On this episode, we (Eliana & Patrick) catch up one week after the festivities to wrap up our Cannesversations coverage of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.

In this episode, we are joined by Öykü Sofuoğlu, independent film critic and podcast guest regular, to discuss:

• Post-festival impressions and the following films:
• Grand Tour by Miguel Gomes
  • (Competion) - Best Director Award
    • @ ~32 min 00
• All We Imagine As Light by Payal Kapadia
  • (Competion) - Grand Jury Prize
    • @ ~51 min 10
• Anora by Sean Baker
  • Palme d'or Competition Winner
    • @ ~ 51 min 25

You can find all of Öykü's trilingual work on Linktr.ee here!!

Follow us on X (Twitter):

• Öykü
• Patrick
• Cannesversations (in the works ;))

Thanks for listening!

Comments or suggestions or want to get in touch? -> cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Image: Cannes 77e poster © Shochiku Co., Ltd. – Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa (1991) / Graphic creation © Hartland Villa + Official Anora Image

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Welcome back to our coverage of the 77e of the Cannes Film Festival! Episode 4!

We (Eliana & Patrick) look forward to sharing our first reactions and giving a sneak peek at the festival's ongoing films and events.

In this episode, we are joined by Łukasz Mańkowski, an independent film critic and programmer for the annual Five Flavours Asian Film Festival, which will take place this year between November 11-20 in Warsaw, Poland. Check it out!

We catch up on day nine of twelve to discuss the following films:

• Desert of Namibia |ナミビアの砂 by 山中瑶子 Yamanaka Yoko (Quinzaine des Cinéastes | Directors Fortnight)
• Caught by the Tides | 风流一代 by 賈樟柯 Jiǎ Zhāngkē (Competition)
• An Unfinished Film | 一部未完成的电影 by 婁燁 Lóu Yè (Cannes Special Screening Section)

and briefly :

• Black Dog | 狗阵 by 管虎 Guan Hu (Un Certain Regard)
• Viet and Nam by Truong Mihn Quý (Un Certain Regard)
• Blue Sun Palace by Constance Tsang |曾佩裕 (Semaine de la Critique | Critics Week)

Coming Soon... ?

• Anora by Sean Baker (Competition)
• All We Imagine As Light by Payal Kapadia (Competion)
• Miséricorde | Misericordia by Alain Guiraudie (Cannes Première)
• Grand Tour by Miguel Gomes (Competion)
• Parthenope by Paolo Sorrentino (Competition)
• and more...

You can find Łukasz's work on Senses of Cinema, Asian Movie Pulse, MUBI Notebook, etc!

For Polish speakers, you can read his recent Jia Zhang Ke Caught by the Tides review here!

You can also follow him on X.

Thanks for listening!

Comments or suggestions or want to get in touch? -> cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Image: Cannes 77e poster © Shochiku Co., Ltd. – Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa (1991) / Graphic creation © Hartland Villa + Official Bird Poster

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

This week on Cannesversations, Eliana and Patrick discuss Valeska Grisebach’s self-described "dance with the Western genre," the 2017 Cannes Un Certain Regard film Western. Considered by some to be part of the second generation of the Berlin School and by others to be one of the distinct voices of the New Austrian Cinema, Grisebach distinguishes herself through her filmmaking approach by favoring a collaborative process with her actors in the conceptualization of scenes.

Strangely enough, this does not take away from her directorial signature style, yet rather establishes her as one of the leading filmmakers of world cinema concerned with narrative realism. Western implements documentary-style filmmaking techniques to speak to the subsisting undercurrent themes of colonization and masculinity with contemporary panache and vigilant subtlety.

Credit/ Resources:

• Marco Abel. The Counter-Cinema of the Berlin School, Camden House, 2013.Martine Floch. „Western, de Valeska Grisebach (2017).” Histoire Politique, https://doi.org/10.4000/histoirepolitique.5350.Codruța Morari. European Auteurs Revisit the Western: Thomas Bidegain’s Les Cowboys and Valeska Grisebach’s Western.
• New German Critique: An Interdisciplinary Journal of German Studies. 2019;46(3 [138]):11-34.
• Tony Pipolo. Small Talk. “Tony Pipolo on Valeska Grisebach’s Western.” Artforum, February 2018.
• Peter Scheinpflug. „Western (Valeska Grisebach, 2017). Home is here the horse is, oder: Valeska Grisebachs respektvolle Demontage des Westernhelden.”
• Lola, Toni, Yella und die anderen: Der deutsche Film nach 1990, Brill | Fink, 2023, pp. 417-434.
• Victoria Steiner. „Der deutsche Weste(r)n zu Valeska Grisebachs WESTERN (2017) – unter anderem.“ Medienobservationen, pp. 1-20.
• Peter Verstraten “Valeska Grisebach’s Western: An Unacknowledged Remake of Samuel Fuller’s ‘Run of the Arrow.’” Senses of Cinema, Issue 87, June 2018.
• Catherine Wheatly. “Not Politics but People: The ‘Feminine Aesthetic’ of Valeska Grisebach and Jessica Hausner.” New Austrian Film, Berghahn Books, 2011, pp. 136-147.

