The 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 12 to May 23, 2010, in Cannes, France.^[3][4] The Cannes Film Festival, hailed as being one of the most recognized and prestigious film festivals worldwide, was founded in 1946.^[1][5][6] It consists of having films screened in and out of competition during the festival; films screened in competition compete for the Palme d'Or award. The award in 2010 was won by Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, a Thai film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. This was determined by the festival's jury members who reviewed films screened in competition. American film director Tim Burton was the president of the jury for the international competition, and other members of the jury for that competition included actors, screenwriters and composers, such as Kate Beckinsale, Emmanuel Carrère, Benicio del Toro and Alexandre Desplat.^[7][8] Other categories for films screened in competition that have their own separate juries for other awards are for Short Films and the Un Certain Regard category. Ridley Scott's Robin Hood opened the festival^[9] and Julie Bertuccelli's The Tree was the closing film.^[10] The full film lineup for the festival was announced on April 15, 2010.^[11]

Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Associated Press and Getty TV boycotted the press conference that announced the line-up for the festival, due to a dispute over access to the red carpet.^[12] In a press release, the agencies said that they "may be forced to suspend their presence at the festival altogether" if an agreement was not reached.^[12] Days before the festival was to begin, concerns were expressed that attendees might be delayed, or would not attend, due to plane flights to surrounding areas in France being delayed or canceled due to volcanic ash in the sky.^[13]

Festival line-up[link]

	English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
Opener	Robin Hood[9]		Ridley Scott	United States
Closer	The Tree[10]		Julie Bertuccelli	France /  Australia

Palme d'Or[link]

Winner[link]

The Palme d'Or was won by the Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.^[14] It was the first time that an Asian movie won the award since 1997.^[15] Tim Burton, chairman of the jury that determined the award, stated about its decision: "You always want to be surprised by films and this film did that for most of us."^[16] French film Of Gods and Men was the runner up.^[17] The Xavier Beauvois-directed film had been considered a favourite for the Palme d'Or along with Mike Leigh's Another Year.^[18] During the ceremony special attention was paid to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi in hopes of increasing international pressure on the Iranian government to release Panahi from jail.

Films in competition[link]

The following films competed for the Palme d'Or.^[4][10]

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
On Tour	Tournée	Mathieu Amalric	France
Of Gods and Men	Des hommes et des dieux	Xavier Beauvois	France
Outside the Law	Hors-la-loi	Rachid Bouchareb	Algeria
Biutiful	Biutiful	Alejandro González Iñárritu	Mexico
A Screaming Man	Un homme qui crie	Mahamat Saleh Haroun	France
The Housemaid	하녀 Ha-nyeo	Im Sang-soo	South Korea
Certified Copy	Copie conforme	Abbas Kiarostami	France
Outrage	アウトレイジ	Takeshi Kitano	Japan
Poetry	시 Shi	Lee Chang-dong	South Korea
Another Year	N/A	Mike Leigh	United Kingdom
Fair Game	N/A	Doug Liman	United States
Route Irish	N/A	Ken Loach	United Kingdom
My Joy	Счастье моё	Sergei Loznitsa	Ukraine
Our Life	La nostra vita	Daniele Luchetti	Italy
Burnt by the Sun 2	Утомлённые солнцем 2, Utomlyonnye solncem 2	Nikita Mikhalkov	Russia
Tender Son – The Frankenstein Project	SZELÍD TEREMTÉS – A Frankenstein Terv	Kornél Mundruczó	Hungary
The Princess of Montpensier	La princesse de Montpensier	Bertrand Tavernier	France
Chongqing Blues	日照重慶	Wang Xiaoshuai	China
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives	ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ	Apichatpong Weerasethakul	Thailand

Un Certain Regard[link]

The following films were screened in the Un Certain Regard category.^[4]

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
Adrienn Pál	Pál Adrienn	Ágnes Kocsis	Hungary
Aurora	N/A	Cristi Puiu	Romania
Blue Valentine	N/A	Derek Cianfrance	United States
Chatroom	N/A	Hideo Nakata	Japan /  United Kingdom
The City Below	Unter dir die Stadt	Christoph Hochhäusler	Germany
Socialism	Film Socialisme	Jean-Luc Godard	France
Hahaha	하하하	Hong Sang-soo	South Korea
I Wish I Know	Hai Shang Chuan Qi	Jia Zhangke	China
Heartbeats	Les amours imaginaires	Xavier Dolan	Canada
Life, Above All	Life, Above All	Oliver Schmitz	South Africa
The Lips	Los labios	Iván Fund, Santiago Loza	Argentina
October	Octubre	Daniel Vega, Diego Vega	Peru
Lights Out	Qu'est-il Arrivé à Simon Werner?	Fabrice Gobert	France
Rebecca H. (Return to the Dogs)	N/A	Lodge Kerrigan	United States /  France
R U There	N/A	David Verbeek	Netherlands /  Taiwan
The Strange Case of Angelica	O estranho caso de Angélica	Manoel de Oliveira	Portugal
Tuesday, After Christmas	Marţi, după Crăciun	Radu Muntean	Romania
Flight	Udaan	Vikramaditya Motwane	India
Carancho	Carancho	Pablo Trapero	Argentina

Films out of competition[link]

The following films were shown out of competition.^[4]

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger	N/A	Woody Allen	United States
Kaboom	N/A	Gregg Araki	United States
Carlos	N/A	Olivier Assayas	France
The Tree	N/A	Julie Bertuccelli	France /  Australia
Tamara Drewe	N/A	Stephen Frears	United Kingdom
Black Heaven	L'autre monde	Gilles Marchand	France
Robin Hood	N/A	Ridley Scott	United States
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	N/A	Oliver Stone	United States
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu	Autobiografia lui Nicolae Ceaușescu	Andrei Ujică	Romania

Special screenings[link]

The following films were shown as special screenings.^[19]

