40 years of Cannes Director’s Fortnight
Erupting out of the turbulent events of May 68, Directors’ Fortnight – the upstart little brother to Cannes’ black-tie officialism – continues to launch some of the most provocative films from around the world. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Directors’ Fortnight, Metropolis Art Cinema selects an eclectic array of uncompromising films from this 40-year history
German iconoclast Rainer Werner Fassbinder with his most accessible and intriguing film, Faustrecht der Freiheit (1975), French master Robert Bresson’ next to last film The Devil Probably (1977); Tawfic Saleh’ Al Makhdou''oun (1972), a classic masterpiece of the Arab cinema ; young talents'' films such as Corneliu Porumboiu''s 12:08 East of Bucharest (Caméra d’Or 2006), Danielle Arbid’s A lost man (2007) and Carlos Reygadas’ Japón (Mention spéciale Caméra d’or 2002); experimental and uncompromising films such as Jonathan Caouettes’ Tarnation (2004) or Albert Serra’s Honor de Cavalleria (2006) ; and Cannes Festival’s major surprises such as Libero by Kim Rossi Stuart (2006), Be with me by Eric Khoo (2007) or the recent Eldorado by Bouli Lanners (2008).

The selection also includes the documentary 40x15, a compilation film of the 40 year history of the Directors’ Fortnight that offers amazing archival footage starting with its beginnings in the volatile atmosphere after May ’68.

This 12-film retrospective of Director’s Fortnight opens the new location of Metropolis Art Cinema in Empire Sofil.

Monday, September 8th – opening film
Libero / Anche Libero Va Bene (by Kim Rossi Stuart) – Italy
2006 / 108'' / 35mm / color / Italian dialogue with English subtitles

11-year-old Tommy, his older sister Viola and their father Renato have formed a strangely united family since the most important woman in their life, the mother of the two children and Renato’s wife, abandoned them. Despite all, this family, so full of fury, failings and inconsolable loneliness, keeps going, thanks to their abiding concern for others and their love.

Tuesday, September 9th
40 x 15 (by Olivier Jahan) – France
2008 / 90'' / 35mm / color / Dialogues in: French, English, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean with English subtitles
(In the presence of Christophe Leparc, General Manager of the Directors'' Fortnight)

The Directors’ Fortnight was born in the wake of May ‘68, the initiative of a group of directors who had decided to join forces to create the Société des Réalisateurs de Films. Designed to counter the academism of the main selection of the Cannes Film Festival, the Fortnight quickly found its mark with a selection of films by innovative, previously ignored directors. The film recounts the eventful history of this Cannes sidebar, as told by Pierre-Henri Deleau, its artistic director until 1998, then by his successors, in particular Olivier Père. Interwoven with interviews with more than two dozen major directors, archive footage and film clips, the documentary pays tribute to this independent, still somewhat rebellious event.

Wednesday, September 10th
The Dupes / Al Makhdou''oun (by Tawfic Saleh) – Syria / Egypt
1972 / 107'' / 35mm / black & white / Arabic dialogues with English subtitles
Followed by a debate around the film

Set in Iraq (but shot in Syria), this is the story of three men who try to leave their impoverished and hopeless lives to get to work in Kuwait. They hire a water-truck driver to transport them illegally across the border in the tank of his truck...

Thursday, September 11th
Eldorado (by Bouli Lanners) – Belgium
2008 / 85'' / 35mm / color / French dialogue with English subtitles

Yvan, a quick-tempered, 40-year-old vintage car dealer, surprises young Elie trying to burgle him. But he doesn’t beat him up. Instead, he develops a strange affection for him and takes him home to his parents in his old Chevrolet. It’s the start of an odd journey by two ne’er-do-wells through a magnificent but no less flipped-out country.

Friday, September 12th
Fox and His Friends / Faustrecht Der Freiheit (by Rainer Werner Fassbinder) – Germany
1975 / 123'' / 16mm / color / German with English subtitles

Fox suddenly looses his job when German police arrests his boyfriend and shuts their carnival boot. Looking for cash, and under the auspices of newly-met older man Max, he participates to a weekly lottery and ends up winning 500,000 Dutch Marks. Soon, Max’ circle of posh friends become very close to Fox.

