Film4 has been in Cannes with a diverse slate of new films from an array of established and first-time directors. Among these is the Cannes competitor Ken Loach's Looking For Eric, starring Steve Evets and Eric Cantona, which will premiere on Monday, May 18th.  

WORTH YOUR TIME

Violence's Aftermath By Anita Kirpalani | NEWSWEEK

The Cannes Film Festival has long rewarded movies with a social conscience. But in terms of sheer gravitas this year, it will be hard to beat Anne Aghion's My Neighbor My Killer. The film, which comes on the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, is a companion to Aghion's Gacaca (pronounced "ga-cha-cha") series that tracks the reconciliation process in the remote village of Gafumba. Over nine years there, Aghion followed the progress of the Gacacas, local courts created in 2001 by the government for citizens to judge their neighbors who took part in the massacre.

My Neighbor My Killer tells the personal stories of the victims and perpetrators in a quiet, intimate manner. There are no corpses, no violence-just the words of the survivors, giving testimony on the past madness and the difficult future. In one poignant scene, two Hutu women - whose Tutsi husbands and children were killed - talk about themselves as if they were already dead. Even as the world's focus shifted northward to Darfur, Aghion kept her camera patiently trained on Rwanda - and the result is a much-needed examination of the challenging yet necessary process of justice and reconciliation in the aftermath of genocide. 

Directed by EMMY, BAFTA and Berlin Bear award-winner John Hay, The Long March is an epic portrayal of how, in October 1934, the beleaguered remnants of the Chinese Red Army broke out of their besieged base in southern China and embarked on a legendary year-long trek that today is known as The Long March. The film will begin shooting in China in the autumn. International Sales are by Easternlight (the Asian Division of Arclight) Films.

Lost Persons Area

A film by Caroline Strubbe

Synopsis

Bettina and Marcus, a passionate couple, live in a canteen in the middle of a vast field with endless lines of pylons. Marcus, trying to set up his own business, works as a foreman in the maintenance of these powerlines. Bettina, bored and longing for a better life, runs the canteen for the workingmen. Their nine-year-old daughter Tessa, wanders the industrial area, looking for bits and pieces to occupy her mind, skipping school whenever she can. When Marcus hires a Hungarian engineer Szabolcs to become part of his company, their unconventional way of living takes a new turn. A tragic accident although will shatter everyone’s pursuit of happiness.

Lost Persons Area is a story about people lost in the meanders of life.

With Lisbeth Gruwez, Sam Louwyck, Kimke Desart, Zoltan Miklos Hajdu, Rik Van Uffelen, Frans De Jong, Ine Pieters, Vincenzo Cardia

Belgium /The Netherlands /Hungary 2009 109 min. colour

Studio Beyond launched in Cannes as a ground-breaking and revolutionary new way of making movies. Conceived as a global universe for movie-making, Studio Beyond brings together in one place all the resources necessary for film making -- from scripts to movie scores, actors to directors, composers to writers,  producers to distributors  - and has partnered with Hollywood-based Movie Portfolio Fund (MPF) to co-finance commercially viable projects.