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
5 X Favela	5 X Favela, por nós mesmos	Wagner Novais, Manaira Carneiro, Rodriga Felha, Cacau Amaral, Luciano Vidigal, Cadu Barcelos and Luciana Bezerra	Brazil
Abel	N/A	Diego Luna	Mexico
N/A	Chantrapas	Otar Iosseliani	France /  Georgia
Countdown to Zero	N/A	Lucy Walker	United States
Draquila – Italy Trembles	Draquila - L'Italia che trema	Sabina Guzzanti	Italy
Gilles Jacob, Citizen Cannes	Gilles Jacob, l'arpenteur de la croisette	Serge Le Peron	France
Inside Job	N/A	Charles H. Ferguson	United States
The Pack	La meute	Franck Richard	France
Nostalgia for the Light	Nostalgia de la luz	Patricio Guzmán	France /  Chile
Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow	N/A	Sophie Fiennes	United Kingdom

Short films[link]

The following films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or.^[20]

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Country
Barking Island	Chienne d'histoire	Serge Avédikian	France
First Aid	Ezra rishona	Yarden Karmin	Israel
Station	Estação	Marcia Faria	Brazil
Muscles	N/A	Edward Housden	Australia
Bathing Micky	Micky bader	Frida Kempff	Sweden
To Swallow a Toad		Jurģis Krāsons	Latvia
Rosa	N/A	Monica Lairana	Argentina
Maya		Pedro Pío Martín Pérez	Cuba
Blocks	Blokes	Marialy Rivas	Chile

Director's Fortnight[link]

The documentary film Benda Bilili! about disabled Kinshasa street musicians Staff Benda Bilili had its world premiere at the festival, with the group in attendance and performing at the Director's Fortnight opening party.^[21]

Juries[link]

Awards[link]

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun at the festival for his film A Screaming Man

The winners of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival were:

• Palme d'Or – Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
• Grand Prix – Of Gods and Men by Xavier Beauvois
• Prix de la mise en scène – Mathieu Amalric for On Tour
• Prix du scénario – Poetry by Lee Chang-dong
• Prix du Jury – A Screaming Man by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
• Prix d'interprétation féminine – Juliette Binoche for Certified Copy
• Prix d'interprétation masculine
  • Javier Bardem for Biutiful
  • Elio Germano for Our Life
• Palme d'Or du court métrage – Barking Island by Serge Avédikian
• Prix du Jury du court métrage – Bathing Micky by Frida Kempff
• Prix Un Certain Regard – Hahaha by Hong Sang-soo
• Un Certain Regard – Jury Prize – October by Daniel Vega, Diego Vega
• Prix d'interprétation féminine Un Certain Regard – Adela Sanchez, Eva Bianco, Victoria Raposo for The Lips
• Cinéfondation
  • 1st Prize – The Painting Sellers by Juho Kuosmanen
  • 2nd Prize – Anywhere Out of the World by Vincent Cardona
  • 3rd Prize – The Fifth Column by Vatche Boulghourjian and I Already am Everything I Want to Have by Dane Komljenk
• Caméra d'Or – Año Bisiesto by Michael Rowe

See also[link]

• 2009 in film
• 2010 in film
• Film festivals
• Venice Film Festival
• 60th Berlin Film Festival

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 2010 Cannes Film Festival

• Official Cannes Festival Site (in English)
• Cannes Film Festival:2010 at Internet Movie Database

Cannes International Film Festival
200px
Location	Cannes, France
Language	International
http://www.festival-cannes.com

The Cannes International Film Festival (French: Le Festival International du Film de Cannes or just Festival de Cannes), is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is the world's most prestigious and publicized film festival.^[1][2][3] The invitation-only festival is held annually (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.

The 2012 Cannes Film Festival took place from May 16 to May 27, 2012^[4]. The President of the Jury was the Italian film director Nanni Moretti.

History[link]

The Cannes Film Festival has its origins in the late 1930s when Jean Zay, the French Minister of National Education, on the proposal of Philippe Erlanger and with the support of the British and Americans,^{[clarification needed]} set up an international cinematographic festival. In 1947, the festival was held as the "Festival du film de Cannes", where films from sixteen countries were presented. Moreover, the principle of equality was introduced, so that the jury was to be made up only of one representative per country.^[5] Also, this year the festival was held at the made-for-the-occasion Palais des Festivals, although the roof was unfinished and blew off during a storm. The festival was not held in 1948 and 1950 on account of budgetary problems. In 1951, owing to better relations between France and Italy, the Cannes Festival was moved to Spring, while the Mostra remained in Autumn.

In 1955 the Golden Palm was created, replacing the Grand Prix du Festival which had been given until that year. In 1957 Dolores del Rio was the first female member of the jury as a Sélection officielle – Member. In 1959 the Marché du Film (Film Market) was founded, giving the festival a commercial character and facilitating exchanges between sellers and buyers in the film industry. Today it has become the first international platform for film commerce.^[6]

In 1962 the International Critics' Week was born, created by the French Union of Film Critics as the first parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Its goal was to showcase first and second works by directors from all over the world, not succumbing to commercial tendencies.^[7] In 1965 an hommage was paid to Jean Cocteau after his death, and he was named Honorary President for life. The next year, Olivia de Havilland was named the first female president of the festival.

The 1968 festival was halted on 19 May 1968. Some directors, such as Carlos Saura and Milos Forman, had withdrawn their films from the competition. On 18 May, filmmaker Louis Malle along with a group of directors took over the large room of the Palais and interrupted the projections in solidarity with students and labour on strike throughout France,^[8] and in protest to the eviction of the then President of the Cinémathèque Française. The filmmakers achieved the reinstatement of the President, and they founded the Film Directors' Society (SRF) that same year.^[9] In 1969 the SRF, led by Pierre-Henri Deleau created the Directors' Fortnight, a new non-competitive section that programs a selection of films from around the world, distinguished by the independent judgment displayed in the choice of films.^[10]

The "Palais des Festivals" (2000)

During the 1970s, important changes occurred in the Festival. In 1972 Robert Favre Le Bret was named the new President, and Maurice Bessy the Managing Director. He immediately introduced an important change in the selection of the participating films. Until that date, the different countries chose which films would represent them in the festival. Bessy created one committee to select French films, and another for foreign films.^[11] In 1978 Gilles Jacob assumed the President position, introducing the Caméra d'Or award and the Un Certain Regard section. Other changes were the decrease of length of the festival down to thirteen days, reducing the number of selected films thus; also, until that point the Jury was composed by Film Academics, and Jacob started to introduce celebrities and professionals from the film industry.^[12]

In 1983 a new, much bigger Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was built to host the Festival. It was nicknamed "The Bunker" and provoked many reactions against it.^[13] In 1984 Pierre Viot replaced Robert Favre Le Bret as President of the Festival.

