:00:00. > :00:42.Hello and welcome to Talking Movies, here on the French Riviera. A look
:00:43. > :00:48.at the lineup in Cannes this year revealed a very strong American
:00:49. > :00:53.presence, not so much in the form of Hollywood blockbusters like mad Max,
:00:54. > :00:58.but more in terms of films that represent the directors' personal
:00:59. > :01:04.vision. New Yorker Woody Allen was on the red carpet on opening night
:01:05. > :01:11.with Cafe Society, it was the third time that one of his films had got
:01:12. > :01:16.the opening night slot at Cannes, a record. The film is set in Hollywood
:01:17. > :01:20.in New York in the 1920s, and it centres on a love triangle with
:01:21. > :01:23.characters played by Jesse Eisenberg and Kristin Stewart. Brought male
:01:24. > :01:29.and female relationships are at the heart of this picture. I don't think
:01:30. > :01:33.that's a very good idea, actually. I am seeing someone. The film, which
:01:34. > :01:36.got middling reviews, has much to commend it, particularly the
:01:37. > :01:41.performance of Kristin Stewart playing the woman at the centre of
:01:42. > :01:45.it all. For Woody Allen, this film represents quite a publishing. It is
:01:46. > :01:49.his 47th picture and like every other made on his own terms. Hardly
:01:50. > :01:54.anyone in the film industry has that degree of creative freedom, and he
:01:55. > :01:59.keeps going despite not being a youngster. I feel useful. Now, I'm
:02:00. > :02:04.sure one day I'll wake up in the morning and, you know, I'll have a
:02:05. > :02:08.stroke or something, or... And be one of those people that you see in
:02:09. > :02:18.a wheelchair. But until that happens I was going to... I was going to
:02:19. > :02:22.continue to make films. Money Monster, which could be called a
:02:23. > :02:26.financial thriller, was launched at Cannes as well. Its cast includes
:02:27. > :02:33.George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Anyone who can get out, get out now.
:02:34. > :02:36.It is the story of a young man who holds a financial guru hostage
:02:37. > :02:40.because he has followed Gates's advice and lost a lot of money.
:02:41. > :02:46.Julia Roberts is the show's producer. The film seems to be a
:02:47. > :02:50.critique of greed driven financial capitalism in US factual television.
:02:51. > :02:54.What happens is in the 24-hour news cycle you keep hearing this drumbeat
:02:55. > :02:58.of these elements and you think oh, my God, the world is coming to an
:02:59. > :03:02.end, ISIS is going to be on our front step when the reality is it
:03:03. > :03:05.needs to be put back in perspective. At the helm of this production was
:03:06. > :03:10.one-time child star turned Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster,
:03:11. > :03:15.who has directed before but nothing quite so big. She proves herself
:03:16. > :03:18.adept as a filmmaker. Being a director has always been my dream,
:03:19. > :03:22.it is something I have always wanted since I was a little girl. To have
:03:23. > :03:27.the full vision of the film and to have my signature be the one, for
:03:28. > :03:31.better and for worse, maybe it is terrible, but it is a full signature
:03:32. > :03:38.on the product. Money Monster follows from previous films, most
:03:39. > :03:42.notably the classic Dog Day Afternoon. It has a plot which
:03:43. > :03:46.becomes a little preposterous but after all this film is entertainment
:03:47. > :03:50.despite being sold as something more serious. They are stealing
:03:51. > :03:57.everything from us and they are getting away with it as well.
:03:58. > :04:04.Another American offering starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling was
:04:05. > :04:09.the buddy comedy Nice Guys, set in the 1970s with Russell Crowe and
:04:10. > :04:12.Ryan Gosling playing detectives. It was popular with audiences but
:04:13. > :04:16.showed signs of being tired product. It felt like a product conceived to
:04:17. > :04:23.meet commercial imperatives rather than anything more original. Some of
:04:24. > :04:27.the best American films at Cannes were more modest, with less
:04:28. > :04:32.promotional noise attached. Case in point Loving. Based on real events,
:04:33. > :04:37.it tells us Tory of an interracial couple, Loving in the 1950s, at a
:04:38. > :04:41.time when the State bandh mixed-race marriages. The couple's case went to
:04:42. > :04:45.the Supreme Court and they won with a landmark ruling striking down
:04:46. > :04:50.rules forbidding interracial marriage. There are no histrionics
:04:51. > :04:54.in this film, no big speeches, it is very effective despite being quite
:04:55. > :04:59.restrained. Did you hear me? The beneficial thing of the story is
:05:00. > :05:03.that it is in trying to preach because the Lovings are not trying
:05:04. > :05:07.to preach. A way to connect with people is to talk about humans, to
:05:08. > :05:12.talk about the humanity in an issue, and that I think is what the Loving
:05:13. > :05:21.story provides. Taken overall, the American movies at Cannes were quite
:05:22. > :05:27.good. It shows that the auteur theory is still alive, which is of
