American Kelly Reichardt to be feted at Cannes with coveted Carrosse d’Or

Kelly Reichardt will be awarded the Carrosse d'Or award on 18 May in Cannes, during the Directors' Fortnight's opening ceremony. The American filmmaker's latest opus "Showing Up" is also running in the main competition.

"Political, humanistic and grounded in American land, her seven feature films tell an intimate counter – history of her country, attached to territories and underdogs," the French Director's Guild SRF (Société des réalisateurs de films) said in its statement on Tuesday.

From "River of Grass" (1994) to "First Cow" (2019), the guild said it admired Reinhardt's "spirit of freedom" and her "handcrafted" approach to making cinema.

"Your unique approach to the characters that fill your stories – sensitive, critical and compassionate all at once – takes root in our imagination," they wrote.

"This specificity, so different from the many clichéd views of America, is inscribed in the geography of your films, and is a great source of inspiration for us."

Born in 1964 in Florida, Reichardt is known for her minimalist filming style, often focusing on characters who are living in the margins of society, who are not usually represented on screen.

The majority of her films are shot with small budgets on location and many of her lead characters are women.

Her debut film "River of Grass", about a couple on the run in South Florida after an accidental shooting incident, was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, as well as the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

She recorded an interview about her work during a Retrospective at Le Centre Pompidou in Paris in October 2021.

Politics, environment

Reichardt's films often also contain references to social issues and political events.

She drew parallels to the Iraq War and George Bush in the 2010 "Meek's Cutoff", a Western starring Michelle Williams, which won the Signis Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2010.

Reichardt's 2013 film "Night Moves" follows the story of radical environmentalists who plan to blow up a dam in Oregon.

She won Best film for "Certain Women" (2016) at the London Film Festival and "First Cow" (2019) filmed in Oregon, was nominated for best director at the Independent Spirit Awards in 2021.

The Carrosse d'Or prize has been awarded since 2002 by the filmmakers of the SRF to honor one of their own during Directors' Fortnight opening ceremony in Cannes.

The recipient is chosen from the international filmmaking community for their innovative qualities, courage and intransigence in directing and production.

Some recent recipients include Frederick Wiseman in 2021, John Carpenter in 2019, Martin Scorsese in 2018 and French director Agnès Varda in 2010.

Strong French representation

Eleven women directors appear in the Directors' Fortnight line-up this year, with 23 films selected from across the globe.

"We are recreating the beauty and wealth of the world's contemporary cinema," director Paolo Moretti told journalists.

The opening film is "Scarlet" (L'Envol) by Italien director Pietro Marcello, his first film in French starring Louis Garrel.

Among the other French entries, the first steps as a filmmaker for 81-year-old writer Annie Ernaux, with "The Super 8 Years" (Les Années Super 8), a documentary made with her son David using family film archives from 1976-1981.

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Mia Hansen-Love is back at Cannes this year (her film "Bergman Island" was screened in competition in 2021) with "One Fine Morning" (Un beau matin), with Melvil Poupaud and Léa Seydoux.

Philippe Faucon brings the Algerian war into focus 60 years on with his film "Harkis", while Léa Mysius presents her second film "The Five Devils" (Les cinq diables) with Adèle Exarchopoulos.

Alice Winocour has chosen to look at the question of terrorism with her film "Paris memories" (Revoir Paris) starring Virginie Efira (who is also chief MC for the opening and closing ceremonies) and Grégoire Colin.

Political themes are well represented this year, with "Pamfir", by Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, "1976" by Manuela Martelli looking at Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile, as well as films from Tunisia and Lebanon.

DIRECTORS' FORTNIGHT: FEATURES FILMS

L'Envol (Scarlet) by Pietro Marcello – opening film
1976 by Manuela Martelli – first feature
The Dam (Al-Sadd, Le Barrage ) by Ali Cherri – first feature
Les Années Super 8 (The Super 8 Years) by Annie Ernaux & David Ernaux-Briot – documentary – first feature
Ashkal by Youssef Chebbi – first feature
Les Cinq Diables (The Five Devils) de Léa Mysius
De Humani Corporis Fabrica by Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor – documentary
La Dérive des continents (au Sud) (Continental Drift (South) by Lionel Baier
El agua (The Water) by Elena López Riera – first feature
Enys Men by Mark Jenkin
Falcon Lake by Charlotte Le Bon – first feature
Fogo-Fátuo (Will-o'-the-Wisp, Feu follet) by João Pedro Rodrigues
Funny Pages by Owen Kline – first feature
God's Creatures by Anna Rose Holmer & Saela Davis
Les Harkis (Harkis) by Philippe Faucon
La Montagne (The Mountain) by Thomas Salvador
Men by Alex Garland – special screening
Pamfir by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk – first feature
Revoir Paris (Paris Memories) by Alice Winocour
Taht Alshajra (Under the Fig Trees, Sous les figues) by Erige Sehiri
Un beau matin (One Fine Morning) by Mia Hansen-Løve
Un varón (A Male) by Fabian Hernández – first feature
Le Parfum vert (The Green Perfume) by Nicolas Pariser – closing film