Sound:

• EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive
• Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKAPNjgkNS4

This week Patrick and Eliana discuss Thomas Vinterberg’s 1998 Cannes Jury Prize winner, Festen (The Celebration). The inaugural Dogme 95 film is filled with frenetic energy that put Denmark back on the filmmaking landscape as it attempted to break free from that which was mainstream and conventional.

Resources:

• C. Claire Thomson. Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen. University of Washington Press, 2013.Liliana Pedrón de Martín. “Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen (1998). An Attempt to Avoid Madness through Denunciation.”
• The Couch and the Silver Screen. Psychoanalytic Reflections on European Cinema, edited by Andrea Sabbadini, Brunner-Rutledge, 2003, pp. 94-99.Götsch, Dietmar: „Schimmer des Vergangenen. Überlegungen zu Thomas Vinterbergs Film Festen.“ Mediale Wirklichkeiten, edited by Andrea Nolte, Schüren, 2003 (Film- und Fernsehwissenschaftliches Kolloquium 15), pp. 19–26. DOI: doi.org/doi:10.25969/mediarep/14375.
• Jesper Jargil. De lutrede. Jesper Jargil Film, 2002Cast and crew interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R24lXd8EmMA

Sound:

• EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive
• Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcveW3hH7gQ

Eliana and Patrick have decided to keep Cannesversations afloat by riffling through the abundance of films historically screened at the Cannes Film Festival. This week we discuss Bob Fosse and his 1979 Palme d'Or winning All that Jazz and give our take on the legacy of the unapologetically frank choreographer whose personal and professional brilliance gave us this timeless spectacle.

Resources:

• Jenai Kutcher: Bob Fosse. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2006.
• Dara Milovanovic: “The Fosse Woman. Analysis of Femininity, Aesthetics, and Corporeality.” www.eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/42587/1/Milovanovic-D.pdf
• Vincent Canby: www.nytimes.com/1979/12/20/archives/the-screen-roy-scheider-stars-in-all-that-jazzpeter-pan-syndrome.html
• Martin Gottfried: All His Jazz. The Life and Death of Bob Fosse. Da Capo Press, 2003.
• Glen O. Gabbard, Krin Gabbard: “Vicissitudes of Narcissism in the Cinematic Autobiography.” Psychoanalytic Review, Summer 1984.
• Sam Wasson: Fosse. Eamon Dolan / Mariner, 2014.
• Shlomit Aharoni Lir, Liat Ayalon: “The Ethos of the Auteur as Father of the Film Craft – on Masculinity, Creativity and the Art of Filmmaking.” Creativity Studies, 15 (1), DOI: 10.3846/cs.2022.14258.
• Alvin J. Seltzer: “All That Jazz. Bob Fosse’s Solipsistic Masterpiece.” Literature/Film Quarterly, 45 (1), 1996, pp. 99-104.

Sound:

• EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive
• Intro: Bob Fosse Interview

Patrick and Eliana wrap up our coverage of the 76th Cannes Film Festival and discuss the closing ceremony, Justine Triet's Palme d'Or winner- Anatomie d'une Chute (Anatomy of a Fall), Catherine Breillat's L'été Dernier (Last Summer), and Alice Rohrwacher's La Chimera.

Palme d'Or winning Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet) & L'été Dernier (Catherine Breillat) and La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)

• 0:00 Intro End of Cannes + Closing Ceremony
• 13:26- Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall
• 36:46 - Catherine Breillat’s L’été Dernier
• 58:46 - Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera

You can follow Patrick and Eliana on Letterboxd!

~Until next time!

Sound:

• EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive

Patrick and Eliana are joined by Giancarlo to talk about films on day eleven of the Cannes Film Festival: Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest, Victor Erice's Close your Eyes (Cerrar los Ojos), and Pham Thien An's Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.

Jonathan Glazers' The Zone of Interest, Victor Erice's Close your Eyes (Cerrar los Ojos), Pham Thien An's Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

1. Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest -00:04:26 - 00:27:18
2. Victor Erice's Close Your Eyes 00:27:19 - 00:38:48
3. Pham Thien An's Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell - 00:38:48 - 01:02:38

You can follow Patrick , Eliana or GC on Letterboxd!

Patrick and Eliana are joined by Öykü to talk about films on day nine of the Cannes Film Festival: Nuri Bilge Ceylan's About Dry Grasses, Joanna Arnow's The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed, and Todd Haynes' May December.

Cannes 76: "About Dry Grasses", "The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed", "May December"

1. Nuri Bilge Ceylan - About Dry Grasses 00:04:10 - 00:21:03
2. Joanna Arnow- The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed 00:21:03- 00:27:30
3. Todd Haynes - May December 00:27:30 - 00:45:00

You can follow Patrick , Eliana or Öykü on Letterboxd!

