Cannes Film Festival

20 June 2019

Mid-May saw Premier’s Film Team once again decamp to the South of France for the 72nd Festival de Cannes. The Premier team handled the world premieres and press activity for eight films, a short film from Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino, and a stylish TV series from Nicolas Winding Refn, the mind behind Drive and The Neon Demon, as well as continuing work with our corporate clients.

Premier publicists walked the famous Palais red carpet accompanying director Jessica Hausner and her actors from competition film Little Joe, for which Emily Beecham won the coveted Best Actress award. We accompanied Werner Herzog and Gael García Bernal, directors of out of competition special screenings Family Romance, LLC. (would you hire a replacement family member?) and Chicuarotes (Bernal’s second film as director) respectively; and for the premiere of two episodes of Winding Refn’s Amazon Prime series Too Old To Die Young – an epic ten-part slow burn set in a blood-splattered world of violence and murder, hopping between Hollywood and Mexico.

Among the films officially selected in Un Certain Regard, Premier worked with directors Maryam Touzani and her film Adam – the powerful story of how a knock on the door of a Casablancan bakery changes the lives of a mother and daughter, and Midi Z on Taiwan/Malaysia/Myanmar co-production Nina Wu – a timely feature following the rise of an aspiring actress through hardships including a challenging industry environment to the brink of triumph, as her psychological resolve begins to crack. Actress Wu Ke-Xi attended the festival having brought Nina to life both on camera, and on the page as scriptwriter.

We looked after director Midge Costin and her documentary Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound playing in Cannes Classics. The film looks at the importance of sound and music in cinema storytelling with insights from filmmakers including Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, who have both said that ‘sound is 50% of the movie’.

Outside of the Official Selection, Premier also handled two Quinzaine des Realisateurs (Directors’ Fortnight) titles: Guadagnino’s The Staggering Girl, a short film created in collaboration with fashion house Valentino – for which Julianne Moore graced the Croisette – and Canción sin nombre (Song Without a Name), a stunning melancholy look at a dark time in Peru’s recent history, with which director Melina León became the first female Peruvian invited to screen in Cannes. Costa Rican director Sofía Quirós Ubeda achieved another first, bringing her beautiful film Ceniza Negra (Land of Ashes) to Semaine de la Critique (Critics’ Week), along with impressive young actress Smachleen Gutiérrez – The film is the first feature from Costa Rica to play at the Festival. We scheduled and ran press junkets for all titles mentioned above.

We also managed press invitees for a lunch hosted by corporate client the International Film Festival & Awards ∙ Macau (for whom we consult and handle international press at their annual festival in Macau), and continued work with both Matthew James Wilkinson and his production company Stigma Films, and the Zurich Film Festival.

From the preparations in London in the weeks leading up to the Festival, to handling logistics on the ground, liaising with the Festival, press, and film delegations, running junkets (not always on the beach and often in the rain), and walking red carpets – Premier’s Film team was successful in delivering a smooth festival experience and far-reaching coverage for 13 projects across film, TV, and corporate for 12 international clients.