Retrospective 2016 – A Year in Film

May

A May for All Seasons

Image sources: 20th Century Fox, Pathé, Sony Pictures & StudioCanal

The final spring month proved to be another varied one for UK cinema releases with no single dominating film; the blockbuster of the month and latest in the “X-Men” franchise ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ was flanked by biographical dramas ‘I Saw the Light’ and ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’, as well as violent horror/thriller ‘Green Room’ and wall street corruption drama ‘Money Monster’. We were also treated quirky comedies in the form of Richard Linklater’s latest ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’ and Irish musical crowd-pleaser ‘Sing Street’, as well as Terrence Malick’s latest visual spectacle and existential head-scratcher ‘Knight of Cups’.

And the Award Goes To…

Vive la France !

As always May brought together the great and the good of global film as the industry’s movers & shakers converged on the French riviera, for the world’s premiere annual film festival in the form of the 69th Cannes Film Festival. Part fashion show and part film festival but all glamour and featuring films from all corners of the world, often being showcased many months before their general release, plus the prestigious closing award ceremony of course, you can see our full festival recap here.

Image source: Getty Images

The awarding jury this year was presided over by Australian ‘Mad Max’ director George Miller and comprised of; French director Arnaud Desplechin, American actress Kirsten Dunst,  Italian actress Valeria Golino, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, Hungarian director László Nemes, French actress Vanessa Paradis, Iranian producer Katayoon Shahabi and Canadian actor/film legend Donald Sutherland, here are their choices for this year’s big winners;

Competition 2016

Palme d’Or

‘I, Daniel Blake’  by Ken Loach (UK)

Grand Prix

‘It’s Only the End of the World’ by Xavier Dolan (Canada, France)

Best Director

Cristian Mungiu for ‘Graduation (Bacalaureat)’ (Romania) & Olivier Assayas for ‘Personal Shopper’ (France)

Best Screenplay

Asghar Farhadi for ‘The Salesman (Fourshande)’ (Iran)

Best Actress Ex-aequo

Jaclyn Jose for ‘Ma’ Rosa’ (Philippines)

Best Actor

Shahab Hosseini for ‘The Salesman (Fourshande)’  (Iran)

Jury Prize

‘American Honey’ by Andrea Arnold (USA & UK)

Those We Lost

Image source: MGM, Paramount & Warner Bros.

May signalled the passing of British actor Burt Kwouk (85) (Goldfinger, Kiss of the Dragon), best know for his turn as “Cato” in the ‘Pink Panther’ series. The industry also lost veteran tv & film actor William Schallert (93) (In the Heat of the Night, Star Trek) and French “Golden Age Hollywood” actress Madeleine Lebeau (92) (Casablanca, 8½).

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