2011 Cannes Film Festival-Some Conterversies (Videos)

The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 11–22.

It’s time for the Cannes Film Festival and, with everyone from Mel Gibson to French president Nicolas Sarkozy due to attend, this could well be the wildest, most controversial one to date. Here’s what we expect from this year’s cinematic soiree in the sun. Chief among Hollywood royalty in Cannes will be Brangelina – Brad Pitt doing his bit for Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life and Angelina Jolie promoting animated sequel Kung Fu Panda 2.

Johnny Depp, who makes a return to swashbuckling in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, will be there with Vanessa Paradis, as will co-star Penelope Cruz with Oscar-winning husband Javier Bardem.

Depending on when she gives birth to her first kid, Marion Cotillard, and actor boyfriend Guillaume Canet, should also attend to promote Midnight In Paris, Woody Allen’s latest film, which opens the festival.

Robert De Niro will be heading the Cannes jury. Helping De Niro decide who walks away with this year’s Palme d’Or is the usual combination of big stars (Jude Law, Uma Thurman) and people you’ve probably never heard of like Argentine actress Martina Gusmán and Norwegian writer Linn Ullmann.

For starters, there’s the return of the man who’s been tap-dancing on the self-destruct button, Mel Gibson. The actor/director, who Australians now like to refer to as ‘an American’, tries to rebuild his reputation with The Beaver, a comedy-drama about a depressed CEO of a toy company who uses a beaver hand-puppet to communicate. 

While it’ll be fascinating to see how the public react to the film (Cannes audiences have no problem booing at the screen), the real talking point is Gibson’s presence on the red carpet in what will be the first shot in a charm offensive to win back fans left disgusted by his phone manner. Also bound to make headlines is La Conquête (The Conquest), a scathing biopic about French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s rise to power in which he frets about his height and compares himself to a Ferrari. Sarkozy was expected to attend the Festival – especially since his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy makes her acting debut in Midnight In Paris – but whether he has the guts to walk down the red carpet to sniggers remains to be seen.

Other films sure to generate column inches are Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia – the sci-fi offering about a planet that might hit earth features Kirsten Dunst’s heavenly body without a stitch of clothing; Pedro Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In, a story about a vengeful plastic surgeon; and Snowtown, an Aussie film about the shocking “Bodies in the Barrels Murders” which took place between 1992 and 1999 in South Australia.

This year’s festival will also showcase the acting chops of Bono’s daughter Eve Hewson. The 19-year-old stars alongside Sean Penn and Frances McDormand in This Must Be The Place, about a former rock star who travels across America to confront a Nazi who persecuted his father.

All Movies to watch

1. BIR ZAMANLAR ANADOLU'DA (ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA) directed by Nuri Bilge CEYLAN
2. DRIVE directed by Nicolas WINDING REFN
3. HABEMUS PAPAM directed by Nanni MORETTI
4. HANEZU NO TSUKI (HANEZU) directed by Naomi KAWASE
5. HEARAT SHULAYIM (Footnote) directed by Joseph CEDAR
6. ICHIMEI (HARA-KIRI: DEATH OF A SAMURAI) directed by Takashi MIIKE
7. L'APOLLONIDE - SOUVENIRS DE LA MAISON CLOSE (HOUSE OF TOLERANCE) directed by Bertrand BONELLO
8. LA PIEL QUE HABITO (THE SKIN I LIVE IN) directed by Pedro ALMODÓVAR
9. LA SOURCE DES FEMMES (THE SOURCE) directed by Radu MIHAILEANU
10. LE GAMIN AU VÉLO (THE KID WITH A BIKE) directed by Jean-Pierre et Luc DARDENNE
11. LE HAVRE directed by Aki KAURISMÄKI
12. MELANCHOLIA directed by Lars VON TRIER
13. MICHAEL directed by Markus SCHLEINZER
14. PATER directed by Alain CAVALIER
15. POLISSE (POLISS) directed by MAÏWENN
16. SLEEPING BEAUTY directed by Julia LEIGH
17. THE ARTIST directed by Michel HAZANAVICIUS
18. THE TREE OF LIFE directed by Terrence MALICK
19. THIS MUST BE THE PLACE directed by Paolo SORRENTINO
20. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN directed by Lynne RAMSAY