Russian presence thin at Cannes Film Festival

The line-up for the Cannes Film Festival was unveiled today with no Russian films in any of the main competitions despite the strong global focus at this year’s event. Thierry Fremaux, artistic director of the festival, said that 1,858 films were submitted and the programme would be “full of discovery, surprises and stars”.

In his opening speech, festival president Gilles Jacob reflected on the history of the festival, which he said had provided a platform for foreign directors such as Andrei Tarkovsky. The late Favre Le Bret, the founder and longtime president of the festival, always considered the screening of Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev in Cannes in 1969 one of his greatest triumphs. At the time, the film’s export had been banned by the Soviet authorities for three years.

Despite the absence of Russian films in the main categories, up-and-coming Russian filmmakers continue to make a name for themselves at the world’s most prestigious gathering of industry experts. Evgeny Byalo will present his short The Norm of LIfe as part of the Cinéfondation programme, dedicated to supporting the next generation of international filmmakers. The 23-minute short follows a young man as he tries to understand the circumstances surrounding his father’s death.

Taisa Igumentseva, whose film The Road To won Cinéfondation’s first prize last year, will have her first feature film shown in a special screening out of competition. Bite the Dust is about a group of Russian villagers who faced with the prospect of death by meteor make decisions that they may later regret.

Sergei Loznitza’s In The Fog, based on Vasily Bykov’s book, was in the main competition at last year’s festival taking the FIPRESCI Critics Prize. Films in the main competition this year include Roman Polanski’s adaptation of the play Venus in Fur, Steven Soderbergh’s HBO movie Behind the Candelabra and Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis.

Cannes runs from 13 to 25 May.