A festival that flourishes on surprises and upsets, Cannes savors the rumble of impatient critics, the frenzy of press conferences, the high of last-minute entries.
Last year, it was the late arrival of Wong Kar-wai's (
Last year there was also Michael Moore with his Fahrenheit 9/11, winning over the jury's president, Quentin Tarantino, and taking the Palme, much to the dismay of the fastidious Gilles Jacob.
It was the year of the documentary, with Jonathan Nossiter's Mondovino boosted up to the competition at the last moment. Nossiter says it was like being invited to the Oscars to watch and being told he was part of the show.
"If Mondovino was shown in over 40 countries, it's mostly because of what happened at Cannes," he said.
This year, there are no documentaries, no animation surprises, no stark Iranian landscapes, no kung-fu fun. There are plenty of specials: an Atelier de Creation to help young filmmakers from all over the world, evenings on the beach called "La Soiree Movie-Mix," and an acting master class taught by Catherine Deneuve.
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