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Runners revealed for 2013 Cannes Festival

The runners vying for the prestigious Palme d'Or award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival were announced after much speculation and anticipation on Thursday. Film French films have been included in the line up for the prize.

Runners revealed for 2013 Cannes Festival
Austrian director Michael Haneke (centre) poses for photographers after picking up the Palme d'Or for his film Amour in 2012. Photo: Antonin Thuillier/ AFP

Movies by US director Steven Soderbergh, Nicolas Winding Refn of Denmark and Italy's Paolo Sorrentino are among the films vying for the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, organisers said on Thursday.

The announcement is the starting gun for the prestigious French Riviera movie fest that will be held next month.

Soderbergh's eagerly-awaited "Behind the Candelabra," with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, recounts the life of flamboyant pianist-entertainer Liberace, who masked his homosexuality from public view.

Another much-anticipated film is Refn's "Only God Forgives," starring Ryan Gosling in a gangland thriller set in Bangkok, while Sorrentino's "The Great Beauty" is about an ageing writer who recounts the twists and turns of his life.

Also making the cut is "Inside Llewyn Davis" by the Coen Brothers, starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake in a tale about a singer-songwriter in the 1960s folk scene in New York.

Around 1,700 films were submitted for the 11-day event but only 50 or so will be given an official berth.

Cannes is famed for its top-grade celebrities, glitzy parties and luxury yachts, its launch of filmmakers such as Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino and the spotlight it turns on obscure directors and quirky or provocative movies.

It's a "temple that's really important to protect the more adventurous filmmaking that's going on around the world", Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle told AFP in Paris earlier this week.

It is also a huge market place where producers come to cut deals with distributors hungry for a slice of the next big movie event.

Twelve years after Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge!" opened the 2001 festival, the Australian's latest film, "The Great Gatsby," will do the opening honours
on May 15 with Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan in a remake of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

Jerome Salle's film "Zulu", starring Oscar winner Forest Whitaker and Orlando Bloom, will bring proceedings to a close on May 26.

"Gatsby" will be screened out of competition on the same day as it is released in France.

Set on the US East Coast of the Roaring Twenties, DiCaprio stars as Fitzgerald's mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, battling to win the heart of Daisy, a girl he courted in his youth, played by Mulligan.

"Zulu", meanwhile, is set in Cape Town against the background of a South Africa still overshadowed by apartheid, where affluent suburbs rub shoulders with dirt-poor townships.
 

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FILM

French films with English subtitles to watch in November

As days get shorter and temperatures drop, November is a great month to enjoy a warm and comforting moment at the cinema. Here’s a round up of the French movies with English subtitles to see in Paris this month.

Cinema in France
Photo: Loic Venance/AFP

The cinema group Lost in Frenchlation runs regular screenings of French films in the capital, with English subtitles to help non-native speakers follow the action. The club kicks off every screening with drinks at the cinema’s bar one hour before the movie, so it’s also a fun way to meet people if you’re new to Paris.

These are the events they have coming up in November.

Friday, November 5th

Boîte Noire – What happened on board the Dubai-Paris flight before it crashed in the Alps? In this thriller Matthieu, a young and talented black box analyst played by Pierre Niney (star of Yves Saint-Laurent among other movies) is determined to solve the reason behind this deadly crash, no matter the costs. 

The screening will take place at the Club de l’étoile cinema at 8pm. But you can arrive early for drinks at the bar from 7pm. 

Tickets are €10 full price, €8 for students and all other concessions, and can be reserved here.

Sunday, November 14th

Tralala – In the mood for music? This new delightful French musical brings you into the life of Tralala (played by Mathieu Amalric), a 48 years old, homeless and worn-out street singer, who one day gets mistaken for someone else. Tralala sees an opportunity to get a better life by taking on a new personality. He now has a brother, nephews, ex-girlfriends, and maybe even a daughter. But where is the lie? Where is the truth? And who is he, deep down?

The night will start with drinks from 6pm followed by the screening at 7pm at the Luminor Hôtel de Ville cinema. There is also a two-hour cinema-themed walk where you’ll be taken on a “musicals movie tour” in the heart of Paris, which begins at 4pm.

Tickets cost €10, or €8 for students and concessions, and can be found here. Tickets for the walking tour cost €20 and must be reserved online here.

Thursday, November 18th

Illusions Perdues – Based on the great novel series by Honoré de Balzac between 1837 and 1843, this historical drama captures the writer Lucien’s life and dilemmas who dreams about a great career of writing and moves to the city to get a job at a newspaper. As a young poet entering the field of journalism, he is constantly challenged by his desire to write dramatic and eye-catching stories for the press. But are they all true?

The evening will kick off with drinks at L’Entrepôt cinema bar at 7pm, followed by the movie screening at 8pm. Tickets are available online here, and cost €8.50 full price; €7 for students and all other concessions.

Sunday, November 21st

Eiffel – Having just finished working on the Statue of Liberty, Gustave Eiffel (played by Romain Duris) is tasked with creating a spectacular monument for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris. It’s ultimately his love story with Adrienne Bourgès (Emma Mackey) that will inspire him to come up with the idea for the Eiffel Tower.

After a first screening last month, Lost in Frenchlation is organising a new one at the Luminor Hôtel de Ville cinema, with pre-screening drinks at the cinema bar. 

Tickets cost €10, or €8 for students and concessions, and can be found here

Thursday, November 25th

Les Héroïques – Michel is a former junkie and overgrown child who only dreams of motorbikes and of hanging out with his 17-year-old son Léo and his friends. But at 50 years old, he now has to handle the baby he just had with his ex, and try not to make the same mistakes he has done in the past. 

The film will be followed by a Q&A with the director Maxime Roy who will discuss his very first feature. 

Tickets cost €10, or €8 for students and concessions, and can be found here.

Full details of Lost in Frenchlation’s events can be found on their website or Facebook page. In France, a health pass is required in order to go to the cinema.

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