A Prophet Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The Cannes Film Festival drew to a close on Sunday evening with the presentation of the Palme d'Or to Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon. Filmed in black and white, it's "a two-and-a-half hour parable of political and social ideas set entirely in a north German village in 1913 and 1914," says Dave Calhoun at Time Out London. Haneke "solidly resists answering the 'what's it all about?' question and makes you work hard to make sense of what you're seeing." David Hudson at IFC's The Daily has gathered the reviews, some of which endeavor to answer the "What's it all about?" question.

As is often the case, the nine-member jury passed out awards to as many films as possible. The Grand Prix (or runner-up) went to Jacques Audiard's A Prophet; Special Jury Prize to Alain Resnais for Wild Grass; and Best Director to Brillante Mendoza for Kinatay. Christoph Walz won Best Actor for his performance in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and Charlotte Gainsbourg won Best Actress for Lars von Trier's controversial Antichrist. The complete list of winners can be easily viewed at indieWIRE. The festival's official site has a great set of award ceremony photos.

Here's a roundup of Cannes films we can expect to see in coming months. Corrections and updates will be appreciated.

CANNES TITLES WITH U.S. DISTRIBUTION

• Antichrist (IFC)
• A Prophet (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Bright Star (Bob Berney and Bill Polhad)
• Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Drag Me to Hell (Universal)
• Humpday (Magnolia Pictures)
• I Love You Phillip Morris (Consolidated Pictures Group)
• Inglourious Basterds (Weinstein Co.)
• Looking For Eric (IFC)
• Precious (Lionsgate)
• Taking Woodstock (Focus Features)
• Tales From the Golden Age (IFC)
• Thirst (Focus Features)
• Up (Disney Pixar)
• The White Ribbon (Sony Pictures Classics)

You can access all our Cannes coverage via this handy link.

Thursday seems to have been a quiet day in the south of France, an inevitable, hazy hangover after the four-day frenzy that began with Antichrist on Sunday and leading to the star-fueled red carpet screening of Inglourious Basterds on Wednesday night. "And so the late festival drag set in," writes Eric Kohn at The Wrap. "Fatigue from lengthy days in dark rooms and harsh sunlight generally starts to wear down Cannes attendees after a while, especially once the finish line comes into focus."

At a press conference today, Sam Raimi likened his horror flick Drag Me to Hell to "playing with a jazz quartet" (per James Rocchi at AMC News). Questioned about his latest film, The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke told the assembled journalists: "It's the duty of art to ask questions, not to provide answers. And if you want a clearer answer, I'll have to pass" (per Reuters).

Key Screenings. Competition: Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon (strange events in 1913 at a rural school in Germany), Xavier Giannoli's In the Beginning (small-time crook builds a highway). Un Certain Regard: Henitor Dhalia's A Deriva (teen girl's sexual awakening in the 1980s), Ciro Guerra's The Wind Journeys (retired itinerant accordion player takes a trip). Directors' Fortnight: Sebastian Lelio's Navidad (teen couple in crisis meet a teen girl), Denis Cote's Carcasses (eccentric used auto parts collector). Special Screening: My Neighbor, My Killer (Rwanda genocide reconciliations).

After the jump: Distribution deals for the critically-praised, criminally-minded Cannes Competition title A Prophet and environmentally-friendly Sundance closer Earth Days.

Hello, vampires!

I thought I had outgrown my vamp addiction (aside from Buffy). I don't read Anne Rice anymore, and I haven't watched a new vamp movie in a while. But then I started watching Moonlight. Yup, still hooked. And now there's a new flick on the horizon: Variety reports that Celluloid Dreams has gone into pre-production on Hello Darkness, a "genre-bending vampire film."

This also marks the second vampire movie this week for the UK (remember Lesbian Vampire Killers?). But it won't be all darkness. Not much is being said about the plot, other than it's a "humor-laced romancer" where a regular guy becomes a vampire and then "falls for a posh student." So that's two UK vamp comedies, the direct-to-DVD Lost Boys sequel, plus some Twilight. Now if only we could get some adult vampire darkness, we'll be set! Oh wait -- we're kind of getting that with Celluloid Dreams' Julie Delpy thriller, The Countess.

Meanwhile, the company is also looking into prophets and immigrants. They've picked up a crime drama called A Prophet, where a young Arab becomes a mafia kingpin while prospering in a French prison. They've also nabbed Rabia, a romantic thriller about "two luckless immigrant workers in Spain."