Director’s Fortnight Unveils WTF Lineup

I had been told yesterday to tamper my expectations for today’s lineup announcement of the Directors Fortnight selection.

That’s good because the lineup announced this morning was oddly missing the big names and instead went for new and unheard of first and second time filmmakers. Isn’t Un Certain Regard and Critics’ Week already doing that?

The big overhaul in selection has to do former boss Paolo Moretti having been canned last year, after some disputes with the board. Moretti was very big in selecting films that barely missed Cannes competition. His replacement, Julien Rejl, has changed that vibe completely. In fact, his new criteria is to pointedly seek titles without sales agents.

Save for Hong Sang-soo, Bertrand Mandico and Michel Gondry, the filmmakers chosen are relatively unknown. There’s Elena Martin, Elene Naveriani, Joanna Arnow, Rosine Mbakam and others.

Here’s the Quinzaine’s official statement:

We decided not to give priority to films - however good - which were serious candidates for the official competition, because our first mission remains the discovery of new filmmakers

Also, they changed their French name from Quinzaine des Réalisateurs to Quinzaine des Cinéastes. Why? Because “réalisateurs” is a gendered male word — they want it to be gender neutral. It’s a pretty big deal changing the branding after 50 years of existence.

There are still many filmmakers missing from all Cannes selections and sidebars: Bertrand Bonello, Bruno Dumont, Robin Campillo, Valérie Donzelli, Quentin Dupieux, Vanessa Filho, Kiril Serebrenikkov, Joachim Lafosse, Woody Allen, Alexander Payne, Yorgos Lanthimos, Catherine Corsini, Robert Guédiguian, Cristi Puiu, Radu Jude, Amat Escalante, Lisandro Alonso, Michel Franco …

Venice boss Alberto Barbera will have a lot of fun putting together his September lineup.

Directors’ Fortnight 2023 Feature Selection

Abraham’s Valley (Por-Fr-Switz) – SPECIAL SCREENING
Dir. Manoel de Oliveira

The Goldman Case (Fr) OPENING FILM
Dir. Cédric Kahn

Agra (India)
Dir. Kanu Behl

The Other Laurens (Fr)
Dir. Claude Schmitz

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell * (Viet-Sing-Fr)
Dir. Thien An Pham

Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (Switz-Ger-Geo)
Dir. Elene Naveriani

Grace *
Dir. Ilya Povolotsky

She is Conann (Bel-Fr-Lux)
Dir. Bertrand Mandico

Creatura (Sp)
Dir. Elena Martín Gimeno

Déserts (Mor-Fr-Ger-Bel)
Dir. Faouzi Bensaïdi

In Flames * (Can-Pak)
Dir. Zarrar Kahn

Légua (Port-Fr-It)
Dir. Filipa Reis & João Miller Guerra

The Book of Solutions (Fr)
Dir. Michel Gondry

Mambar Pierrette
Dir. Rosine Mbakam

Riddle Of Fire * (US)
Dir. Weston Razooli

The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed * (US)
Dir. Joanna Arnow

The Sweet East (US)
Dir. Sean Price Williams

A Prince (Fr)
Dir. Pierre Creton

A Song Sung Blue * (China)
Dir. Zihan Geng

In Our Day (S Kor) – CLOSING FILM
Dir. Hong Sang-soo