Patrick and Eliana talk about films on day four of the 76th Cannes Film Festival: Steve McQueen's Occupied City, Wim Wender's Anselm, Wang Bing's Youth (Spring) 春 and Hirokazu Kore-eda's Monster. Excuses for uploading this much later than we had hoped!

Cannes 76: "Occupied City", "Anselm", "Youth (Spring) 春" & "Monster"

1. Steve McQueen's Occupied City 00:02:04 - 00:10:19
2. Wim Wender's Anselm 00:10:20 - 00:16:06
3. Wang Bing's Youth (Spring) 00:16:07 - 00:28:35
4. Hirokazu Kore-eda's Monster 00:28:35 - 00:45:25

You can follow Patrick and Eliana on Letterboxd!

Patrick and Eliana talk about expectations and films on day two of the 76th Cannes Film Festival and Jacques Rivette's L'Amour Fou and Maïwenn's Jeanne du Barry. We still need a jingle!

Rundown of the Festival and Expectations 00:00

Jacques Rivette's L'Amour Fou 00:27:46

Maïwenn's Jeanne du Barry 00:31:53

You can follow Patrick and Eliana on Letterboxd!

Welcome back to our coverage of the 77e of the Cannes Film Festival! Episode 3!

We (Eliana & Patrick) look forward to sharing our first reactions and giving a sneak peek at the festival's ongoing films and events.

In this episode, we catch up on day eight of twelve to discuss the following films:

• Une Langue Universelle | Universal Language by Matthew Rankin (Quinzaine des Cinéastes)
  • @ ~2 min 50
• It Doesn't Matter by Josh Mond (acid)
  • @ ~16 min 10
• The Other Way Around by Jonás Trueba
  • @ ~29 min
• Armand by Halfdan Olav Ullmann Tøndel (Un Certain Regard)
  • @ ~44 min 40
• Apprendre | Elementary by Claire Simon (Cannes Première)
  • @ ~ 51 min 40

Coming soon:

• Desert of Namibia |ナミビアの砂 by 山中瑶子 Yamanaka Yoko (Quinzaine des Cinéastes)
• Caught by the Tides | 风流一代 by 賈樟柯 Jiǎ Zhāngkē (Competition)
• An Unfinished Film | 一部未完成的电影 by 婁燁 Lóu Yè (Cannes Special Screening Section)
• Blue Sun Palace by Constance Tsang |曾佩裕 (Semaine de la Critique)
• and more...

Thanks for listening!

Comments or suggestions or want to get in touch? -> cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Image: Cannes 77e poster © Shochiku Co., Ltd. – Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa (1991) / Graphic creation © Hartland Villa & Une Langue Universelle Press Image

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Welcome back to our coverage of the Cannes Film Festival! Episode 2!

We (Patrick and Eliana) look forward to sharing our first reactions and giving a sneak peek at the festival's ongoing films and events.

In this episode, we talk on day four of twelve to discuss the festival's Quinzaine de Cinéastes opening film, Ma Vie Ma Gueule | This Life of Mine by Sophie Fillières & competition film Bird by Andrea Arnold.

Coming soon:

• Ma vie Ma gueule | This Life of Mine by Sophie Fillières (Quinzaine des Cinéastes)
• It Doesn't Matter by Josh Mond (acid)
• Une Langue Universelle by Matthew Rankin (Quinzaine des Cinéastes)
• Kinds of Kindness by Yorgos Lanthimos (Competition)
• and more...

Thanks for listening!

Comments or suggestions or want to get in touch? -> cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Image: Cannes 77e poster © Shochiku Co., Ltd. – Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa (1991) / Graphic creation © Hartland Villa + Official Bird Poster

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Welcome back to our coverage of the Cannes Film Festival!

We (Patrick and Eliana) look forward to sharing our first reactions and giving a sneak peek at the festival's ongoing films and events.

In this episode, Jakob Jurisch joins us on day two of twelve to discuss the festival's opening film, Le Deuxième Acte | The Second Act (Quentin Dupieux), other festival controversies, and film anticipations.

Coming soon:

• Ma vie Ma gueule | This Life of Mine by Sophie Fillières (Quinzaine des Cinéastes)
• Bird by Andrea Arnold (Competition)
• and more...

For those who are German speakers, you can also find Patrick and Jakob on moviebreak.de and can listen to their German-language podcast coverage here!

Thanks for listening!

Correction: Ma vie Ma gueule English title is This Life of Mine*

If you have any comments or suggestions or want to get in touch: cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Image: Cannes 77e poster © Shochiku Co., Ltd. – Rhapsody in August by Akira Kurosawa (1991) / Graphic creation © Hartland Villa

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

This week, Patrick and Eliana discuss Marcel Carné’s 1945 film Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise), which appeared in the 2011 Cannes Classics section.

