It’s useless to complain that the just-announced Directors’ Fortnight lineup is lacking in big names. I’ve met organizer Paolo Moretti a number of times and I can tell you that he and his selection committee work day and night to deliver a great lineup for cinephiles at Cannes every year.
With that being said, this year’s official selection was bound to be a more low-key affair, especially due to the fact that the Cannes Film Festival decided to expand its official competition to 25 films and even added a “world premiere” sidebar for the films not in competition.
What Moretti was basically left with, and the biggest world premiere he could snag, was Joanna Hogg‘s “The Souvenir Part II,” the sequel to her British coming-of-age drama starring Tilda Swinton and daughter Honor Swinton Byrne. The original film never played in France, which is why Directors Fortnight will also host the French premiere of the original “The Souvenir,” in the lineup as a “Special Screening” title. I presume the 2019 film will show first and then its sequel not too long after that.
The rest of the Director’s Fortnight lineup is highlighted by U.K. filmmaker Clio Barnard’s “Ali and Ava.” Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes’ “The Tsugua Diaries,” and, finally, Italian directors Alice Rohrwacher, Pietro Marcello, and Francesco Munzi’s “Futura,” which is said to be a documentary about Italian teenagers.
This lineup makes things less complicated for my Cannes scheduling. If I do end up going to the festival this year, I will most likely skip Director’s Fortnight due to the massive amount of must-see titles Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux concocted. Of course, I’m sure Moretti has assembled some great films again this year for DF, but, unlike previous editions, there aren’t any films that will force me to skip a competition title and walk the dozen or so blocks to Quinzaine headquarters.