere in Cannes. Charlotte Gibbins reports in The Guardian.

In The New York Times, critic A.O. Scott weighs in with a look at the first half of Cannes 2005. But first he reminds readers that Cannes, this year in particular, has the feel of an old boys' club, with the regulars in competition and on the jury:

19 producers from 19 European countries are participating in the EFP's "Producers on the Move" program here at the Cannes film Festival, highlighting new producers that already have one successful project under their built (the complete list of participants is below.
[Image provided by European Film Promotion]

Early scenes in "A History of Violence" show a loving family in small-town Indiana. This being a David Cronenberg movie, you suspect their lives are about to get very, very twisted. A.P. reports.

[Article by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE, photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE]

Alright, it isn't quite the morning, but it is nevertheless the day after last night's world premiere of "Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith." The build-up to the premiere was quite spectacular. As mentioned elsewhere in indieWIRE, the Cannes planners did a tremendous job building the tension outside the Palais where huge throngs of people were waiting to watch the red carpet arrival of all their "Star Wars" favorites.

It was a busy first weekend at the Festival de Cannes and given that some of you may be logging onto this blog for the first time since Friday, we thought we'd post links to a few of the original items that you may have missed.

More than 50 entries have been posted on this indieWIRE @ Cannes blog since it launched, below are a few links to weekend dispatches and photos from France. The blog will be updated throughout the day all this week:

[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez]

Lars von Trier's latest film in his USA trilogy, "Manderlay", drew more questions about his decision to make movies about a place that he has never visited. During a press conference this morning in Cannes, after a screening of his powerful new film, von Trier addressed the issue head on, asserting that he is essentially an American.

There's more on the film, and its striking similarity with "Revenge of the Sith", in a Dispatch from Cannes just published on indieWIRE.com. A quote from today's von Trier press conference is below followed by a bit of dialogue from the film's script (via the Festival de Cannes website):

In Cannes today, ThinkFilm announced its acquisition of Steven Silver and Andrew Quigley's "Diameter of the Bomb", a film described as "focusing on a suicide bomb that shook Jerusalem one summer morning in June 2002." The Cannes Market title includes forensic footage, Hamas military video, and home movies, as well as unprecedented access inside prisons, commando units refugee camps and hospitals.

The sound of heavy Vader breathing was played over the loudspeakers outside The Palais in the hour leading up to the start of tonight's gala screening of the final "Star Wars" chapter in Cannes. Stormtroopers lined the red carpet, a live orchestra played the familiar Star Wars theme and massive crowds gathered on the streets and grounds around the theater to watch the arrivals on big TV screens (pictured above a few minutes ago). Before ascending the steps, George Lucas, Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen left the red carpet to walk behind the photographers and shake hands with screaming fans.
[Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE]

[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez]

"If you're not with me, you are my enemy," threatens Hayden Christensen, as the newly christened Darth Vader in "Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith". "Only a Sith deals in absolutes," responds Ewan McGregor coolly as the betrayed mentor, Obi-Wan. Such a line, not to mention the film's story of a growing empire that is transformed from a democracy into a dictatorship, has stirred some of the film's first viewers to question filmmaker George Lucas about the political context of the film.

"This really came out of the Vietnam era," Lucas said today of his six-part story about the transformation and rise of Darth Vader. But he admitted during this afternoon's press conference here in Cannes that there are parallels between Vietnam and Iraq and added that such themes have recurred throughout history. But, he feels that "Star Wars" is especially relevant today. "When I wrote Star Wars, Iraq didn't exist. We were just funding Saddam Hussein and giving him weapons of mass destruction, we weren't worried about him."

[Photo by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE]

Partying got serious Saturday, beginning in the evening with a cocktail party for the newly branded distributor Picturehouse on the Majestic pier right off the Croisette. Then, it was the Canadian reception at the Canada Pavilion (go figure) with directors Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg and Stu Samuels. The party was nice (can't beat anything right on the sand of the Med) but the event was a bit marred by this asshole photographer from a well-known major photo company (I'm witholding the name of the group because we normally really get along with everyone there, so I don't want to implicate all the other cool people at the company) who was trying to stop everyone...

