Festival Circuit 2022

[soundchaser]

This is the part of the interview when I usually ask people what they're working on next, but I was excited to see news yesterday that you have a new film coming out?

[Laughs] I have no new film coming out. That's a total rumor. So there you are. It is not happening. I don't have a project. I have nothing at Cannes. It's unfortunate. It got built up that people thought, "Oh, that'd be nice." But there is something new, but it's not mine. I don't know whose it is. They say there's something new at Cannes, and they don't say whose it is, and some people thought it was my film, but it's not. So we'll wait and see, and see whose it is.

Is there anything else you're currently working on?

I'm working on painting and sculpture each day. And I've been working on Lost Highway color-correcting and timing.

So there is a mystery film, it’s just not his?

My hunch is someone (Sabrina Sutherland, maybe?) sent him the original rumor so he was aware of it, and he's just as much in the dark as to this "mystery film" as we are.

[swo17]

Imagine being Richard Karn at the birthday party when your kid was expecting Tom Cruise

[domino harvey]

Cruise: Should I still come?
Karn: I don’t think so, Tom

[Finch]

I honestly wouldn't write this off just yet. If Lynch really did successfully shoot a feature on the quiet, would you honestly confirm a leak to the trades two days before Cannes announces their lineup? He's lied about not doing more Twin Peaks during interviews conducted during the years of him developing The Return with Frost, and I'd say he doesn't want to steal Thierry Fremaux's thunder. While it is possible that several sources got their signals mixed up, it's at least just as likely that Team Lynch are trying to throw everyone off their scent.

[Forrest Taft]

Would be funny if the tease is for the new Inland Empire-resto. Sort of like the last time Lynch teased a big announcement, and it turned out to be related to his weather reports.

[therewillbeblus]

I just don't know who else the original 'clue' could be for, and it would be super weird for someone to tease "the owls are not what they seem" and a second person to confirm this once the Lynch rumor was out, and then have it all be for nothing. I highly doubt we're going to have an "Ohhhhh of course!" moment come Thursday, so someone's got some 'splaining to do

[Mark L.]

Would be funny if the tease is for the new Inland Empire-resto. Sort of like the last time Lynch teased a big announcement, and it turned out to be related to his weather reports.

This is the most persuasive argument I've come across yet. Would explain some of the confirmations about a film starring Laura Dern, they just got their wires crossed on it being a new film! Hope Lynch is just obfuscating, though.

Indulging in conspiracy here: The fact that he says it's "disappointing" is kind of interesting. Perhaps he made it for Netflix and Fremaux still won't allow their films. Maybe they thought "surely they'd make an exception for Lynch" and assumed they were a go? That being said, I think it's more likely he's just calling the whole situation "disappointing". We'll see.

At minimum hopefully studios and financers are taking note of the excitement elicited just for a potential new Lynch film.

[Finch]

Also, how many times has Andrew Garfield lied about not being in the latest Spiderman movie? If Lynch tried to muddle the waters today, then it's also got to be out of consideration for Thierry Fremaux and the Cannes marketing team who had to have been thrilled to get a Lynch film which literally nobody outside of his team knew about for the longest time and which would have been one of the biggest surprises in the festival's history if not for the leak.

If it turns out to be just the INLAND EMPIRE upscale playing out of competition (but that one is already playing in LA and NY, so not exactly a big get for Cannes, surely?), that's going to upset people even more than the announcement last year that turned out to be Lynch continuing with his weather channel.

[swo17]

Do some people doubt that Inland Empire exists?

[Big Ben]

I was really high when I last saw Inland Empire so yes, sometimes.

[yoloswegmaster]

Full list of titles announced for Cannes 2022.

[knives]

A new Skolimowski? That’s definitely the most exciting news for me.

[MichaelB]

Is this his Sophia Loren-starring remake of Au hasard, Balthazar (yes, really!) or something else entirely?

[dadaistnun]

Crazy that the new Denis is premiering and her last one hasn't even left the festival circuit yet.

[therewillbeblus]

So there’s no premiere of a new film by an American director who also made a TV series, is there?

[ellipsis7]

Is this his Sophia Loren-starring remake of Au hasard, Balthazar (yes, really!) or something else entirely?

Looks like it is...

EO
A contemporary interpretation of the cult classic "Balthazar, at random" by Robert Bresson (1966). The masterfully written screenplay (Ewa Piaskowska and Jerzy Skolimowski) is distinguished by its original cinematic framework and allegorical approach to the subject. The story of a donkey named Baltazar, beginning in a Polish circus and ending in an Italian slaughterhouse, is a bitter but also warmly humanist paraphrase of a "road movie". It is a panopticon of human behaviour towards a defenceless animal, a suggestive picture of social relations and cultural changes taking place in the modern world.
[Warmia-Masuria Film Fund]

[Forrest Taft]

Still have no idea what that mystery film is...maybe the Jerry Lee Lewis doc by Ethan Coen?

[knives]

Is this his Sophia Loren-starring remake of Au hasard, Balthazar (yes, really!) or something else entirely?

Looks like it is...

EO
A contemporary interpretation of the cult classic "Balthazar, at random" by Robert Bresson (1966). The masterfully written screenplay (Ewa Piaskowska and Jerzy Skolimowski) is distinguished by its original cinematic framework and allegorical approach to the subject. The story of a donkey named Baltazar, beginning in a Polish circus and ending in an Italian slaughterhouse, is a bitter but also warmly humanist paraphrase of a "road movie". It is a panopticon of human behaviour towards a defenceless animal, a suggestive picture of social relations and cultural changes taking place in the modern world.
[Warmia-Masuria Film Fund]

How did you just make this sound even more exciting.