Filmed during the Nazi Occupation of France and released as the first film following its liberation, the film has continued to charm audiences in France and abroad with its gorgeous set design, iconic actors, and wit-infused characters, a result of the core collaboration between set designer Alexandre Trauner, screenwriter Jacques Prevert, and composer Joseph Kosma.

Spectatorship and performance are at the heart of this farcical and bittersweet film, where four men vie for the radiant yet fugacious Garance as she flits between them, and they amongst themselves on the grand Boulevard du ‘Crime.’ It is a film about action and re-action, the verbal and the non-verbal, in a city too small for undying dreams.

Resources:

Affron, Mirella Jona. "Les Enfants Du Paradis: Play of Genres." Cinema Journal, vol. 18, no. 1, 1978, pp. JSTOR.

Ebert, Roger. “Children of Paradise.” RogerEbert.com,

Forbes, Jill. Les Enfants Du Paradis, British Film Institute, 1997.

Mancini, Marc. "Prevert: Poetry in Motion Pictures." Film Comment, vol. 17, no. 6, 1981, pp. 34-37. JSTOR.

Nye, Edward. Deburau. Pierrot, Mime, and Culture, Routledge, 2022.

Picherit, Hervé. “A Strange Child of Paradise: The Artistry of Arletty’s “Self” in Les enfants du paradis.” Camera Obscura, Vol. 32, No. 1, Duke University Press, 2017.

Reid, Tina. “Marcel Carné on Children of Paradise: Forty-Five Years Later” The Criterion Collection, 20 Sept. 2012,

Sadoul, Georges. "The Postwar French Cinema."Hollywood Quarterly, vol. 4, no. 3, 1950, pp. JSTOR.

Sellier Geneviève. « Les Enfants du paradis dans le cinéma de l'Occupation.” 1895, revue d'histoire du cinéma, n° 22, 1997, pp. 55-66.

Turk, Edward Baron. Child of Paradise. Marcel Carné and the Golden Age of French Cinema, Harvard University Press, 1989.

Sound:

EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Excerpt

For the last episode of Cannesversations this year, Eliana, and Patrick are joined by critic friends Öykü Sofuoğlu (this marks Öykü’s second time on the podcast; check out our Cannes episode on About Dry Grasses and May December) and Lawrence Garcia to look back at their favorite films of 2023.

Follow Öykü & Lawrence on Twitter/X

Below, you'll find our Top 5 films.

Top 5

Öykü

• 5 The Human Surge 3 (Eduardo 'Teddy' Williams)
• 4 Afire (Christian Petzold)
• 3 Los delincuentes (Rodrigo Moreno)
• 2 May December (Todd Haynes)
• 1 Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Radu Jude)

Lawrence

• 5 Here (Bas Devos)
• 4 This Closeness (Kit Zauhar)
• 3 Un Prince (Pierre Creton)
• 2 May December
• 1 Arturo a los 30 (Martín Shanly)

Eliana

• 5 Our Body (Claire Simon)
• 4 Un Prince
• 3 Sobre todo de noche (Victor Iriarte)
• 2 A Wild Roomer (Lee Jeong-Hong)
• 1 About Dry Grasses (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Patrick

• 5 About Dry Grasses
• 4 The Human Surge 3
• 3 Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
• 2 Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Phạm Thiên Ân)
• 1 The Shadowless Tower (Zhang Lü)

At the end of the second episode, we asked Öykü and Lawrence about writings they are proud of or happy with. Öykü interviewed Radu Jude for Mubi’s Notebook, which you can find here, and Lawrence referred to his 15,000-word deep dive into David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return. Make sure to check both of them out!

We wish all of you a happy year of 2024 and are hopeful for many more episodes to come in the new year!

For the last episode of Cannesversations this year, Eliana, and Patrick are joined by critic friends Öykü Sofuoğlu (this marks Öykü’s second time on the podcast; check out our Cannes episode on About Dry Grasses and May December) and Lawrence Garcia to look back at their favorite films of 2023.

Follow Öykü & Lawrence on Twitter/X

Below, you first find all our honorable mentions, followed by our individual Top 10-6 films.

Honorable Mentions

Öykü

• Evil Does Not Exist (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
• Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorcese)
• Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
• About Dry Grasses (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
• Here (Bas Devos)

Lawrence

• Music (Angela Schanalec)
• The Human Surge 3 (Eduardo Williams)
• Notre Corps (Claire Simon)
• In Water (Hong Sang-soo)
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson)

Eliana

• Amiko (Yusuke Morii)
• Music
• Sparta (Ulrich Seidl)
• Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (Radu Jude)
• The Human Surge 3

Patrick

• Forms of Forgetting (Burak Çevik)
• A Wild Roomer (Lee Jeong-hong)
• Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (Elene Naveriani)
• Music
• Eureka (Lisandro Alonso)
• De Facto (Selma Doborac)
• There Is a Stone (Tatsunari Ota)
• Remembering Every Night (Yui Kiyohara)
• This Closeness (Kit Zauhar)
• May December (Todd Haynes)
• Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismäki)