Stars posing for photographers are a part of Cannes folklore.

It wasn't until 1995 that Gilles Jacob created the last section of the Official Selection: la Cinéfondation. Its aim was to support the creation of works of cinema in the world and to contribute to the entry of the new scenario writers in the circle of the celebrities.^[14] The Cinéfondation was completed in 2000 with La Résidence and in 2005 L'Atelier. The Festival's current President, Gilles Jacob, was appointed in 2000, and in 2002 the Festival officially adopted the name Festival de Cannes.

Impact[link]

The festival has become an important showcase for European films. Jill Forbes and Sarah Street argue in European Cinema: An Introduction, that Cannes "became...extremely important for critical and commercial interests and for European attempts to sell films on the basis of their artistic quality" (page 20).^[15] Forbes and Street also point out that, along with other festivals such as Venice and Berlin, Cannes offers an opportunity to determine a particular country's image of its cinema and generally foster the notion that European cinema is "art" cinema.^[15]

Additionally, given massive media exposure, the non-public festival is attended by many movie stars and is a popular venue for film producers to launch their new films and attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over the globe.

Programmes[link]

The Cannes Film Festival is organised in various sections:^[16]

• The Official Selection – The main event of the festival.
  • In Competition – The twenty films competing for the Palme d'Or. They are projected in the Théâtre Lumière.
  • Un Certain Regard – Twenty films selected from cultures near and far; original and different works. They are projected at the Salle Debussy.
  • Out of Competition – These films are also projected in the Théâtre Lumière but do not compete for the main prize.
  • Special Screenings – The selection committee chooses for these films an environment specially adapted to their particular identity.
  • Cinéfondation – About fifteen shorts and medium-length motion pictures from film schools over the world are presented at the Salle Buñuel.
  • Short Films – The shorts competing for the Short Film Palme d'Or are presented at the Buñuel and Debussy theatres. There are approximately 10 films in this competition.
• Parallel Sections – These are non-competitive programmes dedicated to discovering other aspects of cinema.
  • Cannes Classics – It celebrates the heritage of film, aiming to highlight works of the past, presented with brand new or restored prints.
  • Tous les Cinémas du Monde – It showcases the vitality and diversity of cinema across the world. Each day, one country is invited to present a range of features and shorts in celebration of its unique culture, identity and recent film works.
  • Caméra d'Or – It rewards the best first film of the Festival, choosing among the debutants' works among the Official Selection, the Directors' Fortnight and the International Critics' Week selections.
  • Cinéma de la Plage – Screening of Cannes Classics and Out of Competition films for the mass public on Macé beach, preceded by a programme dedicated to film music.
• Other Sections – Produced by outside organizations during the Cannes Festival.
  • Directors' Fortnight
  • International Critics' Week
• Events
  • Marché du Film – The busiest movie market of the world.
  • Masterclasses – Given in public by world renowned filmmakers.
  • Tributes – Honors internationally renowned artists with the presentation of the Festival Trophee following the screening of one of their films.
  • Producers Network – An opportunity to make international co-productions.
  • Exhibitions – Each year, an artist, a body of work or a cinematographic theme becomes the focus of an exhibition that diversifies or illustrates the event's programme.
  • 60th Anniversary – Events organised in 2007 dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Festival.

Juries[link]

Prior to the beginning of each event, the Festival's board of directors appoints the juries who hold sole responsibility for choosing which films will receive a Cannes award. Jurors are chosen from a wide range of international artists, based on their body of work and respect from their peers.^[17]

• Feature Films – An international jury composed of a President and various film or art personalities, who determine the prizes for the feature films in Competition.
• Cinéfondation and Short Films – Composed of a President and four film personalities. It awards the Short Film Palme d'Or as well as the three best films of the Cinéfondation.
• Un Certain Regard – Composed of a President, journalists, students in cinema, and industry professionals. It awards the Un Certain Regard Prize for best film and can, moreover, honour two other films.
• Caméra d'Or – Composed of a President, as well as film directors, technicians, and French and international critics. They award the best film in any category.

Awards[link]

Palme d'Or attributed to Apocalypse Now at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival

The most prestigious award given out at Cannes is the Palme d'Or ("Golden Palm") for the best film.

• Competition
  • Palme d'Or – Golden Palm
  • Grand Prix – Grand Prize of the Festival
  • Prix du Jury – Jury Prize
  • Palme d'Or du court métrage – Best Short Film
  • Prix d'interprétation féminine – Best Actress
  • Prix d'interprétation masculine – Best Actor
  • Prix de la mise en scène – Best Director
  • Prix du scénario – Best Screenplay
• Other Sections
  • Prix Un Certain Regard – Young talent, innovative and audacious works
  • Cinéfondation prizes – Student films
  • Caméra d'Or – Best first feature film
• Given by Independent Entities
  • Prix de la FIPRESCI – International Federation of Film Critics Prize
  • Prix Vulcain – Awarded to a technical artist by the CST
  • International Critics' Week Prizes
  • Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
  • Palm Dog, for best canine performance.^[18]
  • Queer Palm, for LGBT-related films.^[19]

See also[link]

	France portal
	Film portal

• Directors' Fortnight
• List of Palme d'Or winners
• Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Cannes: Fifty Years of Sun, Sex & Celluloid : Behind the Scenes at the World's Most Famous Film Festival by Peter Bart (Miramax, 1997)
• Cannes – A Festival Virgin's Guide by Benjamin Craig (Cinemagine Media Publishing, 2004)
• Hollywood on the Riviera: The Inside Story of the Cannes Film Festival by Cari Beauchamp and Henri Behar (William Morrow & Co, 1992)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cannes Film Festival

• Cannes Film Festival official website
• Cannes Film Festival Blog
• Cannes Film Festival: A Potted History
• Radio France Internationale coverage of the Cannes Film Festival 2010 (English)
• Radio France Internationale coverage of the Cannes Film Festival 2011(English)
• Footage from the 1958 Cannes Film Festival
• Cannes – A Festival Virgin's Guide – Detailed festival history and information for attendees

Coordinates: 43°33′03.10″N 7°01′02.10″E / 43.550861°N 7.01725°E / 43.550861; 7.01725

Film festivals
List of film festivals Europe North/Central America Oceania Documentary film festivals New Media art festivals

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. Increasingly film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings.^[1] The films may be of recent date and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as films produced by the organisers' domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., horror film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in short films, each with its defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events.

