Cannes: countdown to the Palme!

The members of the jury are locked up in a villa above the hills of Cannesc as we speak, deciding on the prizes to award.

I love the idea thaty only 8 people get to decide on the prizes, it leaves the competition more open than the Oscars where thousands of academy members vote.

And with such a distinguished jury, I am hoping for great things.

While the prizes in most of the 90's have generally been given to up and rising, young and bold directors (Sex, lies and videotapes by a 26y old Steven Soderbergh in 89, Wild at Heart to David Kynch in 1990, Pulp fiction in 94 etc...), most of the awards in the last few years have been given to a lacklustre and largely forgotten since bunch of movies.

Who remembers the 1990's winner, Rosetta, the year of All about my mother? How about that snoozefest by Theo Angelopoulos in 98, my last year in Cannes, The eternity and a day (which is about how long it seemed to last)

This year's contender are the Coen's brother latest outing, No country for old men, hailed as a return to form, and a Romanian movie, 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days, which was called a revelation. Paranoid Park by Gus Van Sant has its chances too.

There could be a few surprises as well, that Persepolis I have writtent about a few times, The mourning forest by the ever so charming Japanese director Naomi Kawase and a Korean film called Secret Sunshine.

I like that the competition is open this year, as much as I like Gus Van Sant & the Coen's brother, I am one to think that the award is best given to a newcomer but we shall see in 2 hours!!

(Shame no one in Britain is even remotely interested, as such the ceremony is not broadcasted on any channels here...)