Retrospective 2018- A Year in Film

May

Come What May

Image source: 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, Curzon & StudioCanal

The UK’s May release schedule was defined by the varying fortunes of two very different blockbusters, with ‘Deadpool 2‘ delivering a sequel which lived up the original on every front, while ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ dealt Lucasfilm and the Disney era ‘Star Wars’ franchise its first blow, receiving a lukewarm reception from critics and fans alike and struggling to even cover its production budget. The month’s more subtle fare brought us British productions in the shape of period drama ‘On Chesil Beach‘ and poignant coming-of-age road movie ‘Lean on Pete‘, as well as Afghanistan-set animation ‘The Breadwinner’ and playful French Jean-Luc Godard biopic ‘Redoubtable’.

And the Award Goes To…

The Riviera Calls

As always May saw the global film festival circuit swing back into life with the glitz and the glamour of the world’s biggest and most prestigious event, as the great and the good of world cinema converged on the French riviera for the 71st Cannes Film Festival. As per tradition the world’s media got a first glimpse of a slew of much anticipated releases from all corners of the globe—like Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman‘ and Paweł Pawlikowski’s ‘Cold War‘—while Netflix were conspicuous in their absence, and a international jury of industry players (pictured below) awarded some prestigious prizes to a selection of in-competition films. You can check out our full festival recap here.

Image source: Getty Images

Once again the jury for the main competition—which awarded the Palme d’Or among other prizes—was comprised of an eclectic international selection of filmmakers, presided over by Australian modern acting great Cate Blanchett and included Taiwanese actor Chang Chen, American director Ava DuVernay, French director Robert Guédiguian, Burundian singer Khadja Nin, French actress Léa Seydoux, American actress Kristen Stewart, Canadian director Denis Villeneuve and Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev.

Competition 2018

Palme d’Or

‘Shoplifters’ (Manbiki Kazoku) by Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan)

Grand Prix

‘BlacKkKlansman’ by Spike Lee (USA)

Best Director

Paweł Pawlikowski for ‘Cold War’ (Zimna Wojna) (Poland)

Best Screenplay

A tie between ‘Happy as Lazzaro’ by Alice Rohrwacher (Italy) and ‘3 Faces’ by Jafar Panahi (Iran)

Best Actress

Samal Yeslyamova for ‘Ayka’ (Kazakhstan)

Best Actor

Marcello Fonte for ‘Dogman’ (Italy)

Jury Prize

‘Capernaum’ (Cafarnaúm) by Nadine Labaki (Lebanon)

Those We Lost

Image Source: Warner, CBS, Universal & Australia Network

May signalled the passing of iconic actress Margot Kidder (69) (Superman, The Amityville Horror) as well as prolific American film and TV veteran Joseph Campanella (93) (Mannix, Hangar 18) and Golden age era star Patricia Morison (103) (Calling Dr. Death, The Prince of Thieves), plus classic era Hollywood actor Clint Walker (90) (Cheyenne, The Dirty Dozen) and Aussie actress Cornelia Frances (77) (Home and Away, Ned).

June next page>

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