History[link]

The first major film festival was held in Venice in 1932; the other major and oldest film festivals of the world are: Cannes Film Festival (1939), Festival del film Locarno (1946), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (1946), Edinburgh International Film Festival (1947), Melbourne International Film Festival (1951), Berlin International Film Festival (1951) and Toronto International Film Festival (1976).^[2]

The Edinburgh International Film Festival in the UK was established in 1947 and is the longest continually running film festival in the world. Raindance Film Festival is the UK's largest celebration of independent film-making and is taking place in London in October.^[3]

The first North American high film festival was the Columbus International Film & Video Festival, also known as The Chris Awards, held in 1953. According to the Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco, "The Chris Awards (is) one of the most prestigious documentary, educational, business and informational competitions in the U.S; (it is) the oldest of its kind in North America and celebrating its 54th year."

It was followed four years later by the San Francisco International Film Festival held in March 1957 whose emphasis was on feature-length dramatic films. The festival played a major role in introducing foreign films to American audiences. Among the films shown in its founding year were Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali.

Today there are thousands of film festivals around the world, ranging from high profile festivals such as Sundance Film Festival (Park City, UT) to horror festivals such as Terror Film Festival (Philadelphia, PA), and the first U.S. film festival dedicated to honoring the impact of music in film: the Park City Film Music Festival: http://www.PCFMF.com.

Digital feature film distribution began in 2005, along with the arrival of the world's first online film festival, the GreenCine Online Film Festival, sponsored by DivX.^[4]

Entry fee[link]

The Berlin Film Festival in 2007

Most film festivals require filmmakers to pay an entry fee to have their works considered for screening. This is especially commonplace among larger film festivals, such as the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, South by Southwest and even smaller "boutique" festivals such as the Miami International Film Festival and the British Urban Film Festival in London.

However, not all film festivals require an entry fee. Rotterdam Film Festival, for example, does not charge an entry fee to submit work. There are also many smaller film festivals in the United States, such as the Stony Brook Film Festival in Long Island, New York, the Northwest Filmmakers' Festival, or the Sicilian Film Festival in Miami, Florida, which do not charge entry fees; however, acceptance of films is usually more limited, and such film festivals do not necessarily attract big names in their audiences like Sundance and Telluride do. In some cases, such as the Portland International Film Festival, there is an entry fee, but it is waived for filmmakers within a certain region, such as the Northwestern United States.

Significant or notable festivals[link]

Red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes.

Traverse City Film Festival and their giant inflatable movie screen

The three most prestigious film festivals are commonly regarded to be that of Cannes, Berlin and Venice;^[5] these festivals are sometimes called the "Big Three."^[6] Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Three Colors Trilogy were each made for these festivals, with Blue for Venice, White for Berlin, and Red for Cannes.^[5]

The Toronto International Film Festival is North America's most popular festival. Time wrote it had "grown from its place as the most influential fall film festival to the most influential film festival, period."^[7] Seattle International Film Festival is credited as being the largest film festival in the USA, regularly showing over 400 films in a month across the city.^[8] The Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival and Gimli Film Festival are also major festivals in North America, as is the Vancouver International Film Festival, the fifth largest film festival in North America.

• "A" Festivals: The festivals in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Shanghai, Moscow, San Sebastián, Montréal, Locarno (since 2002), Karlovy Vary, Mar del Plata, Cairo, Tokyo, and Warsaw are listed as "A festivals", or "category one" by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).^[9]

• Experimental films: Ann Arbor Film Festival was started in 1963. It is the oldest continually operated experimental film festival in North America and has become one of the premiere film festivals for independent and, primarily, experimental filmmakers to showcase their work.^{[citation needed]}

• Independent films: In the US, Telluride Film Festival,^{[citation needed]} Sundance Film Festival,^[10][11] Austin's South by Southwest, and New York City's Tribeca Film Festival, are all considered significant festivals for independent film. The Zero Film Festival is significant as the first and only festival exclusive to self-financed filmmakers.^[12] The biggest independent film festival in the UK is Raindance Film Festival.^[3]

• North American: The San Francisco International Film Festival, started in 1957, is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. It highlights current trends in international filmmaking and video production with an emphasis on work that has not yet secured U.S. distribution. The Toronto International Film Festival, begun in 1976, is regarded North America's most major and most prestigious film festival, and the most widely attended worldwide. Toronto's Hot Docs is the leading North American documentary film festival. Toronto also has the largest amount of film festivals in the world, ranging from cultural, independent, and historic films. The largest festival, in terms of the number of features shown, is the Seattle International Film Festival, screening 270 features, and approximately 150 short films.^{[citation needed]} The Whistler Film Festival, with is amazing location and breathtaking scenery, is getting bigger every year with more than 80 screenings and a well-rounded Industry Summit. Meanwhile, the New York Film Festival only shows a few films in each year, but it still has big impact in the United States.^{[citation needed]} The Sundance film festival is a major festival for independent film.

• Latin American significance: The Cartagena Film Festival, founded by Victor Nieto in 1960, is the oldest film festival in Latin America.^[13] The Festival de Gramado (or Gramado Film Festival) Gramado, Brazil along with the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Guadalajara, Mexico are considered to be the most important film festivals of Latin America. It was first held in 1973, awarding Latin American films. The Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival has been held since 1975 in that Spanish city. While the Expresión en Corto International Film Festival is the largest competitive film festival in Mexico, specializing in emerging talents, and is held each year during the last week of July in the two colonial cities of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. Among Spanish speaking countries the Dominican International Film Festival is held annually in Puerto Plata, DR, the Valdivia International Film Festival is held annually in the city of Valdivia. It is arguable the most important film festival in Chile.^{[citation needed]}

• Animation: Founded in 1960, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival is the oldest international film festival dedicated exclusively to animation. The others are: Zagreb (f. 1972) Ottawa (f. 1976), Hiroshima (f. 1985), KROK (f. 1989), and Anima Mundi (f. 1992). There are also a variety of regional festivals in various countries.