Participant Productions, the Los Angeles based entertainment company founded in 2004 by eBay pioneer and philanthropist Jeff Skoll, has acquired North American rights and taken an equity stake in the upcoming film, "Fast Food Nation" from HanWay Films, which is handling international sales, it was announced today by Participant Productions President Ricky Strauss.

[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez, Photo by Brian Brooks]

Sony Pictures Classics will once again be the North American home for Pedro Almodovar with his latest project, "Volver" (Return) marking his sixth feature that will be released on this side of the Atlantic by the New Yor-based distributor. The comedy, starring Penelope Cruz and Carmen Maura, will begin shooting in July in Madrid. The company plans a June, 2006 release following a theatrical retrospective of eight of Almodovar's films. [A complete story will be published in indieWIRE tomorrow.]

Bob and Harvey Weinstein are proving there is life after Disney. The Hollywood powerbrokers' new company, formed when they agreed in March to split from Disney's Miramax Films, has come to the annual Film Festival in Cannes with deals in mind. The Weinstein Co., as it is known, has snapped up North American rights to a $40 million movie project "Stormbreaker," based on the fictional hero of Anthony Horowitz's series of novels about 14-year-old superspy Alex Rider. Michael Davidson reports in Reuters.

Does this festival still matter? Can Cannes retain its cachet in a world glutted with festivals? These questions are sure to be posed and pondered over the next 10 days. They are every year at this time, as journalists, movie stars and film industry players from around the world swell the population of this small French city and wonder, sometimes aloud, just what they are doing here. A.O. Scott reports in the New York Times.

The movers and shakers of the film world are on the French Riviera for the 58th Cannes film festival. The BBC's Caroline Briggs reports from Cannes on the atmosphere of the world's most prestigious film event.

The BAFTA ward-winning "The Power Of Nightmares," by British documentary-maker Adam Curtis, is one of the political heavyweights in the (Cannes) Official Selection. The powerful film looking at how fears over an organised Al-Qaeda terror network have come to dominate US and UK politics was shown on the BBC last year. Caroline Briggs reports for BBC.

Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer have turned gumshoe with "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang," a murder mystery that could have been called "Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink" for its relentless yet loving tweaks at Hollywood film-noir conventions.
The film, which debuted Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival, both mocks and embraces the cliches of the hard-boiled private eyes of years past taking to nearly outlandish levels the genre's improbable coincidences, impossible action, and detectives who take endless lickings yet keep on ticking. A.P. reports.

At this afternoon's press conference in Cannes, Samuel L. Jackson, George Lucas, Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen.
[Photo by Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE]

The tough reality of European cinema is that about 70 percent of ticket sales here are for American movies. And despite a few recent cross-border successes such as "The Chorus" or "A Very Long Engagement," the figures are not budging. Politicians at the Cannes Film Festival are now focusing on one small-scale idea of to remedy the situation: promoting the Internet distribution of homegrown films. The Associated Press reports.

In recent years, Film Festivals have created trailers that run before every film to help brand themselves and often to thank the festival sponsors. Many times, it's the festival themself that should be thanking us for sitting through them. I typically watch 5-6 movies a day, and a bad trailer can really begin to get to you at the end of a 10 day run.

I thought about this today after seeing the new trailer for the Director's Fortnight here in Cannes. It's probably no longer than a minute, and it features images (sometimes stills, sometimes clips with short bursts of dialogue) from the festival's history. Director's names such as Martin Scorsese, Jim Jarmusch, Todd Solondz wash over the images that include films such as SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, TAXI DRIVER and OSAMA. I was particularly thrilled that an image from TARNATION which we screened last year made the cut. It's one of my favorite festival trailers. It doesn't pander to the audience the way that many recent ones tht I have seen do. Instead, it embraces the movies and reminds you of the festival's long and daring history putting the films and filmmakers first and foremost. For a few minutes watching the trailer, I was reminded of why we are all here for 10 days doing what we do. Considering how hungry and tired I was, it was just what I needed.

The New York Times calls it a journal and the rest of the world might call it a blog...but whatever its name, NYT critics Manhola Dargis and A.O. Scott are offering daily dispatches from Cannes in a nicely done special online section covering the festival. We spotted the dynamic duo at the "Last Days" party last night and proposed an iPOP shot, Dargis declined admitting that she is shy and reminded that she doesn't even have her photo posted on the Times own site, next to those of her fellow film critics.

