Once again, the Cannes film festival has unveiled a gorgeous list. The only
disappointments, for some, will be the fact that Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master
and Terrence Malick’s new project were not included, reportedly because they were
not ready in time – although the idea of Malick actually having a new film completed
just one year after the last head-spinning epic is fantastically improbable: as if he had
moved up to a Roger Corman level of productivity. Some observers will be
disappointed that Stoker, by the South Korean director Park Chan-wook has not been
selected, likewise Wong Kar-wai’s The Grand Master – although the festival could
sneak in a late entry here and there.

The relative absence of women in the list of directors is, however, pretty dismal: the
competition is an all-male affair, and there are just two women film-makers in Un
Certain Regard: Sylvie Verheyde, with Confession of a Child of the Century, and
Catherine Corsini, with Three Worlds.

Continue reading Cannes film festival 2012 lineup: the competition’s still a man’s world →