• Asian Film Festival: Most notable amongst the Asian Film Festivals are the Osian's-Cinefan Film Festival, which was recently expanded to include Arab Cinema as well, and the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) and Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

• African festivals Significant African festivals based on the continent include the biannual Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou FESPACO in Burkina Faso, the annual Durban International Film Festival which has grown in importance for industry with the addition of a co-production forum and Talent Campus.

• European festivals The biggest European festival is the Cannes film festival in France along with Berlin and Venice.

• Art and Technology: The Palo Alto International Film Festival, a program of the Palo Alto Institute, is the only film festival in the United States to celebrate the convergence of art and technology, by focusing on the influence of emerging technologies on cinema.

• Emerging Filmmakers: The KahBang Film Festival, part of the KahBang Music-Art-Film Festival in Bangor, Maine, is one of the newest film festivals in the United States to discover and showcase the work from Emerging Filmmakers throughout the world. Their programming continues to be unique by also showcasing the best new Comedy features, Music Documentaries, and Maine made films. Each year they honor one notable actor, actress, or filmmaker with the "Kevin Norwood Bacon Award for Achievement in Cinema", acknowledging the success the recipient has achieved in being so closely connected to Kevin Bacon. One of their films is screened in the KahBang Off Screen Category, "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" which connects the honored back to the man himself.

See also[link]

• List of film festivals
• List of short film festival
• Outdoor cinema

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Turan, Kenneth, Sundance to Sarajevo: Film Festivals and the World They Made, Los Angeles, University of California Press, 2002, hardback, ISBN 0-520-21867-1.
• Watson, Nigel, "The Sense and Sensationalism of Film Festivals", Talking Pictures website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Film festivals

Juliette Binoche
at the Elysee Biarritz movie theatre in Paris on 22 October 2009
Born	(1964-03-09) 9 March 1964 (age 48) Paris, France
Other names	"La Binoche"
Occupation	Actress, artist, dancer, poet, designer, human rights campaigner
Years active	1983–present
Partner	Leos Carax (1986–1991) André Hallé (1991–1993) Benoît Magimel (1998–2003) Santiago Amigorena (2005–2009)
Children	Raphaël Hallé (b 1993) Hana Magimel (b 1999)
Signature	150px

Juliette Binoche (French pronunciation: [ʒyljɛt binɔʃ]; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during adolescence. After performing in several stage productions, she was propelled into the world of auteurs Jean-Luc Godard (Hail Mary, 1985), Jacques Doillon (Family Life, 1985) and André Téchiné, who made her a star in France with the leading role in his 1985 drama Rendez-vous. Her sensual performance in her English-language debut The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), directed by Philip Kaufman, launched her international career.

She sparked the interest of Steven Spielberg, who offered her several parts including a role in Jurassic Park which she declined, choosing instead to join Krzysztof Kieślowski on the set of Three Colors: Blue (1993), a performance for which she won the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actress and a César. Three years later Binoche gained further acclaim in Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (1996), for which she was awarded an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress in addition to the Best Actress Award at the 1997 Berlin Film Festival. For her performance in Lasse Hallström's romantic comedy Chocolat (2000) Binoche was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

During the 2000s she maintained a successful, critically acclaimed career, alternating between French and English language roles in both mainstream and art-house productions. In 2010 she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy making her the first actress to win the European "best actress triple crown".

Throughout her career Binoche has intermittently appeared on stage, most notably in a 1998 London production of Luigi Pirandello's Naked and in a 2000 production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal on Broadway for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. In 2008 she began a world tour with a modern dance production in-i devised in collaboration with Akram Khan. Affectionately referred to as "La Binoche"^[1] by the French press, her other notable performances include: Mauvais Sang (1986), Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991), Damage (1992), The Horseman on the Roof (1995), Code Unknown (2000), Caché (2005), Breaking and Entering (2006) and Flight of the Red Balloon (2007).

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Juliette Binoche was born in Paris, the daughter of Jean-Marie Binoche, a director, actor and sculptor, and Monique Stalens, a teacher, director and actress.^[2] Her mother is of Polish descent. Her maternal Polish Catholic grandparents were imprisoned at Auschwitz because they were considered to be intellectuals by the Nazi occupiers.^[3] She also has French, Flemish, Brazilian and Moroccan ancestry.^[4] When her parents divorced in 1968, four year old Binoche and her sister Marion were sent to a provincial boarding school.^[5] During their teens, the Binoche sisters spent their school holidays with their maternal grandmother, not seeing either parent for months at a time. Binoche has stated that this perceived parental abandonment had a profound effect on her.^[6]

She was not particularly academic^[7] and in her teenage years she began acting at school in amateur stage productions. At 17, she directed and starred in a student production of the Eugène Ionesco play, Exit the King. She studied acting at the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique (CNSAD), but quit after a short time as she disliked the curriculum.^[7] In the early 1980s, she found an agent through a friend and joined a theater troupe with which she toured France, Belgium and Switzerland under the pseudonym "Juliette Adrienne".^[8] Around this time she began lessons with the famed acting coach Vera Gregh.^[9]

Her first professional screen experience was as an extra in the three part TF1 television series Dorothée, danseuse de corde (1983) directed by Jacques Fensten, which was followed by a similarly small role in the provincial television film Fort bloque directed by Pierrick Guinnard. Following this Binoche secured her first feature film appearance with a minor role in Pascal Kané's Liberty Belle (1983). Her role required just two days on set, but was enough to inspire Binoche to pursue a career in film.^[7]

1984–1991[link]

Juliette Binoche in 1985.