Top 10

Öykü

• 10 Yannick (Quentin Dupieux)
• 9 Orlando, My Political Biography
• 8 Riddle of Fire (Weston Razooli)
• 7 Notre Corps
• 6 La bête (Bertrand Bonello)

Lawrence

• 10 Totem (Lila Avilés)
• 9 Cerrar los ojos (Víctor Erice)
• 8 In Our Day (Hong Sang-soo)
• 7 The Feeling that the Time for Doing Something Has Passed (Joanna Arnow)
• 6 Forms of Forgetting

Eliana

• 10 Passages
• 9 Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry
• 8 Yannick
• 7 The Delinquents
• 6 May December

Patrick

• 10 Concrete Valley (Antoine Bouge)
• 9 Notre Corps
• 8 Cerrar los ojos
• 7 Here
• 6 La bête

At the end of the second episode, we asked Öykü and Lawrence about writings they are proud of or happy with. Öykü interviewed Radu Jude for Mubi’s Notebook, which you can find here, and Lawrence referred to his 15,000-word deep dive into David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return. Make sure to check both of them out!

We wish all of you a happy year of 2024 and are hopeful for many more episodes to come in the new year!

This week Eliana and Patrick delve into Lizzie Borden's 1986 dramedy Working Girls about a day in the life of a group of young sex workers in a middle-class brothel in 1980s Manhattan.

A milieu rarely ever depicted on the big screen in American cinema (in their Criterion essay So Meyer stresses that it was not until Sean Baker's Tangerine in 2015—three decades later—that the lived reality of sex workers would take center stage of a major US feature film again), Borden, with her observational eye and collaborative filmmaking process, circumvents the common dichotomous portrayal of prostitutes as either glamorized or pitiable, shedding light on the profession that proves both sympathetic to its characters and discerning of the mundanity of their profession—ultimately highlighting the autonomy women can exercise while embracing that the world's oldest profession is just that—a profession.

Resources:

• Borden, Lizzie, and Gordon, Betty. “Lizzie Borden and Bette Gordon on Working Girls.” Criterion, 2021,
• Da Costa, Cassie. Lizzie Borden Is Finally Getting Her Due. Vanity Fair, 15 July 2021,
• Felando, Cynthia. „4 Lizzie Borden.” Independent Female Filmmakers. A Chronicle Through Interviews, Profiles, and Manifestos, edited by Michele Meek, Rouledge, 2019.
• Firestone, Shulamith. The Dialectic of Sex. The Case for Feminist Revolution. 1970.
• Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003.Free, Erin. „Unsung Auteurs: Lizzie Borden.“ FilmInk, 12 May, 2021,
• Gagne, Emily. “Director Lizzie Borden on Censorship, Community and the Movie She’s Kept in the Closet for Over 40 Years.” That Shelf, 1 March 2023,
• Hoberman, James. “Lizzie Borden’s ‘Working Girls’ Is About Capitalism, Not Sex.” New York Times, 16 June 2021,
• Huber, Christoph. “Whatever Happened to Lizzie Borden?” CinemaScope, 17 March 2018, 22 Sept. 2023.
• Isaacson, Johanna. “Hollywood Kills Feminism: the Work of Lizzie Borden.” Blind Field, 14 August 2019.
• Lane, Christina. Feminist Hollywood. From Born in Flames to Point Break. Wayne State University Press, 2000.
• Mayer, So. “Working Girls: Have You Ever Heard of Surplus Value?” Criterion, 13 July 2021.

Sound

• EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal and Nancy O'Doan and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive
• Intro: CNN

On this episode of Cannesversations Patrick and Eliana discuss Tsai Ming-Liang's 2009 in-competition Cannes film, Visage (臉 | Face). Commissioned by the Louvre Museum and sprinkled with the ghosts of Nouvelle Vague and Truffaut's own muses, the Taiwanese director's own muse, Lee Kang Sheng, wades through halls of grief and desire while directing a film based on the incandescent and timeless biblical Salomé.

Through long durational takes, absurd situations, and a composed acumen of transience, Tsai's cinema captivates with just one face, leaving behind a body of work that lends itself in equal parts to theatrical and institutional dissemination.

Resources/Credits:

• Bordeleau, Erik. "The Care for Opacity – On Tsai Ming-Liang’s Conservative Filmic Gesture." NECSUS. European Journal of Media Studies, 1 (2012), No. 2, p. 115–131. DOI: www.doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/15052.
• Bordeleau, Erik. "Soulful Sedentarity: Tsai Ming-Liang at Home at the
• Museum." Studies in European Cinema, 10:2-3, 179-194, DOI: 10.1386/seci.10.2-3.179_1.
• Hughes, Darren. "Tsai Ming-liang." Senses of Cinema, May 2003, https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/tsai/.
• Lim, Song Hwee. Tsai Ming-liang and a Cinema of Slowness. University of Hawai'i Press, 2014.
• Tsai, B. 2017. The many faces of Tsai Ming-liang: Cinephilia, the French connection, and cinema in the gallery. International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies 13 (2): 141–160, https://doi.org/10.21315/ijaps2017.13.2.7
• Villiers, Nicholas de. Cruisy, Sleepy, Melancholy. Sexual Disorientation in the Films of Tsai Ming-liang. University of Minnesota Press, 2022.
• Visage - Press Kit Cannes.

