Cannes 2018: Where and When You Can See the Festival’s Winners, From ‘Shoplifters’ to ‘BlacKkKlansman’
This year’s Cannes Film Festival may have come to an end, but the repercussions of the annual cinephile gathering are still yet to be felt on a big screen near you. Fortunately, some of the festival’s biggest winners have already locked down North American distribution and are already bound for wider releases that will allow plenty more movie fans to check them out. That includes the Palme d’Or winner, “Shoplifters,” and both runner-ups, including “Capernaum” and “BlacKkKlansman,” all of which have homes that guarantee them theatrical releases in the coming months.
A number of other Cannes contenders were also picked up for distribution during the festival, including Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego’s crime thriller “Birds of Passage,” which went to The Orchard and the Mads Mikkelsen-starring survival drama “Arctic,” which was bought early in the fest by Bleecker Street. The opening night film, Asghar Farhadi’s “Everybody Knows,” landed with Focus Features the night after it premiered. Check out the full list of all of the festival’s winners, plus a rundown of where and when you can see each film in the coming months.
Competition
Palme d’Or: “Shoplifters,” Hirokazu Kore-eda
The seventh film from the beloved Japanese to screen at Cannes, Kore-eda’s family drama was picked up by Magnolia Pictures after it premiered to strong reviews at the festival. It’s the second Palme winner in a row for the distributor, which also bought “The Square” at last year’s festival before it won the festival’s highest honor. No word yet on when Magnolia will release it, but the film will have a theatrical release. Read our review here.
Grand Prix: “BlacKkKlansman,” Spike Lee
Lee’s latest film went to the festival with distribution already in place — in April, Focus Features set the fact-based feature for an August 10 theatrical release date, picked to reflect the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville protests, which took place on August 12, 2017. The protests also play a part in the film, with Lee using footage from them to frame a timely coda that everyone at the festival was buzzing about. Read our review here.
Jury Prize: “Capernaum,” Nadine Labaki
Sony Pictures Classics picked up North American and Latin American rights to Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum” before the “politically-charged fable” even premiered at the festival. SPC previously distributed Labaki’s second film, “Where Do We Go Now?” It was one of three films directed by women to compete for the Palme d’Or at this year’s festival. SPC plans to open the film in December qualifying the movie for year-end awards consideration. Read our review here.
Special Palme d’Or: “The Image Book,” Jean-Luc Godard
Kino Lorber purchased North American rights to the Cannes premiere “The Image Book” mid-way through the fest, a reteaming of the director and the company, which also picked up his “Goodbye to Language” after it debuted in Cannes in 2014. Kino is planning a 2019 theatrical release for the essay film, which is in Arabic, English, French and Italian. Read our review here.
Best Actress: Samal Yeslyamova, “Akya”
Sergei Dvortsevoy’s Kazakh drama has not yet been picked up for North American distribution.
Best Actor: Marcello Fonte, “Dogman”
Matteo Garrone’s revenge drama has not yet been picked up for North American distribution, though it was picked up for international distribution before the festival kicked off, including deals for Germany, Austria, Spain, Russia, and China. Read our review here.
Best Director: Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Paweł Pawlikowski’s heartbreaking drama (loosely based on his own parents’ love story), “Cold War” was picked up by Amazon Studios last August, and the streaming giant is planning on a theatrical release later this year. Read our review here.
Best Screenplay (tie): Alice Rohrwacher, “Happy as Lazzaro” & Nader Saeivar, “Three Faces”
Despite a bunch of pre-festival dust-ups, streaming giant Netflix still managed to snag a couple of big Cannes winners (by purchasing them after they played at the festival). That includes Rohrwacher’s “The Wonders” followup, which Netflix announced it had acquired on the same day the awards were announced. A release date has not yet been set. Read our review here.
Saeivar’s film, which was co-written with Iranian director Jafar Panahi, has not yet been picked up for North American distribution. Kino Lorber perviously released Panahi’s “Taxi.” Read our review of his latest here.
Camera d’Or: “Girl,” Lukas Dhont
Dhont’s first film also went to Netflix, which has yet to set a release date for the lauded coming-of-age film about a transgender ballerina. Read our review here.
Short Film Palme d’Or: “All These Creatures,” Charles Williams
The Australian short, the fifth from director Williams, has not yet been picked up for North American distribution.
Queer Palm
Queer Palm (Feature): “Girl,” Lukas Dhont
Dhont’s first film also went to Netflix, which has yet to set a release date for the lauded coming-of-age film about a transgender ballerina. Read our review here.
Queer Palm (Short): “The Orphan,” Carolina Markowicz
Markowicz’s fact-based short has not yet been picked up for North American distribution.
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard Prize: “Border,” Ali Abbasi
NEON, the indie distributor behind the Oscar-winning “I, Tonya,” made its sole Cannes 2018 acquisition when it picked up North American rights to Abbasi’s unexpected fairy tale at the fest. No word yet on when the specialty distributor will release the fantastical love story, but it will likely receive a limited theatrical release this year. Read our review here.
Prize for Best Screenplay: “Sofia,” Meryem Benm’barek
The feature debut drama from the Moroccan filmmaker has not yet been picked up for North American distribution.
Prize for Best Performance: Victor Polster for “Girl,” Lukas Dhont
Dhont’s first film also went to Netflix, which has yet to set a release date for the lauded coming-of-age film about a transgender ballerina. Read our review here.
Prize for Best Director: Sergei Loznitsa for “Donbass”
Loznitsa’s Ukrainian war film opened the section, but has not yet locked down North American distribution.
Jury Special Prize: “The Dead and the Others,” Joao Salaviza and Renee Nader Messora
The film was inspired by the directors’ own time living in Pedra Branca, a village of the Krahô people in North Brazil and centers on a Krahô teen torn between two different worlds. It has not yet been picked up for North American distribution.
Directors’ Fortnight
Art Cinema Award: “Climax,” Gaspar Noé
A24 picked up the domestic rights for Noé’s latest after it debuted during the first half of the festival. While release plans have not yet been announced, based on the film’s eye-popping content (it follows a dance troupe that get way too high during an ill-fated weekend trip) and A24’s affection for going wild with marketing, fans of crazy cinema are in for a treat. Read our review here.
SACD Prize: “The Trouble With You,” Pierre Salvadori
The French caper comedy has not yet been picked up for North American distribution.
Europa Cinemas: “Lucia’s Grace,” Gianni Zanasi
The Italian comedy — starring Alba Rohrwacher, sister of Alice — has not yet been picked up for North American distribution.
Short Film: “Skip Day,” Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas
The short, which follows a group of friends breaking loose the day after prom, has not yet been picked up for North American distribution, though it will be available for viewing at The Guardian later this year.
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