Binoche's early films would see her established as a French star of some renown.^[5] In 1983, she auditioned for the female lead in Jean-Luc Godard's' controversial Hail Mary, a modern retelling of the Virgin birth.^[10] Godard requested a meeting with Binoche having seen a photo of her taken by her boyfriend of the time.^[11] She has said that she spent six months on the set of the film in Geneva, although her role in the final cut is contained to only a few scenes.^[11][12] Further supporting roles followed in a variety of French films: Annick Lanoë's Les Nanas was to give Binoche her most noteworthy role to date, playing opposite established stars Marie-France Pisier and Macha Meril, in a mainstream comedy.^[13] However, she has stated that the experience was not particularly memorable or influential.^[14] She gained more significant exposure in Jacques Doillon's critically acclaimed Family Life, which cast her as the volatile teenage step-daughter of Sami Frey's central character. This film was to set the tone of her early career.^[15] Doillon has commented that in the original screenplay her character was written to be 14 years old, he was so impressed with Binoche's audition he changed the character's age to 17 to allow her take the role.^[14] In April 1985, Binoche followed this with another supporting role in Bob Decout's Adieu Blaireau, a policier thriller starring Philippe Léotard and Annie Girardot. Adieu Blaireau failed to have much impact with critics or audiences.^[13]

It was to be later in 1985 that Binoche would fully emerge as a leading actress with her role in André Téchiné's Rendez-vous. She was cast at short notice when Sandrine Bonnaire had to abandon the film due to a scheduling conflict.^[16] Rendez-vous premiered at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival, winning Best Director. The film was a sensation and Binoche became the darling of the festival.^[17] Rendez-Vous is the story of a provincial actress, Nina (Binoche), who arrives in Paris and embarks on a series of dysfunctional liaisons with several men, including the moody, suicidal Quentin (Lambert Wilson). However it is her collaboration with theatre director Scrutzler, played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, which comes to define Nina.^[18] In a review of Rendez-Vous in Film Comment, Armond White described it as "Juliette Binoche's career defining performance".^[19] In 1986, Binoche was nominated for her first César for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in the film.^[20] Following Rendez-Vous, she was unsure of what role to take next. She auditioned unsuccessfully for Yves Boisset's Bleu comme l'enfer and Robin Davis's Hors la loi,^[18] but was eventually cast in My Brother-in-law Killed My Sister (1986) by Jacques Rouffio opposite the popular French stars Michel Serrault and Michel Piccoli. This film was a critical and commercial failure.^[21] Binoche has commented that Rouffio's film is very significant to her career as it taught her to judge roles based on the quality of the screenplay and her connection with a director, not on the reputation of other cast members.^[22] Later in 1986, she again starred opposite Michel Piccoli in Leos Carax's Mauvais Sang. This film was a critical and commercial success, leading to Binoche's second César nomination. Mauvais Sang is an avant-garde thriller in which she plays Anna the vastly younger lover of Marc (Piccoli) who falls in love with Alex (Denis Lavant), a young thief.^[23] Binoche has stated that she, "discovered the camera", while shooting this film.^[24]

In August 1986, Binoche began filming Philip Kaufman's adaptation of Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, portraying the young and innocent Tereza.^[25] Released in 1988, this was Binoche's first English language role and was a worldwide success with critics and audiences alike^[26] Set against the Russian invasion of Prague in 1968, the film tells the story of the relationships a Czech surgeon, Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis), has with his wife Tereza and his lover Sabina (Lena Olin). Binoche has stated that at the time her English was very limited and that she relied on a French translation to fully grasp her role.^[27] After this success, Binoche decided to return to France rather than pursue an international career.^[28] In 1988, she filmed the lead in Pierre Pradinas's Un tour de manège, a little-seen French film opposite François Cluzet.^[28] She has stated that her attraction to this film was that it gave her the opportunity to work with close friends and family.^[7] Pradinas is the husband of her sister Marion Stalens who was set photographer on the film and appeared in a cameo role.^[7] In the summer of 1988, Binoche returned to the stage in an acclaimed production of Anton Checkov's The Seagull directed by Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky at Théâtre De L'odéon in Paris.^[29] Later that year she began work on Léos Carax's Les Amants du Pont-Neuf.^[30] The film was beset by problems and took three years to complete, requiring investment from three producers and funds from the French government.^[14] When finally released in 1991, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf was a critical success. Binoche won a European Film Award^[31] as well as securing her third César nomination for her performance. In the film Binoche portrays an artist who lives rough on the famous Parisian bridge where she meets another young vagrant (Denis Lavant). This iconic part of the city becomes the backdrop for a wildly passionate love story and some of the most visually arresting images of the city ever created.^[32] The paintings featured in the film were Binoche's own work.^[14] She also designed the French poster for the film which features an ink drawing of the eponymous lovers locked in embrace.^[14] During a break in filming in 1990, Binoche spent five days shooting Mara for Mike Figgis, based on Henry Miller's Quiet Days at Clichy. This 30 minute film was part of HBO's anthology series Women & Men 2.^[33] The film became somewhat contentious when, according to Mike Figgis, HBO altered it once he had completed it.^[34] The film premiered on HBO in the U.S. on 18 August 1991.^[35]

At this point, Binoche seemed to be at a crossroads in her career. She was recognized as one of the most significant French actresses of her generation.^[36] However, the long production of Les Amants du Pont-Neuf had forced her to turn down several significant roles in international productions including The Double Life of Véronique by Krzysztof Kieślowski, Cyrano de Bergerac by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Night and Day by Chantal Akerman and Beyond the Aegean an aborted project with Elia Kazan.^[37] Now Binoche chose to pursue an international career outside France.^[14]

1992–2000[link]

Juliette Binoche at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.

