22 Works from 15 Nations, What Would `Cannes` Choose?

∇Woody Allen’s Day = Center of the spotlight during the opening ceremony was director Woody Allen (66), who directed and starred in `Hollywood Ending`. The Cannes authority showed 44 works of his career, but he had never responded to the invitation for the past 30 years.

He was awarded `Palme de Palmes` on the day. The only other person who received the same award was Sweden’s Ingmar Bergman, director of `Autumn Sonata` and `Persona`. Allen said to the audience, “The two biggest myths about me are that I’m an intellectual, because I wear these glasses, and that I’m an artist because my films lose money,” drawing great laughter. He left his seat just before `Hollywood Ending` started showing, saying, “I don’t like watching my movies.”

∇12-day Film Festival = This year’s Cannes Film Festival is to show 88 movies from 35 nations in both competition and non-competition categories. In the competition category, 15 countries have participated with 22 movies. Director Yim Kwon-Taek’s `Chihwaseon` is one of them. England’s Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, Portugal’s Manoel de Oliveira, Poland’s Roman Polanski, Iran’s Abbas Kiarostami, and U.S.A.’s Paul Thomas Anderson are also competing each other. Feature films in this category have 4 French ones, and 3 English and American ones each. Many movies are to be exhibited in the non-competition categories as well, and the closing movie will be French director Claude Lelough’s `And Now… Ladies And Gentlemen`.

As it installed new digital film equipments, Cannes has enabled directors to choose between film and digital systems. Therefore, 100 Per Cent digital-made `Star Wars – Attack Of The Clones` will both be released in the U.S. and shown at Cannes on the 16th.

∇Korean Movies At Cannes = Apart from `Chihwaseon`, there are 5 other Korean movies to be shown at Cannes. Director Kang Byeong-Hwa’s `An Early Winter Lunch` and Park Seong-Jin’s `Honeymoon` were invited in the Cinefoundation category, which is for the world’s film school students.

∇Cannes Film Market = Along with the film festival, Cannes Film Market is also to open, in which international film distributors, importers, and investors participate. Almost 2,000 related enterprises participated this year. 5 domestic enterprises, such as Cinema Service, CJ Entertainment, and Mirovision, prepared booths to advertise 25 movies, including `Who Are You` and `Yupgi Girl`. Korean Film Commission has also established the KOFIC Pavilion.

sjkang@donga.com