Let it be known that two Singapore films have been chosen for the 66th Cannes Film Festival to be held in France. Both films are promoted by the Singapore Film Commission. The first film “Ilo Ilo” directed by Anthony Chen will be viewed at the 45th Director’s Fortnight from May 16 to 26, 2013. This film is about the relationship of a boy and his domestic helper from Iloilo (a province in the Philippines) hence the title.
The other film is “After the Winter” directed by Jow Zhi Wei who is eyeing for the Cinefondation Prize. Cinefondation seeks to feature the works of students like Jow. There are more than 1500 submissions for Cinefondation but only 18 were selected (one of them is “After the Winter”).
For the 66th Cannes Film Festival, jurors include the famous Hollywood producer Steven Spielberg, Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman and Director Ang Lee. Other jurors include Christoph Waltz, Christian Mungiu, Daniel Auteuil, Naomi Kawase, Lynne Ramsay and Vidya Balan.
The impact of Cannes Film Festival is huge. It has become an important platform for European and non-European films. It is the gathering of movie stars from all over the globe plus the setting for film producers to launch new films and market it to various distributors. Cannes Film Festival is structured according to sections to include:
Official
Official selections comprise of Palme d’Or, Un Certain Regard, Short Films, Cinefondation, etc.
Parallel
Parallel section comprises of Cannes Classics, Tous les Cinemas du Monde, Camera d’Or and Cinema de la Plage.
Other
This section comprises of Director’s Fortnight and International Critic’s Week.