2010 Cannes Film Festival


The 63rd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 2010, in Cannes, France. The Cannes Film Festival, hailed as being one of the most recognized and prestigious film festivals worldwide, was founded in 1946. It consists of having films screened in and out of competition during the festival; films screened in competition compete for the Palme d'Or award. The award in 2010 was won by Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, a Thai film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. This was determined by the festival's jury members who reviewed films screened in competition. American film director Tim Burton was the president of the jury for the international competition, and other members of the jury for that competition included actors, screenwriters and composers, such as Kate Beckinsale, Emmanuel Carrère, Benicio del Toro, and Alexandre Desplat. Other categories for films screened in competition that have their own separate juries for other awards are for Short Films and the Un Certain Regard category.
Ridley Scott's Robin Hood opened the festival and Julie Bertuccelli's The Tree was the closing film. The full film lineup for the festival was announced on 15 April 2010. English actress Kristin Scott Thomas was the mistress of ceremonies.
Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Associated Press and Getty TV boycotted the press conference that announced the line-up for the festival, due to a dispute over access to the red carpet. In a press release, the agencies said that they "may be forced to suspend their presence at the festival altogether" if an agreement was not reached. Days before the festival was to begin, concerns were expressed that attendees might be delayed, or would not attend, due to plane flights to surrounding areas in France being delayed or canceled due to volcanic ash in the sky. Two days before ths beginning of the festival, the just finished film Route Irish, directed by Ken Loach, was added to the main competition.

Juries

Main competition

The following people were appointed as the Jury for the feature films of the 2010 Official Selection:

In competition - Feature films

The following feature films competed for the Palme d'Or:

Un Certain Regard

The following films were selected for the competition of Un Certain Regard:

Films out of competition

The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:

Special screenings

The following films were shown as special screenings.

Cinéfondation

The following short films were selected for the competition of Cinéfondation:

Short film competition

The following short films competed for the Short Film Palme d'Or:

Cannes Classics

Cannes Classics places the spotlight on documentaries about cinema and restored masterworks from the past.
World Cinema Foundation

Cinéma de la Plage

The Cinéma de la Plage is a part of the Official Selection of the festival. The outdoors screenings at the beach cinema of Cannes are open to the public.

Parallel sections

International Critics' Week

The following films were screened for the 49th International Critics' Week :
Feature film competition
Short film competition
Special screening
The documentary film Benda Bilili! about disabled Kinshasa street musicians Staff Benda Bilili had its world premiere at the festival, with the group in attendance and performing at the Director's Fortnight opening party.
The following films were screened for the 2010 Directors' Fortnight :
Feature films
Short films

Official awards

The Palme d'Or was won by the Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It was the first time that an Asian movie won the award since 1997. Tim Burton, chairman of the jury that determined the award, stated about its decision: "You always want to be surprised by films and this film did that for most of us." French film Of Gods and Men was the runner up. The Xavier Beauvois-directed film had been considered a favourite for the Palme d'Or along with Mike Leigh's Another Year. During the ceremony special attention was paid to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi in hopes of increasing international pressure on the Iranian government to release Panahi from jail.
The following films and people received the 2010 Official selection awards:
In Competition
Un Certain Regard
Cinéfondation
Golden Camera
Short films
FIPRESCI Prizes
Vulcan Award of the Technical Artist
Ecumenical Jury
Awards in the frame of International Critics' Week
Other awards
Association Prix François Chalais