The 1990s saw Juliette Binoche inaugurated as a European leading lady in a series of international films that were critical and commercial successes winning Binoche much praise and numerous awards for her performances.^[38] This period saw her persona develop from that of a young gamine to a more melancholic, tragic presence. Critics suggested that many of her roles were notable for her almost passive intensity in the face of tragedy and despair.^[28] In fact Binoche has nicknamed her characters from this period as her "sorrowful sisters".^[39] Following the long shoot of Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, Binoche relocated to London for the 1992 productions of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Damage, both of which considerably enhanced her international reputation.^[40] Yet, from a professional and personal point-of-view, both films were significant challenges for Binoche; her casting opposite Ralph Fiennes's Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, in favour of English actresses Helena Bonham Carter^[41] and Kate Beckinsale,^[42] was immediately contentious and drew derision from the British press, unimpressed that a uniquely English role had gone to a French actress.^[43] The film had its world premiere at the 1992 Edinburgh International Film Festival. Reviews were poor, with Binoche being cynically dubbed "Cathy Clouseau" and being derided for her "franglais" accent.^[44] Both Binoche and director Peter Kosminsky distanced themselves from the film, with Binoche refusing to do any promotion for the film or to redub it into French.^[45] Damage, a UK and French co-production, is the story of a British conservative minister played by Jeremy Irons who embarks on a torrid affair with his son's fiancée (Binoche). Based on the novel by Josephine Hart and directed by veteran French director Louis Malle, Damage seemed to be the ideal international vehicle for Binoche; however the production was wrought with difficulties and dogged by rumours of serious conflict. In an on-set interview, Louis Malle stated that it was the "most difficult" film he had ever made, while Binoche commented that "the first day was one big argument".^[46] Damage opened in the UK late in 1992 and debuted early in 1993 on US screens. Reviews were somewhat mixed.^[47] For her performance, Juliette Binoche received her fourth César nomination.

In 1993, she appeared in Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colors: Blue to much critical acclaim.^[48] The first film in a trilogy inspired by the ideals of the French republic and the colors of its flag, Three Colors: Blue is the story of a young woman who loses her composer husband and daughter in a car accident. Though devastated she learns to cope by rejecting her previous life in favour of conscious "nothing"; rejecting all people, belongings and emotions.^[49] Three Colors: Blue premiered at the 1993 Venice Film Festival, landing Binoche the Best Actress Prize. She also won a César, and a nomination for the Golden Globe. Binoche has said her inspirations for the role were her friend and coach Vernice Klier who suffered a similar tragedy, and the book The Black Veil by Anny Duperey which deals with the author's grief at losing her parents at a young age.^[50] Binoche made cameo appearances in the other two films in Kieślowski's trilogy, Three Colors: White and Three Colors: Red. Around this time, Steven Spielberg offered her roles in Jurassic Park and Schindler's List. She turned down both parts.^[51] After the success of Three Colors: Blue, Binoche took a short sabbatical during which she gave birth to her son Raphaël in September 1993.^[52]

In 1995, Binoche returned to the screen in a big-budget adaptation of Jean Giono's The Horseman on the Roof directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau. The film was particularly significant in France as it was the first French production to use digital special effects and was at the time the most expensive film in the history of French cinema.^[53] The film was a box-office success around the world and Binoche was again nominated for a César for Best Actress. This role, as a romantic heroine, was to color the direction of many of her subsequent roles in the late 1990s.^[54] In 1996, Binoche appeared in her first comedic role since My Brother-in-Law Killed My Sister a decade before; A Couch in New York was directed by Chantal Akerman and co-starred William Hurt. This screw-ball comedy tells the story of a New York psychiatrist who swaps homes with a Parisian dancer.^[55] The film was a critical and commercial failure.^[56] Three Colors: Blue, The Horseman on the Roof and A Couch in New York all gave Binoche the opportunity to work with prestigious directors she had turned down during the prolonged shoot of Les Amants du Pont-Neuf.^[14] Her next role would significantly reinforce her position as a bona fide international movie star, The English Patient, based on the prize winning novel by Michael Ondaatje and directed by Anthony Minghella, was a worldwide hit.^[57] Produced by Saul Zaentz, producer of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the film reunited Juliette Binoche with Ralph Fiennes, Heathcliff to her Cathy four years previously. Binoche has said that the shoot on location in Tuscany and at the famed Cinecittà in Rome was among the happiest professional experiences of her career.^[5] The film, which tells the story of a badly burned, mysterious man found in the wreckage of a plane during World War II, won nine Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Juliette Binoche.^[58] With this film, she became the second French actress to win an Oscar, following Simone Signoret's win for Room at the Top in 1960. After this international hit, Binoche returned to France and began work opposite Daniel Auteuil on Claude Berri's Lucie Aubrac, the true story of a French Resistance heroine. Binoche was released from the film six weeks into the shoot due to differences with Berri regarding the authenticity of his script.^[59] Binoche has described this event as being like "an earthquake" to her.^[5]

Binoche at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

Next Juliette Binoche was reunited with director André Téchiné for Alice et Martin (1998), the story of a relationship between an emotionally damaged Parisian musician and her younger lover who hides a dark family secret. The film failed to find an audience in France, although it was critically acclaimed in the UK.^[60] In February 1998 Binoche made her London stage debut in a new version of Luigi Pirandello's Clothe the Naked retitled Naked and adapted by Nicolas Wright. The production, directed by Jonathan Kent, was very favorably received.^[61][62] Following this acclaimed performance, she returned to French screens with Children of the Century (1999), a big budget romantic epic, in which she played 19th-century French proto-feminist author George Sand. The film depicted Sand's affair with the poet and dandy Alfred de Musset played by Benoit Magimel. This lavish costume drama was filmed on location in Paris and Venice and featured couture costumes by the renowned fashion designer Christian Lacroix.^[63] The following year saw Binoche in four contrasting roles, each of which enhanced her reputation. La Veuve de Saint-Pierre (2000) by Patrice Leconte, for which she was nominated for a César for Best Actress, was a period drama which saw Binoche appear opposite Daniel Auteuil in the role of a woman who attempts to save a condemned man from the guillotine.^[64] The film won favourable reviews, particularly in the U.S.^[65] where it was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. The film won the Audience Award at the 2000 Toronto Film Festival^[66] Next she appeared in Michael Haneke's Code Unknown, a film which was made following Binoche's approach to the Austrian director.^[67] The film premiered in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.^[68] This critically acclaimed role was a welcome change from playing the romantic heroine in a series of costume dramas.^[69] Later that year, Binoche made her Broadway debut in an adaptation of Harold Pinter's Betrayal for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. Staged by the Roundabout Theatre Company and directed by David Leveaux, the production also featured Liev Schreiber and John Slattery.^[70] Back on screen, Binoche was the heroine of the Lasse Hallström film Chocolat from the best selling novel by Joanne Harris. For her role Binoche won a European Film Audience Award for Best Actress and was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA.^[71] Chocolat is the story of a mysterious stranger who opens a chocolaterie in a conservative French village in 1959. The film was a worldwide hit.^[72]

