11/04/2024 - Standing out on the line-up are films helmed by Roberto Minervini, Ariane Labed, Laetitia Dosch, Boris Lojkine, Konstantin Bojanov, Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, Julien Colonna and Louise Courvoisier

Somalia, Zambia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, India, Japan, China, Norway, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and France: such are the origins of the 15 films selected for the Un Certain Regard programme, which was unveiled today at the same time as the rest of the Official Selection (see the article) of the 77th Cannes Film Festival (14-25 May).

The showcase dedicated especially to emerging talents (with six feature debuts on the menu) nevertheless includes a clutch of well-known names, such as Italy’s Roberto Minervini (who took part in the Cannes Official Selection with his documentaries in 2013 and 2015, and was in competition at Venice in 2018), who will be duking it out with his first fiction feature, The Damned; France’s Boris Lojkine (popular in the 2014 Critics’ Week and in the Piazza Grande at Locarno in 2019) with L’histoire de Souleymane; Bulgaria’s Konstantin Bojanov (who rose to fame in the 2011 Critics’ Week) with his Indian film The Shameless (see the news); and British-Zambian director Rungano Nyoni (who first turned heads in the 2017 Directors’ Fortnight) with On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.

Two directorial feature debuts by prominent European actresses are also on the programme, with September Says by French-Greek thesp Ariane Labed (Volpi Cup at Venice for Attenberg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Athina Rachel Tsangari
film profile], seen recently in The Vourdalak [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adrien Beau
film profile] and glimpsed at IFFR this year in Swimming Home [+see also:
film review
film profile]; previously selected for the Directors’ Fortnight with her first short film, Olla) and Dog on Trial by French-Swiss helmer Laetitia Dosch (nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actress in 2018 for Montparnasse Bienvenüe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Léonor Serraille
film profile]).

Also worth noting among the movies from the continent are the feature debuts by Norway’s Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (Armand – see the article), France’s Louise Courvoisier (Holy Cow) and her fellow countryman Julien Colonna (Le Royaume).

This selection, which is very likely to be topped off at a later date (including with the identity of the opening film, in particular), has also opened its arms to welcome India’s Sandhya Suri (Santosh), Japan’s Hiroshi Okuyama (My Sunshine), Vietnam’s Minh Quý Truong (Viet and Nam), Somalia’s Mo Harawe (The Village Next to Paradise), Saudi Arabia’s Tawfik Alzaidi (Norah) and China’s Guan Hu (Black Dog).

Here is the list of films selected so far:

Norah - Tawfik Alzaidi
The Shameless - Konstantin Bojanov
Le Royaume - Julien Colonna (France)
Holy Cow – Louise Courvoisier (France)
Dog on Trial - Laetitia Dosch (Switzerland/France)
Black Dog – Guan Hu
The Village Next to Paradise – Mo Harawe
September Says – Ariane Labed
L’histoire de Souleymane – Boris Lojkine (France)
The Damned – Roberto Minervini (Italy/USA/Belgium/Canada)
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl – Rungano Nyoni
My Sunshine - Hiroshi Okuyama
Santosh - Sandhya Suri
Viet and Nam - Minh Quý Truong
Armand - Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel

(Translated from French)