Festivals

No matter the angle, the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto is an architectural star, gorgeous on the outside but also on the inside. In September, during the Toronto International Film Festival, this exquisite space hosts film premieres, galas, screenings, meetings, and conferences.

The 76th Cannes Film Festival marked a major breakthrough for films by Asian filmmakers. In the Competition, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Monster and Wang Bing's Youth (Spring) were screened, while the Best Director award went to Tran Anh Hung for The Pot au Feu.

At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Monster, a recent film by the Cannes regular director, received the Best Screenplay award for its script by Yuji Sakamoto. German director Wim Wenders' Perfect Days, funded by the Japanese fast fashion brand Uniqlo, won the Best Actor award for Koji Yakusho, who portrayed a janitor in a public restroom in Tokyo who loves a quiet life.

Wes Anderson’s latest offering is set in the 50s in a fictional desert town named Asteroid City, the site of a US government observatory. It’s also the venue for the annual Junior Stargazer convention, where teen inventors are celebrated, although, in this particular year, an unexpected otherworldly event disrupts the proceedings.

German filmmaker Wim Wenders has a rich history with the Cannes Film Festival. In 1982 he made a short documentary, Room 666, in which he asked festival attendees Jean-Luc Godard, Steven Spielberg and other notable directors about the future of cinema.

Former Oscar nominee (The Man Who Sold His Skin) and Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania was one of the winners of  the L’Oeil d’Or award for best documentary during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Her movie Four Daughters, that was also in competition for the Palme d’Or, made significant waves during the festival.

Jane Fonda was one of the special guests at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Not only did the iconic actress and producer deliver the Palme d’Or during the closing ceremony, she also participated in an one hour and a half Q&A with avid festival-goers eager to learn more from this Hollywood living legend.

Denmark’s Norwegian Offspring by Marlene Emilie Lyngstad, from Den Danske Filmskole, was chosen as the winner of the 26th edition of La Cinef Selection in Cannes. “It was very surprising,” said director Marlene Emilie Lyngstad.

The 2023 iteration of the Cannes Film Festival truly had something for everyone. Superb new efforts from international auteurs existed alongside big-budget spectacle and premieres with huge movie stars.

The 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival ended on Saturday, May 27, 2023, with the awarding of the coveted Palme d'Or to Anatomy of the Fall, directed by Justine Triet. The Palme d’Or was presented by Jane Fonda.