Abdelatif Kechiche has already moved on from the post-production hell that was “Mektoub: Canto Duo” and is now preparing a new film, this one shot in Tunisia and produced by Why Not.
I guess you had to see “Mektoub: Intermezzo” in Cannes because it’s definitely not going to be released in the United States. Its status in France has been relegated to oblivion, let alone the next — already shot — chapter, ‘Canto Duo.’ A real shame, if you ask me.
I was a fan of “Intermezzo” when I saw it at Cannes 2019, writing that it was a “212-minute cinematic revolution. It means to destroy our notion of what a movie should be in 2019.”
As for the third, and final, chapter of the “Mektoub” series, it was already shot before controversy hit. A final cut has been ready for a few years now and Kechiche has just been waiting for Cannes or Venice to pick it up, the problem is that these two festivals don’t want to come near it … for now. Venice had originally scheduled a “special screening” of the film in 2019 before finally balking and letting go of the film.
I wrote extensively about the controversy in a 10.06.21 piece.