Between 1995 and 2000, Binoche was the advertising face of the Lancôme perfume Poème, her image adorning print campaigns photographed by Richard Avedon^[73] and a television advertising campaign,^[74] including an advert directed by Anthony Minghella and scored by Gabriel Yared.^[75]

By the end of this period and following roles in a number of prestige productions, critics were wondering if Binoche was typecast as the tragic, despairing muse. In a feature article entitled "The Erotic Face" in the June 2000 edition of British film criticism magazine Sight and Sound, Ginette Vincendeau pondered Binoche's persona; Vincendeau suggested that the fixation of numerous directors upon her face had led to an erasure of her body, and to her being perceived only as a romantic icon rather than a versatile actress.^[28]

2001–2006[link]

Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno at Cannes, 2002

Following the success of Chocolat, the early 2000s saw Juliette Binoche internationally recognized as an A-list movie star.^[28] However, her persona seemed to be somewhat fixed following a series of period roles where she played the always stoic heroine facing tragedy and desolation.^[28] Ever keen to try something new, Binoche returned to French cinema in 2002 in an unlikely role; Jet Lag opposite Jean Reno saw Binoche play a ditzy beautician.^[76] The film, directed by Daniele Thompson, was a box-office hit in France and saw Binoche once again nominated for a César for Best Actress.^[77] The film tells the story of a couple who meet at an airport during a strike. Initially the pair despises each other, but, over the course of one night, they find common ground and maybe even love. This playful spirit continued when Binoche featured in a 2003 Italian television commercial for the chocolates Ferrero Rocher. The advertisement played upon her Chocolat persona featuring Binoche handing out the chocolates to people on the streets of Paris.^[78]

In a more serious vein, Binoche travelled to South Africa to make John Boorman's In My Country (2004) opposite Samuel L. Jackson. Based on the book Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog, the film examines The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings following the abolition of Apartheid in the mid 1990s.^[79] Although the film premiered at the 2004 Berlin Film Festival, it received much criticism for the inclusion of a fictional romantic liaison and for its depiction of black South Africans.^[80] Despite the negative reception, Binoche was extremely enthusiastic about the film and her connection with Boorman.^[81][82] Her sister, Marion Stalens, also travelled to South Africa to shoot a documentary, La reconciliation?, which explores the TRC process and follows Binoche's progress as she acts in Boorman's film.^[13] Next, Binoche re-teamed with Michael Haneke for Caché. The film was an immediate success, winning best director for Haneke at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival,^[83] while Binoche was nominated for a European Film Award for Best Actress for her role.^[84] The film tells the story of a bourgeois Parisian couple, played by Binoche and Daniel Auteuil, who begin to receive anonymous videotapes containing footage shot over long periods, surveying the outside of their home. Caché went on to feature in the number one position on the "Top 10 of the 2000s" list published by The Times at the end of the decade.^[85] Binoche's next film, Bee Season, based on the celebrated novel by Myla Goldberg, cast her opposite Richard Gere. The film was not a success at the box office taking less than $5 million worldwide.^[86] For many critics the film, although intelligent, was "distant and diffuse".^[87] Bee Season depicts the emotional disintegration of a family just as their daughter begins to win national spelling bees. Mary (2005) featured Binoche in a somewhat unlikely collaboration with the controversial American director Abel Ferrara for an investigation of modern faith and Mary Magdalene's position within the Catholic Church.^[88] Featuring Forest Whittaker, Matthew Modine and Marion Cotillard, Mary was an immediate success, winning the Grand Prix at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. Despite these accolades and favorable reviews, particularly from the influential cultural magazine Les Inrockuptibles,^[89] Mary failed to secure a distributor in key markets such as the U.S. and the U.K.^[90]

The Cannes Film Festival in 2006 saw Binoche feature in the anthology film Paris, je t'aime appearing in a section directed by the Japanese director Nobuhiro Suwa. Suwa's Place des Victoires is the story of a grief stricken mother who manages to have a final brief moment with her dead son. The segment also features Willem Dafoe and Hippolyte Girardot. Paris, je t'aime was a popular success, taking over $17 million, at the world box-office.^[91] In September 2006, Binoche appeared at the Venice Film Festival to launch A Few Days in September, written and directed by Santiago Amigorena. Despite an impressive cast including John Turturro, Nick Nolte and up-coming French star Sara Forestier, the film was a failure. A Few Days in September is a thriller set between 5 and 11 September 2001, in which Binoche plays a French secret service agent, who may, or may not, have information relating to impending attacks on the U.S.^[92] The film was the recipient of harsh criticism from the press for its perceived trivialization of the events of 11 September 2001.^[93] While promoting the film in the U.K., Binoche told an interviewer she believed the CIA and other government agencies must have had foreknowledge of the 11 September attacks, as depicted in the film.^[94] Next Binoche traveled to the 2006 Toronto Film Festival for the premiere of Breaking and Entering, her second film with Anthony Minghella in the director's chair, based on his first original screenplay since his break-through film Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991). In Breaking and Entering, Binoche played a Bosnian refugee living in London, while Jude Law co-starred as a well-to-do businessman drawn into her life via an act of deception. In preparation for her role, Binoche travelled to Sarajevo where she met women who had survived the war of the 1990s.^[95] Lushly photographed by Benoît Delhomme, Breaking and Entering portrays intersecting lives amongst the flux of urban renewal in inner-city London.^[96] Despite the fact that Binoche was praised for her performance, the film did not ring true for critics and failed to find an audience.^[97] In a review in Variety, Todd McCarthy writes that, "Binoche, physically unchanged as ever, plays Amira's controlled anguish with skill".^[98] Breaking and Entering also featured Robin Wright, Vera Farmiga, Juliet Stevenson, Rafi Gavron and Martin Freeman.