Film Festival 2008 Round-Up

14-11-2008This Month 14th Nov 14:02

Awards season is looming after the excitement of the big blockbuster summer and, as per usual, it's the festival circuit that has uncovered a string of movie gems that are expected to play a big part in the fight for the gongs.

Although the Cannes Film Festival opened with a bang as the Kung Fu Panda train rolled into town and had the world premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull but there were a series of movies that stirred the audience and are expected to feature heavily come the Oscars.

Coming early in the line-up was Israeli animation Waltz with Bashir which depicts the massacre of the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. The film’s main character is director Ari Folman himself who realises that there are major parts of his life, his experience as an Israeli soldier during the Lebanon war of the eighties, missing from his memory and is one of the most talked about films of the year after it taking the festival by storm.

Angelina Jolie may have been part of the Kung Fu Panda spectacle at the beginning of proceedings it was Clint Eastwood's Changeling that everyone was waiting to see, a role that many expect her to at least get a Best Actress Oscar nomination, if not win the award itself.

Benicio Del Toro also kicked off the Best Actor competition with his portrayal of revolutionary Che Guevara in Steven Soderbergh's four hour epic Che, which will be released in two parts and has gone on to gather serious support as it played on numerous occasions on the festival circuit.

Steve McQueen's movie Hunger also caught the eye of the critics screening at Cannes to critical acclaim as did Gomorrah and Synecdoche New York.

But it was French picture The Class that scooped the prestigious Palme d'Or. François and his fellow teachers prepare for a new year at a high school in a tough neighbourhood. Armed with the best intentions, they brace themselves to not let discouragement stop them from trying to give the best education to their students.