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Jones To Take 2008 Off
30 January 2008 (WENN)
Norah Jones is planning to take 2008 off - after working herself to the point of exhaustion last year. The singer released a new album, Not Too Late, last January and spent much of the year touring to promote the disc. But she also found the time to squeeze in her acting debut in director Wong Kar Wai's movie My Blueberry Nights - and she admits her heavy work schedule has left her in need of a break. Jones says, "I'm taking some time off. I worked a lot last year, just between the movie and my new record and the tour."

Romanian Drama Scoops Cannes' Top Prize
28 May 2007 (WENN)
The Romanian film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival yesterday. The drama, which explores issues of abortion and repression in 1980s communist Romania, beat competition from Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights, and The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men to win the prestigious award. Accepting the prize, director Cristian Mungiu said, "This story, in which we believe so much, is going to reach lots of people now. I also hope that this award that I am getting tonight is going to be good news for small filmmakers from small countries because it looks like you don't necessarily need a big budget and a lot of stars." The jury, headed by British director Stephen Frears, awarded two jury prizes to Persepolis, a film about a young woman growing up during the Iranian revolution, and Silent Light, which explores a husband's infidelity in a Mennonite community based in Mexico. Meanwhile, former Palme d'Or winner Van Sant received the 60th Anniversary Prize for Paranoid Park, while Julian Schnabel was honored with the Best Director gong for The Diving Bell and Butterfly.

Cannes Selections Announced
19 April 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The Cannes Film Festival confirmed today (Thursday) that Wong Kar Wai's My Blueberry Nights, starring Jude Law, Ed Harris, Norah Jones and Natalie Portman, will open the 60th annual festival on May 16. In something of a surprise, the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez "double bill" Grindhouse, which was expected to compete for the top Palme d'Or prize, will only be represented by the Tarantino half of the feature, Death Proof, which is being expanded to one hour and 50 minutes. Among the other 21 films selected for the competition are the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men, starring Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, and Javier Bardem; David Fincher's Zodiac, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr.; James Gray's We Own the Night, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg; and Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, starring mostly first-time actors. Serbian director Emir Kusturica, a two-time winner at Cannes and the chairman of the jury in 2005, will again be represented in the competition with the comedy Promise Me This. Among films screening out of competition will be Michael Moore's documentary Sicko (about the U.S. health system); Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Thirteen; Michael Winterbottom's A Mighty Heart, starring Angelina Jolie as the late Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl's wife Mariane; and Ken Burns's The War. The latter film will presumably be compiled from Burns's upcoming documentary series about World War II for PBS. It is the only film on the Cannes list whose length is not indicated.

Ziyi's Bold Behavior Wowed Cannes Jury
5 June 2006 (WENN)
Young Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi stunned her elders on the jury of this year's Cannes Film Festival with her "bold" opinions, according to jury head Wong Kar-Wai. The Hong Kong film-maker headed the jury at the annual French festival, which included American Samuel L. Jackson, Italian Monica Bellucci and Brits Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Roth. Kar-Wai, who directed the 27-year-old beauty in 2046, says, "She's very bold. Even though she's very young, she's made quite a few movies. She's bold in expressing herself, so there isn't an issue of being timid because she's less experienced."

Jones Has Perfect Acting Aura
31 May 2006 (WENN)
Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai insists Grammy-winning singer Norah Jones is the perfect choice for his latest film, even though she has no acting experience. Jones will star with Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Rachel Weisz in the film My Blueberry Nights, and Kar-Wai was convinced to cast her after seeing her "acting aura." He explains, "Of course everyone knows her because she's a singer, but I didn't pick her for this film because she's a very successful singer. I think she's suitable for acting. This is instinct. It's like how I felt that Faye Wong could act when I first saw her a few years ago. There's a very special aura." Wong was a Chinese pop star who appeared in his movies Chungking Express and 2046.

Loach and Cruz Win at Cannes
29 May 2006 (WENN)
British director Ken Loach and Spanish star Penelope Cruz were among the big winners at the climax of the Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera on Sunday. The film-maker's drama The Wind That Shakes The Barley, which stars Cillian Murphy as an Irish medical student who joins the guerrilla war against British forces, picked up the Palme D'Or - the highest award of the festival. Accepting the trophy, Loach said, "We live in extraordinary times and that has made people political in a way they maybe weren't in the previous four, five, six years. The wars that we have seen, the occupations that we see throughout the world - people finally cannot turn away from that. It's very exciting to be able to deal with this in films, and not just be a complement to the popcorn." Cruz shared the Best Actress prize with her Volver castmates Carmen Maura, Yohana Cobo and Lola Duenas, while French Indigenes stars Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri and Sami Bouajila were joint winners of the Best Actor prize. In her acceptance speech, Cruz paid tribute to Volver director Pedro Almodovar, saying, "This prize really belongs to Pedro. You are the greatest, the bravest. You put so much magic into our lives. Thanks for what you do for women all over the world." Meanwhile, Mexican film-maker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu picked up the Best Director prize for Babel, a multi-cultural film starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The Grand Prix - the runners up prize - was awarded to French director Bruno Dumont's Flandres, while British film-maker Andrea Arnold accepted the Jury Prize - the 2nd runners up trophy - for her CCTV-inspired movie Red Road. The nine member jury was headed by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai and included Samuel L. Jackson, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Monica Bellucci and Ziyi Zhang.