Sound:

• EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive
• Intro Interview

For the second part of the first episodes of Cannesversations this year, Eliana and Patrick (X | LB) are joined by critic friends Öykü Sofuoğlu and Lawrence Garcia to look back at their favorite films of 2024.

Follow Öykü (X | LB) & Lawrence (X | LB) on Twitter/X or Letterboxd

Our Part 2 Top 10 Films discussion begins with

• Lawrence's #5 to 1 - 00:26
• #4 - 23:30
• #3 - 48:35
• #2 - 1:08:10
• #1 - 1:27:45
• # 1:43:38 - Yay or Nay? Patrick reads a list of films that will come out in 2025.

Lawrence

• The Damned | Roberto Minervini
• Kottukali (The Adamant Girl) | PS Vinoth Raj
• The Periphery of the Base | Zhou Tao
• L'Empire | Bruno Dumont
• Miséricorde | Alain Guiraudie

Öykü

• Bluish | Lilith Kraxner, Milena Czernovsky
• Caught by the Tides | Jia Zhangke
• Direct Action | Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell
• Scénarios | Jean-Luc Goddard

Patrick

• Castration Movie Anthology i. Traps | Louise Weard
• Grand Tour | Miguel Gomes
• Direct Action
• Tú me abrasas | Matías Piñeiro

Eliana

• Lazaró at Night | Nicolás Pereda
• Reas | Lola Arias
• We are Inside | Farah Kassem
• Miséricorde

We wish all of you a happy year of the Snake!~

Credits:

Image: An amalgamation of all films mentioned

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

For the first episode of Cannesversations this year, Eliana and Patrick (X | LB) are joined by critic friends Öykü Sofuoğlu and Lawrence Garcia for the second year to look back at their favorite films of 2024.

Follow Öykü (X | LB) & Lawrence (X | LB) on Twitter/X or Letterboxd

Our Part 1 Top 10 Films discussion begins with

• #10 - 33:35
• #9 - 43:00
• #8 - 59:12
• #7 - 1:17:18
• #6 - 1:19:50
• #5 - 1:28:24

Öykü

• The Periphery of the Base | Zhou Tao
• Les Reines du Drames | Alexis Langlois
• By the Stream | Hong Sang Soo
• Miséricorde | Alain Guiraudie
• 100,000,000,000 (Cent mille milliards) | Virgil Vernier
• Eat the Night | Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel

Lawrence

• Presence | Steven Soderbergh
• Hard Truths | Mike Leigh
• By the Stream
• Chime | Kiyoshi Kurosawa
• The Other Way Around | Jonás Trueba

Patrick

• Miséricorde
• Israel Palestina on Swedish TV 1958-1989 | Göran Olsson
• Youth (Homecoming) | Wang Bing
• We are Inside | Farah Kassem
• Los delincuentes | Rodrigo Moreno

Eliana

• The Room Next Door | Pedro Almodovár
• Israel Palestina on Swedish TV 1958-1989
• Dahomey | Mati Diop
• Castration Movie Anthology i. Traps | Louise Weard
• Bluish | Lilith Kraxner, Milena Czernovsky & All We Imagine as Light | Payal Kapadia
• Tú me abrasas | Matías Piñeiro

Part two of our top 10 films of 2024 will be coming soon!

We wish all of you a happy 2025

Credits:

Image: An amalgamation of all films mentioned

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Welcome back to our coverage of the Cannes Film Festival!

We (Patrick and Eliana) look forward to sharing our first reactions and giving a sneak peek at the festival's ongoing films and events.

Join us on day four of twelve to discuss the festival's opening days:

• Partir un Jour by Amélie Bonnin
• Gold Rush by Charlie Chaplin
• The Sound of Falling by Mascha Schilinski
• Two Prosecutors by Sergei Loznitsa
• Sirat by Óliver Laxe

Coming soon:

• Drunken Noodles by Lucio Castro (ACID)
• Nino by Pauline Loquès (Semaine de la Critique)
• Laurent dans le vent (Drifting Laurent) by Anton Balekdjian, Léo Couture et Mattéo Eustachon (ACID)

and more...

For those who are German speakers, you can also find Patrick on moviebreak.de and can listen to his German-language podcast coverage here: RSS | Spotify !

Thanks for listening!

If you have any comments or suggestions or want to get in touch: cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Sirat Film Poster

Frame by Kumiko Shimuzu - Free to use under the Unsplash License

Officiel du 78e Festival de Cannes : © Les Films 13 – Un homme et une femme de Claude Lelouch (1966) / Création graphique © Hartland Villa

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Welcome back to our coverage of the 78th Cannes Film Festival!

