aNewDomain — Here at the Cannes Film Festival 2015, there is no longer a lounge for critics and journalists to hang out and drink free beer. That’s sad. Back in the pre-austerity days of Cannes, I used to hang out there to pick up on what other Cannes goers were talking about. These days I have to be more clever about things. Luckily, I have a good ear.
Scroll below the fold for Cole Smithey’s video news report from Cannes.
One thing they were really talking about here at Cannes on day three was Alice Winocour’s Un Certain Regard film “Maryland.” It’s about a French ex-Special Forces soldier with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who gets a bodyguard job protecting a wealthy Lebanese businessman. That film seems to be on everyone’s lips here.
It doesn’t hurt that the film stars the versatile Matthias Schoenaerts and secret-weapon actress Diane Kruger.
And then there’s “Amy,” the documentary about Amy Winehouse we saw. It fits the mood here. Every other girl on the croisette favors the Amy Winehouse eye make-up style of heavy black eyeliner turned up at the outer edges. From the looks of it, director Asif Kapadia has a surefire hit with “Amy,” a controversial documentary for which he and his team interviewed around 100 of Amy Winehouse’s friends, associates, and family members.
Movie technology, too, has a presence on the beach with Auro 3D Audio, a much-talked-about new technology.
Auro CEO Wilfried Van Baelen was on hand on Cannes day three to give private demos of the sound technology he masterminded. Aura 3D tech was used on the latest “Spider-Man 2” movie, and it truly does deliver on its “immersive sound promise.”
A word of advice: If you’re in Cannes right now, don’t get the loquacious Wilfried going on about how his technology is not related to any “channel or object-based technology.” If you do, you might miss the screening of Natalie Portman’s directorial debut “A Tale of Love and Darkness.” You definitely don’t want to miss that.
But if you do, it’s okay. Because Portman is pretty hard to miss on the red carpet.
Check out my news report below.
Video: Cole Smithey for aNewDomain, reporting from Cannes Film Festival 2015. A Smart Media Production.
This is Cole Smithey reporting for aNewDomain from the Cannes Film Festival. Stay tuned.
