Festivals – Page 2 – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

CANNES 2026 Film Festival Jury – Diane Carson reports

May 27, 2026June 1, 2026 Diane Carson 2026 Cannes International Film Festival Jury, Cannes 2026, chloe zhao, demi moore, Didier Allouch, Diego Céspedes, Isaach de Bankolé, Laura Wandel, Park Chan Wook, PAUL LAVERTY, Ruth Negga, Stellan Skarsgård

Asked by moderator Didier Allouch their reactions upon receiving the call inviting them to serve on this year’s jury, to a person each of the jurors expressed their delight at the honor. U.K. writer Paul Laverty said he immediately wondered if it was a hoax, his three sons “up to some mischief.” Director/writer Chloé Zhao described the upcoming days as a master class with those whose work she admired. Ethiopian/Irish actress Ruth Negga said, “My heart skipped a beat. This feels like poetry . . . the honor and privilege of a lifetime with such extraordinary artists.” American actress Demi Moore reiterated feeling “tremendously honored.” With amusement, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård’s commented, “Finally. I’m so relieved I didn’t die first.” Concluding this round, Park Chan-wook humbly wondered if he was up to the task.

Festivals

Women Winners @ Cannes 2026 – Diane Carson reports

May 27, 2026May 31, 2026 Diane Carson Camera d’Or, geena davis, Marié-Clémentine Dusabejambo, Monia Chokri, Tao Okamoto, Un Certain Regard, Valeska Grisebach, Virginie Efira

The 79th Cannes Film Festival award ceremony held May 23, 2026, began on a high note with presenter Geena Davis noting that women have truly made advances in the filmmaking world. Smiling, she pointed to the 2026 official poster, a tribute to Thelma and Louise which premiered May 1991 at Cannes. There self-assuredly sit Geena Davis/Thelma and Susan Surandon/Louise atop the front seats of their iconic 1966 Ford thunderbird convertible, the car in which they escaped, at least for a while, patriarchal power. Honoring the film’s thirty-five year anniversary, the poster celebrates the pair’s enduring friendship, their challenge to male dictates, and assertion of their power. protagonist.

Festivals Reviews

BEN’IMANA (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson

May 23, 2026May 23, 2026 Diane Carson Ben'Imana, Cannes 2026, Clémentine U. Nyirinkindi, Hutus, Kesia Kelly Nishimwe, Marié-Clémentine Dusabejambo, reconciliation, Rwandan films, Tutsis, Un Certain Regard

In Ben’Imana, Rwandan writer/director Marié-Clémentine Dusabejambo integrates the personal with the political to gain specificity for a collective trauma. The title Ben’Imana means “the children of God,” signifying that the Hutus and Tutsis shared their language and culture, a paired community until the tragic 1994 Tutsi genocide at the hands of the Hutu militia massacre. Now, in 2012, reconciliation proceeds through public trials. With hopes that forgiveness will help heal the legacy of the massacre of up to a million people,

Festivals Reviews

GARANCE (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson

May 21, 2026May 21, 2026 Diane Carson Adèle Exarchopoulos, alcoholism, Another Day, Cannes 2026, french films, Garance, Jeanne Herry, palme d'or, Sara Giraudeau

As Garance proves many times over, the life of an alcoholic is a disaster for her family, her friends, and her own life. Knowing the statistics on this disease, there is no question that everyone knows or is part of that unfortunate group. As a case in point, French writer/director Jeanne Herry’s Garance/Another Day presents a prime example of a temporarily, moderately functioning alcoholic.

Festivals Reviews

I’LL BE GONE IN JUNE (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson

May 21, 2026May 23, 2026 Diane Carson Cannes 2026, Giulia Schelhas, I'll Be Gone in June, Katharina Rivilis, Las Cruces, Naomi Cosma, Un Certain Regard

I’ll Be Gone in June sympathetically occupies the emotional and physical world of sixteen-year-old German exchange student Franny (Naomi Cosma) and her newly acquired friends, all high school students in 2001 Las Cruces, New Mexico. Accepted with curiosity by the local teenagers, Franny settles into a predictable, fairly typical year for a young woman maturing and exploring options. Through her intimate and public interactions, Franny’s days unfold with a myriad of encounters through which she’ll develop a more mature awareness of herself and the new cultural environment into which she’s been thrust.

