The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival is wrapping up this weekend and the HIFF programmers—Artistic Director, Anderson Le and Director of Programming, Anna Page—are wrapping up their annual programming trip. With numerous screenings and meetings with distributors and sales agents, it was a whirlwind ten days to seek out and secure the best in world cinema for the upcoming HIFF43 this coming October.
“After ten days, I get sick of eating bread and crave rice…Luckily, we were able to have our last meal in Cannes at a legit Szechuan hole-in-the-wall,”
Here is a short list of film highlights that the programmers hope to bring over to HIFF43 this fall. Now the work begins in negotiating with the rights holders with various factors that will determine their availability—from premiere statuses, to ongoing deals with US distributors, to straight up screening fee costs…
But, this is a glimpse of what they really liked and, hopefully, we will see some of these films at the upcoming Fall Festival this October 12 – 22!
MONSTER (Japan)
The latest from Palme D’Or winner and HIFF favorite Hirokazu Kore-eda (SHOPLIFTERS, BROKER) does not disappoint. Featuring another great performance by Sakura Ando and breakout performances from the film’s two young stars, the film unfolds in three chapters from three different perspectives á la RASHOMON. Heartbreaking and intimate, MONSTER represents a return to form for Koreeda and is one of his best.
One could say that Wes Anderson has been parodied and memed so much (the Wes Anderson TikToks are especially annoying) that one can say his schtick is getting tiresome. Instead, we were surprised at his latest film, an ode to old TV theater shows like Playhouse 90, and Steven Spielberg’s CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (yep, you read that right). It is still very much in the Wes Anderson wheelhouse, but the meta-ness of the story and the examination of Americana of a certain time is interesting and the star-studded roster is game to play in the Wes Anderson sandbox.