Dargis and Scott seem to be struggling slightly with their role as bloggers (or journal keepers), but at least they are honest about it. "Tony Scott" (as many insiders refer to him) mentions that he reserves the right to revise his opinions of films, outside of the fest frenzy, while in a post today Dargis resists giving too much of an opinion on Atom Egoyan's latest, for fear of hurting its distribution chances:

"Last Days" star Michael Pitt showed off his other talent as a lead singer/guitarist during the party for the film in Cannes Friday night following the gala premiere (with actor Ryan Donowho on drums). Party attendees, including Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon (who also stars in the film) bobbed to the grungesque set, including Pitt's "Birth to Death," which he wrote and is also featured in the film. Also in attendance was "Last Days" director Gus Van Sant, who kind of hung low at the party. He's not quite the attention whore...

[Photo by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE]

Writing his third diary from the Cannes Film Festival for TIME Online, critic Richard Corliss didn't find much to cheer about yesterday, dissing Cannes entries "Last Days", "Where the Truth Lies" and "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang." The subheadline to his story reads, "Showbiz legends are fodder for failed art film".

Mexican competition entry "Batalla En El Cielo" (Battle In Heaven) from filmmaker Carlos Reygadas has been acquired by Tartan USA, according to trade reports in Variety and Screen today. Screen indictated that Tartan had already pre-bought the film for UK distributon and other regions have been selling as well.

[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez, photo by Brian Brooks]

In Cannes for the eighth time, his fourth festival in competition. French filmmaker Michael Haneke unveiled his latest, "Caché" (Hidden) on Saturday morning. The film is the story of a French family (Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, and Lester Makedonsky) terrorized by a stalker who delivers secretly shot video tapes and bloody caricature drawings that become increasing personal, ultimately leading to the revelation of secrets from the past. At the press conference following this morning's screening, Haneke pleaded with journalists to avoid giving away too much of the plot.

[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez]

Buyers have been buzzing about Woody Allen's latest, "Match Point", since its premiere here in Cannes on Thursday. The head of one studio specialty division told me that evening that the price for the film, however, may simply be too high for a Woody Allen movie. Variety's Ian Mohn reports today that HanWay, which is handling the movie, is asking some $7 million for U.S. rights to the movie.

"Last Days" star Michael Pitt, director Gus Van Sant and Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, who also stars in the film, pictured just prior to the press conference in the Palais de Festival today (Friday) in Cannes. Press shy Van Sant said Malcolm McDowell once told him, "thousands of pictures are taken of you, but you never know where they go." Here is one of them (more to come).
[Photo by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE]

Atom Egoyan's new film, "Where the Truth Lies," might be too racy for U.S. censors. The film, which features sex and orgy scenes with stars Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon, premiered at Cannes. Erik Kirschbaum reports for Reuters.

[Cannes Dispatch by Eugene Hernandez, Photo by Brian Brooks]

In Gus Van Sant's "Last Days", which had its press screening this morning ahead of tonight's premiere, Michael Pitt stars as Blake, a musician who looks and lives a lot like Kurt Cobain. At today's press conference I asked Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth about a scene in the movie in which she urges Blake to seek help to avoid becoming a rock music statistic.

"It was a situaton of this psychosis where Kurt was alienated from what he thought he wanted and was entrapped by it," she explained, "Basically it was just kind of...in a sense I sort of felt like the character knew what would happen. But yet you want to treat somebody as an adult -- obviously, you can ony protect them so much." She added, "Everyone had their own idea or thoughts about who Kurt was or what happend. I think part of the idea of the film is that you can never really know somebody, and the disparity between image and what goes on with a person day to day."

"It's great to be involved with the Trigger Street gang in a effort to make a truly great film that revolves around a pile of Sasquatch poo," said "Napoleon Dynamite" producer Jeremy Coon, in announcing a deal with TriggerStreet Independent for his a new film.

Plans have been unveiled for "The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang", a new production from Trigger Street, marking the first film to go into production from the Trigger Street Independent Banner. The project, to be directed by Tim Skousen, is a partnership with Crazy Dreams Productions. It is described as "a comic tale of several converging groups searching for proof of the legendary Sasquatch" and will begin shooting in Oregon later this month.

Each day in Cannes, insiders pop into the lobby of one of the many grand hotels here to pick up one of the many festival dailies printed here at the festival. Screen Int