Cannes 2012 Preview: Un Certain Regard, Midnight, Directors Fortnight and More

Cannes kicks off tomorrow and ScreenAnarchy will be on the scene for the very latest on what films are not to be missed and who is calling who a Nazi this year (even odds on Vinterberg). Yesterday we brought you our Palme d'Or Competition Preview and today we take you on a quick tour of the other sections. This just begins to scratch the surface of what will be playing around the Croissette, but here are some titles that caught our eyes.

Un Certain Regard


ANTIVIRAL
Papa Cronenberg ain't the only family member strutting his stuff on the Palais this year. Son Brandon makes his feature debut with this celebrity culture satire starring Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, and Malcolm McDowell.


MYSTERY
Chinese troublemaker Lou Ye (Summer Palace, Purple Butterfly) returns with this contemporary murder mystery with an apt title.


11.25 THE DAY HE CHOSE HIS OWN FATE
The last days of brilliant author and outspoken right wing nut Yukio Mishima are explored in this drama from veteran director Koji Wakamatsu.


LA PLAYA
Juan Andres Arango tells a story of Urban racism on the mean streets of Bogota in his directorial debut.

Other notable titles in the section include Benh Zeitlin's Sundance tour de force BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, Adam Leon's SXSW graffiti writer romance GIMME THE LOOT, and the latest from Québécois director Xavier Dolan, LAURENCE ANYWAYS.

Midnight


THE LEGEND OF LOVE AND SINCERITY (Ai to Makoto)
What's a film festival without a new film from Takashi Miike? Frickin lame, that's what it is. Luckily the fine folks at Cannes were kind enough to program this high school brawler manga adaptation into their midnight lineup. Merci!


DARIO ARGENTO'S DRACULA 3D
If you thought Rutger Hauer kicked ass as a shotgun wielding hobo, just wait til you see him take on the Prince of freakin Darkness... in 3D!!


MANIAC
Elijah Wood stars in Franck Khalfoun's (P2) remake of William Lustig's 1980 horror classic. Yeah you heard that right, Elijah frackin Wood.


THE SAPPHIRES
I don't know much about Australian Wayne Blair's story of four Aboriginal girls who travel to Vietnam to entertain the troops in 1968, but as one of only four Midnight movies at the fest, you can bet it's pretty friggin good.

Out of Competition & Special Screenings


ME & YOU (Io e Te)
Bernardo Bertolucci brings his pic about an awkward teen who likes to hang in his basement to this year's fest, out of competition.


THERESE D
Audrey Tatou stars as an unhappy woman, sweltering under social pressures in Claude Miller's closing night film.


GARBAGE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
German-Turkish auteur Fatih Akin lends his filmmaking sensibility to the documentary format with this exploration of a Black Sea community whose town is forcefully turned into a garbage dump.

Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee) has a 60 minute docu in this section called MEEKONG HOTEL alongside a docu exploring a famous rape case from Ken Burns (with Sarah Burns and David McMahon) called THE CENTRAL PARK 5 and a somewhat similarly themed Dreamworks animated feature MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED.

Director's Fortnight


SIGHTSEERS
Ben Wheatley follows up his ultra-popular Kill List with this story of a couple who go on holiday across the English countryside. Knowing Wheatley's track record, all cannot go as planned.


NO
Gael Garcia Bernal stars as an unlikely campaign manager for Augusto Pinochet's opposition during Chile's 1988 presidential election in Pablo Larrain's drama.


THE WE AND THE I
This all new and rather experimental sounding film from Michel Gondry follows a group of high school seniors as they ride the bus home one last time.

Other films to catch in the fortnight include the 620 minute intergenerational Indian warfare epic by Anurag KashyapGANGS OF WASSEYPUR, an interesting sounding Chinese adaptation of DANGEROUS LIAISONS starring Zhang Ziyi and directed by Korean Jin-ho Hur, and Rodney Ascher's incredibly interesting The Shining conspiracy docu, ROOM 237.

Critic's Week


BROKEN
Rufus Norris's big-cast British comedy stars Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy


PEDDLERS
Vasan Bala takes us deep into the streets of Mumbai with this tale of intersecting lives in one of the world's most fascinating cities.

We'll be back tomorrow with live news from the fest!