FRANCE 14-25 May 2008 Iconic Festival de Cannes opens, closes with Hollywood films

The Cannes Film Festival has always been among the more glamorous events in the movie calendar, and the 61st festival promises to dish up a wide array of films seeking the holy grail of film making -- the Palme d'Or. The opener is reported to be ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,’ and Hollywood is also represented with the closer, Barry Levinson's new film, ‘What Just Happened?’

"Izolator," a Polish political thriller directed by Christopher Doyle, an Australian, is expected to have its first showing at the festival. "Stone of Destiny," directed by an American, Charles Martin Smith, who is also an actor, is another early contender for the big prize.

"Izolator" is loosely based on the murder of Jacek Debski, a former Polish minister of sport. The director has said that the film is of a general nature, though, and not purely based on the story of the Polish minister who, after retiring, dabbled in criminal activities.

After turning down the producers of the "Da Vinci Code," deeming the story "theologically unsound," church authorities allowed filming inside Westminister Abbey for the first time in 50 years for "Stone of Destiny." The Anglo-Canadian film is the story of Ian Hamilton, a dedicated nationalist who reignited Scottish national pride in the 1950s with his daring raid on the heart of England to bring the Stone of Scone back to Scotland. Often referred to as the Stone of Scone, it was the stone upon which all monarchs of Scotland were crowned from the very first King back in 847. After a long and colorful history, it ended up back in Edinburgh Castle 11 years ago and still resides there.

Industry watchers have speculated that Cannes could lose its cachet because of the glut of competing film festivals around the world. The concern appears unfounded. The number of distributors, producers, directors, actors and technicians and the volume of movie business transacted at France’s famous event continues to rise each year. For 12 days in May the city of Cannes is transformed from a quiet seaside resort into the entire focus of the international film industry. Over 200,000 people - filmmakers, film fans, and star-gazers alike - descend on the Croisette to take part in the Cannes Film Festival (the Festival de Cannes).

At the end of the competition and during the closing ceremony of the Festival, the official juries award the Palme d'Or for Best Feature Film and Grand Prix for the film that shows the most originality and research spirit. Awards for the best actress, actor, director, screenplay, the Prix du Jury, Short Film Palme d'Or, two Prix du Jury and Caméra d'Or round out the presentations.

In addition to the main competition, the festival has a fiercely competitive short film competition and the Un Certain Regard competition, which includes high-quality features deemed not suitable for the main competition, yet certainly worthy of recognition. UPDATED Apr/08

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Cannes Film Festival web
http://www.festival-cannes.fr/index.php/en