PARIS CINEMA FESTIVAL 2011 ““ ROUND UP1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe ninth annual Paris Cinema Festival took place July 2-13, hosting a packed line-up of over 40 film premieres and opening with actress-turned-filmmaker Maïwenn’s Cannes Jury Prize-winning CPU drama Polisse, and closing with the world premiere of The Monk, in the presence of director Dominik Moll and stars Vincent Cassel and newcomer Joséphine Japy.
Autobiographical tale Declaration of War, about a young couple grappling with their baby’s brain tumor, won three awards including the top jury prize, the bloggers and web award and the audience kudos.
Two other debut features were recognised ““ Leila Kilani’s On the Plank following four women’s bid to get out of working in a shrimp factory was given a special mention and Argentinian born Paula Markovitch’s The Prize, about a seven-year-old in hiding with her mother, won the students’ nod.
This year’s festival focused on Mexican cinema, with retrospectives for actors Gael GarcÃa Bernal, Franco-Brit Michael Lonsdale and Isabella Rossellini, and tributes to directors including animation guru Michel Ocelot, Clint Eastwood’s right hand man Don Siegel and the great Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski.
Their annual “˜Nuit du cinéma’ (night of cinema) presented a marathon of films on July 2 which set the tone of the festival: rare films from 1950s Mexico, Japanese erotica, 1970s Filipino jungle action and a series of female vampire films from 1960s Pakistan ran alongside The Living Corpse and Jennifer’s Body.
