Cannes Critics’ Week Unveils 2024 Lineup

variety.com:

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cannes Critics’ Week, the sidebar dedicated to first and second films, will open with Jonathan Millet’s psychological thriller “Ghost Trail” and wrap with Emma Benestan’s genre film “Animale.” “Ghost Trail” and “Animale” are two of the 11 features slated for Critics’ Week, which runs alongside the Cannes Film Festival.

The sole U.S. film of the selection is Constance Tsang’s “Blue Sun Palace,” a bittersweet film about two Chinese immigrants living in Queens who bond following a tragic death and find meaning in each other’s company. “As humble and dignified as its characters, this first, realistic and intimate, film sheds light on a community that is little seen,” said Ava Cahen, Critics’ Week’s artistic director. “Blue Sun Palace” stars Lee Kang-sheng whose recent credits include “Twisted Strings.” Besides the opening and closing films, the Special Screenings section will comprise of Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s “Across the Sea” and Alexis Langlois’ first feature “Les reines du drame.” “Across the Sea,” a melodrama set in the ’90s and boasting a score of Raï music, depicts 10 years in the life of a clandestine Moroccan immigrant in Marseille.

The film stars Grégoire Colin, Anna Mouglalis and rising actor Ayoub Gretaa. “Across the Sea” marks Hamich Benlarbi’s follow up to “Retour à Bollène.” “Les reines du drame,” meanwhile, is a pop musical comedy following an influencer who falls for a punk singer from the 2000s.

Cahen described the film as a “glittery, vibrant love letter to cinema and its history, its styles and genres. The film stars Louiza Aura and Gio Venture, along with Bilal Hassani, Asia Argento and Alma Jodorowsky. “Ghost Trail” is inspired by real-life events and tells the.