Saturday, September 13th
Honour of the Knights / Honor de Cavalleria (by Albert Serra) – Spain
2006 / 110'' / 35mm / color / Catalan dialogue with English subtitles

Trusting in fate, Don Quixote and Sancho pursue their travels in search of adventure day and night. They ride through fields, talking about subjects as varied as spirituality, chivalry and daily life. A growing bond of friendship unites them.

Sunday, September 14th
The Devil, Probably / Le Diable Probablement (by Robert Bresson) – France
1977 / 95'' / 35mm / color / French dialogues with no subtitles

Charles drifts through politics, religion and psychoanalysis, rejecting them all. Once he realizes the depth of his disgust with the moral and physical decline of the society he lives in, he decides that suicide is the only option...

Monday, September 15th
12:08 East of Bucharest /A fost sau n-a fost? (by Corneliu Porumboiu) – Romania
2006 / 89'' / 35mm / color / Romanian with English subtitles

December 22. It’s been sixteen years since the Revolution and Christmas is approaching.
Piscoci, an old retiree, is preparing to spend another lonely Christmas. Manescu, a history teacher, doesn’t want to lose his entire salary to pay his debts. Jderescu, the owner of the local TV station, doesn’t seem very interested in vacation. With Piscoci and Manescu’s help, he wants to find an answer to a sixteen-year-old question: “Did a revolution really take place in their city”?

Tuesday, September 16th
Japan / Japón (by Carlos Reygadas) – Mexico / Spain
2002 / 129'' / 35mm / color / Spanish dialogue with English subtitles

A cynical and disillusioned man from the city heads to a remote Mexican countryside to prepare his death. There he finds lodging with an old Indian widow in her rickety home overlooking a desolate canyon. Confronted with the old woman’s infinite humanity, in the vastness of a wild, breathtaking nature, he oscillates between cruelty and lyricism. And with senses drugged, his desire and instincts for life and raw sexuality reawaken. Redemption is found through a spiritual impulse and existential renaissance.

Wednesday, September 17th
Be With Me (by Eric Khoo) – Singapore
2005 / 90'' / 35mm / color / English, Hokkien, Mandarin dialogue with English subtitles

A tapestry of stories woven around the themes of love, hope and destiny. The characters lead separate lives but are bound by one common desire - to be with their loved one. The protagonists in the movie are fictitious bar one - Theresa Chan, a courageous deaf and blind woman whose life story inspired Be With Me.

Thursday, September 18th
The Devil, Probably / Le Diable Probablement (by Robert Bresson) – France [REPRISE]

Friday, September 19th
Libero / Anche Libero Va Bene (by Kim Rossi Stuart)
[REPRISE]

Saturday, September 20th
A Lost Man / Un Homme Perdu (by Danielle Arbid) – Lebanon / France
2007 / 97'' / 35mm / color / Arabic dialogue with English subtitles

Thomas Koyré, a French photographer, travels around the world in search of extreme experiences.
He crosses paths with Fouad Saleh, a strange man with a failing memory.
The Frenchman tries to uncover his story and travels with him for a while through the sulfurous and secret East.
The experience leaves him a changed man. The character of Koyré was heavily inspired by the photographic travels of Antoine d’Agata, who served as an advisor on Danielle Arbid’s script.

Sunday, September 21st
Tarnation (by Jonathan Caouette) – USA
2004 / 88'' / 35mm / color, black & white/ English dialogues with French subtitles

Jonathan’s mother, Renée, went clinically insane as a result of the shock therapy her parents made her endure in her youth. Beautiful and artistic, Renée was “exceptional”. The electroshock treatments had tragic consequences on her life: rape, drug addiction, but also the creation of an indestructible bond with her son, Jonathan. The film starts in 2003, when Jonathan learns that Renée has taken an overdose of lithium. He leaves New York, where he lives with his friend David, and returns to the chaos of his Texas home. This return to his roots unleashes a kaleidoscopic vision of his nightmares and the brief idylls of his difficult childhood.