Festivals Reviews

STRAWBERRIES (Cannes 2026) – Diane Carson reviews

May 21, 2026May 21, 2026 Diane Carson Cannes 2026, La Más Dulce, Laïla Marrakchi, Nisrin Erradi, Strawberries, Un Certain Regard

In its astute, straight-forward story, French-Moroccan director Laïla Marrakchi’s Strawberries/La Más Dulce does not break new ground on the personal and political victimization of migrant workers trapped in inequitable situations. But what Marrakchi does eloquently and compellingly achieve is immersing viewers in that world through a women’s community brought to life in a no-nonsense depiction of the multifaceted exploitation found there. Anchored in central protagonist Hasna Monjib (Nisrin Erradi), slowly and meticulously daily demands and unprincipled actions of those in power escalate into unbearable treatment.

Festivals Reviews

THE DREAMED ADVENTURE (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson

May 21, 2026May 24, 2026 Diane Carson Cannes 2026, Das Geträumte Abenteur, palme d'or, Prix du Jury, Syuleyman Alilov Letifov, The Dreamed Adventure, Valeska Grisebach, Yana Radeva

An exploration of a hopelessly intertwined rural community, writer/director Valeska Grisebach’s The Dreamed Adventure/Das Geträumte Abenteur explains little, yet reveals volumes. In early scenes, Saïd drives to the Bulgarian town Svilengrad to pursue a business venture, securing diesel from a dodgy local. After his 1990s car is stolen, Saïd accidentally and fortuitously encounters his old friend Veska. She manages an archeological site in Matochina, but what will more disconcertingly be excavated over the film’s almost three hours is the sordid history and current legacy of the area. Digging up the past takes care and patience, which Veska possesses in abundance.

Festivals Reviews

THE ELECTRIC KISS (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson

May 21, 2026May 21, 2026 Diane Carson Anaïs Demoustier, Cannes 2026, Electric Kiss, Pierre Salvadori, Pio Marmaï, Vimala Pons

Writer/director Pierre Salvadori served up an entertaining, sweet bon-bon for the opening night of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. With humor, romance, and a few ideas on its mind, the film is appropriately set in a 1920s Parisian circus world where Suzanne, billed as Venus Electrificata, lures men on stage to receive a high-voltage kiss. Off stage and behind the scenes, an assistant provides the requisite shocks that seal the gullible volunteer’s lips to hers. Such fakery infuses the plot with other sleight of hand games and, more seriously for the subjects, seance sessions with a medium. That leads to the central, potentially pathetic drama, for Antoine suffers grievously from the loss of his beloved wife.

Festivals Reviews

THE END OF IT (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson

May 21, 2026May 22, 2026 Diane Carson Beanie Feldstein, Cannes 2026, catalan films, gael garcia bernal, Maria Martínez Bayona, noomi rapace, Paloma Peñarrubia, rebecca hall, The End of It

The End of It confronts immortality. Claire Fort has a serious problem. On the occasion of her 250th birthday, she is fed up with immortality, even though she holds one of the select designated spots in that distinguished category of those who will not die. But now, clearly despondent, Claire (Rebecca Hall) reluctantly greets her boring friends, so predictably repetitive that she knows they will inevitably throw her into the swimming pool to celebrate, yet again, another year. With this daring premise, writer/director Maria Martínez Bayona tackles a controversial contemporary issue: the desire for and scientific strategies to extend life.

Festivals Reviews

THE MELTDOWN (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson

May 21, 2026May 23, 2026 Diane Carson Cannes 2026, Chilean politics, El Deshielo), Maia Rae Domagala, Manuela Martelli, Maya O'Rourke, The Meltdown, Un Certain Regard

Writer/director Manuela Martelli’s Meltdown/El Deshielo is set in an isolated Andean ski resort hotel in 1992. Despite its focused, personal story seen through the eyes of nine-year-old Inés (Maya O’Rourke), parallels to Chilean political tragedies are transparent. The more one knows about Chile’s turbulent 1990s period, the better one grasps the multifaceted complexity of ideas. Nevertheless, on its own, The Meltdown offers an engaging story of needy Inés and the impact when her German friend, fifteen-year-old skiing superstar Hanna (Maia Rae Domagala), suddenly disappears.