[therewillbeblus]

Still have no idea what that mystery film is...maybe the Jerry Lee Lewis doc by Ethan Coen?

That would be such a disappointment. So "fave TV show" would be Fargo then? That's too much of a stretch to buy

[Mark L.]

Still have no idea what that mystery film is...maybe the Jerry Lee Lewis doc by Ethan Coen?

That would be such a disappointment. So "fave TV show" would be Fargo then? That's too much of a stretch to buy

The original tweeter of the rumor has said he was talking about Lynch and that he must have just been misinformed given today’s announcements.

Is it possible Lynch pulled out after the leak?

[therewillbeblus]

Sounds about right, and it’s weird considering other reportedly-reputable sources confirmed this news after the post and Lynch rumors were practically cemented. It’s hard to believe that multiple people were wrong here

[Finch]

Looking forward to Cronenberg, Reichardt, and Kore-eda, and hopefully the Dardennes are back on top form after the lackluster reception for their last film.

Lynch going to the trouble of denying the film again on his weather report settled it for me (he sounded a bit irritated). I actually wish his actors would lay off the Wisteria posts too now. I buy that Lynch could have managed to film a feature on the quiet. Lost Highway's first act was filmed in one of his three LA houses and he filmed INLAND EMPIRE without anyone outside his team knowing for the longest time. It'd seem a bit extreme to pull out of Cannes due to a leak with two days to go (but with Lynch you never know). If he has a feature which was basically ready (ish), and it's not turning out to be a late addition, then it's surely going to Venice. But yeah, I'm not trusting the rumour mill anymore, and after the last year and half of constant teases for Wisteria/Unrecorded Night and now this thing, it'd be nice if Team Lynch told everyone to keep their mouths shut (the $1m penalty for leaking Twin Peaks The Return or revealing specific details for ten years thereafter has worked fine so far) and the first we hear about a new project is the official announcement.

[ryannichols7]

have to say I did not expect the announcement of Hirokazu Kore-eda's new film (which is my personal most exciting announcement) to garner more twitter reactions than new movies from Denis, Cronenberg, or even Park Chan Wook.

then I realized he pulled a Chris Nolan and cast a huge pop star in it that has a huge following. hopefully this movie gets a good distributor in the US, Shoplifters got totally buried due to the fact that Magnolia put it out. I may have a lot of issues with Neon and A24, but at least with them I know I'd be able to see the movie!

[Ribs]

Uh, Shoplifters made 3.5 million dollars in the US and was nominated for an Oscar. It was not buried!

[Omensetter]

Obviously, Kaleem Aftab should not have made his dumbass tweet. Lynch may or may not appear later—I'm not interested in dissecting tweets, the intentions of Lynch, etc. I don't blame Fremaux for not bothering with questions after the press conference. As much as I'd love a Lynch film, it's tiring to have him (who unambiguously does not have a film at Cannes) suck all the attention from another interesting-on-paper batch of films. Much like Drive My Car and Memoria ended 2021 hosanna-drenched, I have no doubt there are some films here that will have the same trajectory.

My hope is that since George Miller's film is out-of-competition, Tilda Swinton will become Jury President. If she runs a democratic ship, fantastic. If she needs to get into dictatorial mode, than she likely has the best taste of anyone. That would mean Joanna Hogg would have to return to Fortnight when it always seems better when there's new British blood in Competition.

The surprises—none of them particularly exciting on paper—here are Skolimowski, Saeed Roustayi, Tarik Saleh (two weeks removed from debuting, uh, The Contractor), and Mario Martone who seemed destined to work Venice forevermore ala Andrei Konchalovsky. Admittedly, I was hoping Pietro Marcello would snag the Italian slot.

Kelly Reichardt finally cracking Competition is exciting, obviously, as is Clare Denis's thirty-four years in the making Competition return. Out of this, predictably the usual suspects entice. Cronenberg is obviously the hottest ticket, Mungiu and the Dardennes haven't missed, Östlund's sounds hilarious, and it seems like Desplechin may be returning to his winning, classic, sprawling mode. I'm rooting for him or Reichardt to take the Palme.

The Cannes Premiere section lacks an identity by design, and it seems more to knick films from Quinzaine and other festivals, but more films will populate it, UCR, and Competition in the weeks to come. Lynch or not, a lot of films expected to land here were supplanted by Roustayi, Saleh, etc. Two-to-four films in Competition seems reasonable in the weeks to come. One of those seems likely to go to a French filmmaker. Léa Mysius has been heavily rumored and she would fit the bill of French and female, but a spot in UCR seems equally possible especially with the announcement of relative unknowns. Winocour wrapped earlier this year. Mouret is still possible although I would've expected it in the first wave announcements. The biggest get would be Hansen-Løve and her starry cast. I thought she was wanting to film more in the summer, but principal did start in June 2021, and I really, truly don't know her filming schedule. Otherwise, given the expectations of the 75th, Fremaux is probably still waiting on some bigger names. Lynch would be obvious and perfect for a later announcement so as to not detract from the filmmakers announced today, but that's definitely a wait-and-see (if it even exists). There's still plenty of time to poach from Venice, which might mean Marcello. I don't know if Ari Aster can be disqualified yet. Ira Sachs has been heavily rumored. I never took him for a Cannes regular, but apparently the French love him. Emanuele Crialese unless the rumors are true, and Fremaux is eyeballing Penélope Cruz for Jury President. Otherwise, I might lean towards Fukada, Escalante, and one good surprise.