We (Patrick and Eliana) share our first reactions and give a sneak peek at the festival's ongoing films and events.

Join us on day eight of twelve, episode two, as we rewind to a pre-festival recording to discuss the following films:

• Drunken Noodles by Lucio Castro (ACID)
• Nino by Pauline Loquès (Semaine de la Critique)
• Laurent dans le vent (Drifting Laurent) by Anton Balekdjian, Léo Couture et Mattéo Eustachon (ACID)

For those who are German speakers, you can also find Patrick on moviebreak.de and can listen to his German-language podcast coverage here: RSS | Spotify !

Thanks for listening!

If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to get in touch: cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Image: Drunken Noodles Film Still

Officiel du 78e Festival de Cannes : © Les Films 13 – Un homme et une femme de Claude Lelouch (1966) / Création graphique © Hartland Villa

Frame by Kumiko Shimuzu - Free to use under the Unsplash License

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Welcome back to our coverage of the 78th Cannes Film Festival episode three!

This is the first time that we have had the chance to sit down with a director at Cannes. The film, Imago, featured in the Semaine de la Critique side section and picked up two prizes this past week: The French Touch and the Golden Eye.

We talk to director Déni Oumar Pitsaev about some of the themes in this highly personal hybrid documentary film about the filmmaker's empathetic exploration and confrontation with a foreign yet familial place where culture, tradition, and displacement disparity between the symbolic and semantic: 'home' and 'house'; representing a universal entanglement with one's roots.

Thanks for listening!

If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to get in touch: cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Image: Imago Film Still

Officiel du 78e Festival de Cannes : © Les Films 13 – Un homme et une femme de Claude Lelouch (1966) / Création graphique © Hartland Villa

Frame by Kumiko Shimuzu - Free to use under the Unsplash License

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Welcome back to our coverage of the 78th Cannes Film Festival!

For episode four, Maja Korbecka and Jakob Jurisch join us (Patrick and Eliana) to discuss the following films on day nine of twelve:

• The History of Sound by Oliver Hermanus (Competition)
• Sterne by Konrad Wolf (Cannes Classics)
• Magellan (Drifting Laurent) by Lav Diaz (Cannes Première)
• O Riso e a Faca (Only I Rest in the Storm) by Pedro Pinho (Un Certain Regard)
• Renoir ルノワール by Chie Hayakawa 早川千絵 (Competition)

Maja Korbecka is a film studies researcher and film critic who focuses on Sinophone and Southeast Asian cinemas. She has contributed to Senses of Cinema, The China Project, Easternkicks, Frameland, and EKRANy magazine. This year, she will write for the Chinese Print Film Magazine Da Zhong Dian Ying 大衆電影.

Jakob Jurisch is a Hessen-born Berlin-based film critic who writes for moviebreak.de. For German speakers, Jakob and Patrick's German-language cover of Cannes is also available on moviebreak.de. You can listen to their German-language podcast coverage here.

Thanks for listening!

If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to get in touch: cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Image: O Riso e a Faca Film Still

Officiel du 78e Festival de Cannes : © Les Films 13 – Un homme et une femme de Claude Lelouch (1966) / Création graphique © Hartland Villa

Frame by Kumiko Shimuzu - Free to use under the Unsplash License

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Welcome back to our coverage of the 78th Cannes Film Festival!

For episode five, Łukasz Mańkowski join us (Patrick and Eliana) to discuss programming for Five Flavors film festival and the following films on day eleven of twelve:

• Renoir ルノワール by Chie Hayakawa 早川千絵 (Competition)
• Left-Handed Girl 左撇子女孩 by Shih-Ching Tsou 鄒時擎 (Semaine)
• A Useful Ghost ผีใช้ได้ค่ะ by Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke รัชฏ์ภูมิ บุญบัญชาโชค (Semaine de la Critique * Winner)
• Brand New Landscape 見はらし世代 by Yuiga Danzuka 団塚唯我 (Quinzaine)
• Love on Trial 恋愛裁判 by Kōji Fukada 深田晃司 (Cannes Première)
• Resurrection 狂野时代 by Bi Gan 畢贛 (Competition)

Łukasz Mańkowski is a film scholar, film critic, and film programmer for the annual Five Flavours Asian Film Festival which will be taking place in November this year in Warsaw. You can follow him on Twitter/X here!

Thanks for listening!

If you have any comments, suggestions, or want to get in touch: cannesversations@proton.me

Credits:

Image: Resurrection Film Poster

Officiel du 78e Festival de Cannes : © Les Films 13 – Un homme et une femme de Claude Lelouch (1966) / Création graphique © Hartland Villa

Frame by Kumiko Shimuzu - Free to use under the Unsplash License

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

It's a wrap!

In the final episode of this year's Cannes Film Festival, Eliana and Patrick are once again joined by Öykü Sofuoğlu.

