The Cannes Film Festival has revealed its 2022 lineup, featuring celebrated work from the members of our Grad Film community.
“Aftersun”
Aftersun, written and directed by alum Charlotte Wells (World Premiere): Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t. A bittersweet drama starring “Normal People” actor Paul Mescal.
The film has been selected for Cannes' seven-title competition lineup, and is one of only two films in the cateogry also selected for La Semaine de la Critique (Critic's Week). Critic's Week is a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival that focuses on discovering new filmmaking voices, aiming to "support today’s revelations in order to have them become tomorrow’s talents." Such directors as Jacques Audiard, Alejandro González Iñarritu, and Wong Kar Wai were discovered by La Semaine de la Critique.
“Dang Wo Wang Xiang Ni De Shi Hou (Will You Look at Me)”
Dang Wo Wang Xiang Ni De Shi Hou (Will You Look at Me), written and directed by MFA candidate Shuli Huang (World Premiere): As a young Chinese filmmaker returns to his hometown in search for himself, a long due conversation with his mother dives the two of them into a quest for acceptance and love.
The film is a Semaine de la Critique selection and in short film competition. Huang wrote, directed, produced, edited and was the cinematographer for the film.
“The Pass”
The Pass, written and directed by MFA candidate Pepi Ginsberg: On holiday, Ben meets a handsome man, Sam, whose friends recommend they go to a private cruising beach, The Pass. Shy, Ben declines and goes alone. At the Pass, Ben swims and meets Christopher who watches from the shore and grows aggressive as he struggles to mask his desires, leaving Ben afraid to get out of the water. Students Blanche Akonchong and Joseph Longo star.
The Pass is a La Cinef selection, a category devoted to the search for new talent that selects fifteen to twenty short and medium-length films each year from film schools all over the world. The short was produced by Longo, with student Melanie Akoka as DP, student Sofia Camargo as AD, alum Asia Khmelova as AC, and alum Jorge Sistos Moreno as script consultant.
“1976”
1976, produced by alum Omar Zúñiga: It’s 1976, Chile, and Carmen goes to the beach to supervise the remodeling of her house. Her husband, her children, and her grandchildren come and go for winter break. When her family's priest asks her to care for a young man she is secretly hosting, Carmen ventures into uncharted territory, far from the quiet life she's used to.
The period drama was selected for Director’s Fortnight, the sidebar running alongside the festival that honors the expression of an individual talent and an original directorial style. In this category, it is eligible for the Caméra d'Or prize, awarded during the official award ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival.
'MARIA SCHNEIDER, 1983'
Maria Schneider, 1983, edited by Professor Jennifer Ruff: A tribute to Maria Schneider, director Elisabeth Subrin continues her investigation of the French actress following Criterion Collection film For Maria, which remixes an original 1983 interview with Schneider to highlight her prescient commentary on the patriarchal nature of the commercial film industry in France and the United States. Schneider's critique was decades ahead of her time and the current #MeToo movement. The short is one of ten films in the Director's Fortnight: Short Films category.
Discover more at Cannes.