Ken Loach Film Wins Palme d'Or at Cannes
28 May 2006 (IMDb News Flash)
Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley, starring Cillian Murphy, was named the winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The drama, about the Irish struggle for independence in 1920, beat out two heavy favorites for the top prize: Pedro Almodovar's Volver and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel, though neither of those films went away empty-handed. Inarritu won the Best Director honor for his multilayered (and multi-continental) drama, which starred Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, while Almodovar was honored with Best Screenplay. Volver also won the Best Actress award, though in an surprise move, the Cannes jury (led by director Wong Kar Wai), bestowed both acting honors on ensemble casts: the female cast of Volver (which included Penelope Cruz and Carmen Maura) and the male cast of Indigenes, Rachid Bouchareb's film about the role of North African troops in their defense of France during World War II. The Grand Prix, considered to be the runner-up prize for best film, went to French director Bruno Dumont's Flandres. Andrea Arnold's Red Road was given the Jury Prize. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff

French Actor Vincent Cassel to Emcee at Cannes
6 April 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Organizers of the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday named French film star Vincent Cassel to emcee the official ceremonies opening and closing this year's formalities. On May 17, Cassel, best known in the U.S. for his role as the rich, criminal mastermind in Ocean's 12, will officially open the festival, presenting the international jury, presided over by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, to the black-tie crowd. Likewise, Cassel will preside over the closing ceremonies, including the announcement of the winners, on May 28.

Chinese Director to Preside Over Cannes Jury
5 January 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, who won the Cannes Film Festival's best director award in 1997 and who received nominations in 2000 and 2004, has been named president of this year's Cannes jury. He will be the first Chinese filmmaker to head the panel. In a statement, Wong said, "Each city has its own language. In Cannes, it is the language of dreams. Yet it is difficult to judge one's dream much less compare it to another. There is an old Chinese saying: 'One can never expect the wind, but should always keep one's window open.' Along with my fellow jurors, I look forward to sharing the dreams created by some of the most gifted talents in contemporary cinema. And our goal will be to keep our windows open as wide as possible."

Actor Leslie Cheung Commits Suicide
1 April 2003 (WENN)
Leslie Cheung, the acclaimed Cantonese actor best known for his work in Farewell My Concubine and Happy Together, committed suicide in Hong Kong by jumping from the Mandarin Oriental hotel; he was 46. Hong Kong police issued a terse statement on Tuesday, saying only that "The man was certified dead at hospital. His name is Cheung 'X' Wing and was aged 46. He left a suicide letter." An anonymous police source confirmed that it was indeed the actor, and the news was picked up by local television and radio, with a statement ultimately posted on Cheung's web site, www.lesliecheung.com. Born in Hong Kong, Cheung attended college in England before returning to his home country in 1976, where he entered an Asian music contest and won second place. A singing career and roles in teen films followed, but his career hit high speed with John Woo's A Better Tomorrow (1986), co-starring Chow Yun-Fat. Cheung's most acclaimed performance came in 1993's Farewell My Concubine, in which he starred as an opera singer involved in a love triangle set against the backdrop of 20th-century Chinese history; the film, directed by Chen Kaige, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and received two Oscar nominations, including Best Foreign Language Film. Cheung also starred in Wong Kar-Wai's award-winning Happy Together (1997) opposite Tony Leung, and had recently garnered acclaim for 2002's Inner Senses. The contents of Cheung's suicide letter have not been revealed. --Prepared by IMDb staff

Sexy Beast Wins British Indie Fest
25 October 2001 (StudioBriefing)
Sexy Beast, a critically praised film starring Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone, has won four top awards at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA). The film received prizes for best film, best screenplay, best director (Jonathan Glazer) and best actor (Kingsley). Jeremy Thomas, the film's producer, also won a special jury prize for best British producer. Kate Ashfield won the best actress award for her performance in Late Night Shopping. Christopher Nolan's Memento, starring Guy Pearce, won for best independent foreign film in English, while Wong Kar Wei's In the Mood for Love won for best foreign film in another language.

Antonioni -- At 89! -- To Direct Again
3 October 2001 (StudioBriefing)
Legendary Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow Up, Beyond the Clouds) will return to the film set for the first time in six years to direct a segment of a three-part feature titled Eros, according to the Italian daily La Repubblica. The 89-year-old director will join Wong Kar-wai (Fallen Angels) and Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother), who are attached to direct the other two segments. Antonioni's wife Erica told the newspaper: "It will be a small film with high erotic tension, to be made with little money, unknown actors and no complications. Exactly what Michelangelo needed. ... He will finally be able to happily cast aside his anxieties about going back to making a film."

Five Top Directors Make Shorts For BMW
8 May 2001 (StudioBriefing)
BMW has hired five major directors to make a series of short movies featuring BMWs. The company said that it plans to link the films together under the banner "The Hire" and display them on the internet (http://www.BMWfilms.com). The directors include John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate), Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch), Wong Kar-Wai (In the Mood for Love) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Amores Perros). One film, running 5 minutes, 43 seconds, called The Ambush has already been posted on the site, which is being produced by director David Fincher (Se7en). It was not clear whether BMW intends to release the films on television.