Together, they discuss:

• Jafar Panahi's Palme d'Or-winning It Was Just an Accident | یک تصادف ساده
• Joachim Trier's Grand Jury Prize-winner Sentimental Value | Affeksjonsverdi
• Nadav Lapid's Yes or Yes! | כן
• Kelly Reichardt's The Mastermind (which, alas, did not win any award)
• Kristen Stewart's The Chronology of Water
• Simón Mesa Soto's A Poet | Un Poeta
• Diego Céspedes | Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo | La Misteriosa Mirada del Flamenco
• and in passing : Alice Douard's Love Letters | Les preuves d'amours, Anna Cazenave Cambet's Love me Tender, Harris Dickinson's Urchin + Scarlett Johansson's Eleanor the Great

For more of Öykü's work, check out her reviews on Sentimental Value, Christian Petzold's Mirrors No. 3, or Hafsia Herzi's The Little Sister for InReview Online.

For those interested in more thoughts on one of our festival favorites, Pauline Loquès’, Nino, read Patrick's review or listen to one of our previous episodes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Credits:

Image: It Was Just an Acccident Film Poster

Frame by Kumiko Shimuzu - Free to use under the Unsplash License

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: La Bouche - Be My Lover

Eliana and Patrick (X | LB) are joined by Öykü Sofuoğlu and Lawrence Garcia to look back at our top 5 favorite films of 2025.

Follow Öykü (X | LB) & Lawrence (X | LB) on Twitter/X or Letterboxd

Find Öykü's work with Emitaï, and as co-host of new film podcast Outskirts

& Hong Sang-Soo Die-hard Lawrence's review on What Does that Nature Say to You, as well as Ways of Worldmaking: Hong Sang-soo’s Late Period, and more notes on Hong's 'Late Period' Double Takes

Lawrence

• The Currents (Las corrientes) | Milagros Mumenthaler
• Peter Hujar’s Day | Ira Sachs
• Bugonia | Yorgos Lanthimos Γιώργος Λάνθιμος
• What Does That Nature Say to You? (그 자연이 네게 뭐라고 하니) | Hong Sang Soo 홍상수
• Dry Leaf (ხმელი ფოთოლი) | Alexandre Koberidze ალექსანდრე კობერიძე

Öykü

• The Love that Remains (Ástin Sem Eftir Er) | Hlynur Pálmason
• Secret Agent (O Agente Secret) | Kleber Mendonça Filho
• The Mastermind | Kelly Reichardt
• Remake | Ross McElwee
• Dry Leaf

Patrick

• Peter Hujar’s Day
• Resurrection 狂野时代 | Bi Gan 毕赣
• Dry Leaf
• I Only Rest in the Storm (O Riso e a Faca) |Pedro Pinho
• Afternoons of Solitude (Tardes de soledad) | Albert Serra

Eliana

• What Does That Nature Say to You?
• Sirat | Olivier Laxe
• Landmarks (Nuestra Tierra) | Lucrecia Martel
• Peter Hujar’s Day
• I Only Rest in the Storm

Happy Year of the Fire Horse!~

Credits:

Sound:

Intro: EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Extract Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Welcome back to our coverage of the Cannes Film Festival episode 2! This year is the 79th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival and marks our ( Eliana and Patrick (Twitter)) fourth time covering it.

In episode two, we discuss:

• Fatherland by Pawel Pawlikowski
• Siempre soy tu animal materno | Forever Your Maternal Animal by Valentina Maurel
• Double Freedom | La libertad doble by Lisandro ALONSO

Credits:

Sound:

EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Former Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Manipulated cover:

79th Cannes festival poster, Double Freedom Screenshot, Unsplash

Welcome back to our coverage of the Cannes Film Festival! This year is the 79th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival and marks our ( Eliana and Patrick (Twitter)) fourth time covering it.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The opening ceremony
• A Woman's Life | La vie d'une femme dir. Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet (Competition)
• Butterfly Jam dir. Kantemir Balagov (QdC)
• I can't Sleep | J'ai pas sommeil dir Claire Denis (Carrosse d'or récipient 2026)

--

Credits:

Sound:

EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Former Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Manipulated cover:

79th Cannes festival poster, J'ai pas sommeil poster, Unsplash

Welcome back to our coverage of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, episode three!

In this episode, we (Patrick and Eliana) discuss our first impressions of the following films:

• Virages | Summer Drift by Aline Suter and Céline Carridroit
• Fjord by Christian Mungiu
• La Gradiva by Marine Atlan

Credits:

Sound:

EFF Open Audio License for Le Carnaval des Animaux (Saint-Saëns, Camille - Aquarium) by Neal O'Doan (Piano) Nancy O'Doan (Piano), and Seattle Youth Orchestra Pandora Records/Al Goldstein Archive.

Extro: Former Quinzaine des Cineastes Intro Music: Cyril Moisson | Piano: Frédéric Fortuny

Manipulated cover:

79th Cannes festival poster, Virages | Summer Drift Image, Unsplash