:05:28. > :05:30.course no bad thing. Here at the UK Pavilion in Cannes, people are very
:05:31. > :05:35.well aware that there are two British films in, The Magician this
:05:36. > :05:38.year. Both were put together by directors working in the social
:05:39. > :05:40.realist condition. One is set in Newcastle upon Tyne in the
:05:41. > :05:45.north-east of England and the other rather interestingly in the United
:05:46. > :05:49.States. The Americans that film, American Honey, had its cast and
:05:50. > :05:54.British director dancing on the red carpet. The film focuses on the
:05:55. > :05:57.adventures of the start, who plays a rootless group of young people
:05:58. > :06:03.travelling from one midwestern community to another selling Magas
:06:04. > :06:11.magazine subscriptions. There is an intense relationship with the
:06:12. > :06:20.intense Jake, played by Shia Leboeuf. It is an American road
:06:21. > :06:23.movie of sorts. -- Shia LaBeouf. What they are selling is a small
:06:24. > :06:26.potted version of the American dream, they are trying to make their
:06:27. > :06:29.own version of the American dream and they are trying to sell
:06:30. > :06:34.themselves, they are working hard at selling themselves which is what
:06:35. > :06:40.capitalism is all about. I have to speak to the manager. The other
:06:41. > :06:44.British film came from veteran director Ken Loach. It is the story
:06:45. > :06:50.of two individuals who find themselves pushed to extremes by an
:06:51. > :06:54.unsparing state. Daniel Blake is the central character, he is not well
:06:55. > :06:58.but encounters a bureaucratic nightmare and trying to get out of
:06:59. > :07:01.it. It is a total indictment of the social welfare system in the UK
:07:02. > :07:07.which is depicted as being totally heartless. Ken Loach shares that
:07:08. > :07:12.view. There is a conscious cruelty in the way we are organising our
:07:13. > :07:18.lives now. The most vulnerable people are told that their poverty
:07:19. > :07:27.is their own fault. If you have no work, it's your fault you haven't
:07:28. > :07:31.got a job. Loach's film and its strong reviews showed that this 70
:07:32. > :07:38.going -year-old director still has it in him to make powerful cinema --
:07:39. > :07:43.79-year-old director. Sit at your desk and do the job the taxpayer
:07:44. > :07:49.pays you for. Once again, the lack of female directors in addition at
:07:50. > :07:59.Cannes this year was notable. Only three of the 21 films up for the
:08:00. > :08:02.Palme d'Or were made by women but the year was dominated by stories
:08:03. > :08:09.about women and the actresses who play them. Stories about women are
:08:10. > :08:13.dominating the competition in Cannes this year. Even male directors
:08:14. > :08:22.traditionally associated with very macho, masculine movies are turning
:08:23. > :08:28.to female cast, like Neon Demon, and the director of Old Lawyer, who
:08:29. > :08:34.brought the Handmaiden, a lesbian love story, to Cannes. But other
:08:35. > :08:44.directors at Cannes this you have a long history of creating roles for
:08:45. > :08:52.women, like Pedro Almodovar. Kristin Stewart is back at Cannes with
:08:53. > :08:56.Personal Shopper, a ghostly thriller set in this world. Women's stories
:08:57. > :09:01.have been a driving force behind the director's work. I think the most
:09:02. > :09:04.important, the most exciting thing in how the modern world is changing
:09:05. > :09:08.is how the status of women is changing. I think there is no
:09:09. > :09:13.stronger subject, really, so I think it is a constant source of
:09:14. > :09:20.inspiration. It is a kind of rarity for a male director to be so
:09:21. > :09:25.inspired by feminine curiosity, and a drive. I think it is awesome to be
:09:26. > :09:29.seen by somebody so different. But despite the proliferation of
:09:30. > :09:34.women's stories on screen here at Cannes, getting more women in
:09:35. > :09:38.prominent roles behind the camera is an ongoing concern. As slow as the
:09:39. > :09:42.process has been for women to find their voice in cinema, as soon as
:09:43. > :09:46.you tell them it is OK, as soon as you live by example and not
:09:47. > :09:51.highlight the fact necessarily that it is a girl doing it but that is it
:09:52. > :09:55.is accepted and normal and we don't categorise them as female
:09:56. > :09:58.filmmakers, I think it will become rampant. I think it will become an
:09:59. > :10:03.immediate response to have more women wanting to tell stories. But
:10:04. > :10:07.some believe that a gap between women's desire to tell stories and
:10:08. > :10:12.the opportunity to have their voices heard. We need to figure out and the
:10:13. > :10:18.industry needs to figure out how it can support women so that they can
:10:19. > :10:22.have a voice. Because we are half the world. Our stories are just as
:10:23. > :10:27.important as male stories, and the fact that the narrative of the film
:10:28. > :10:31.business has consistently been about men having to vision is to tell
:10:32. > :10:36.stories about women, and I want to see women tell stories about women
:10:37. > :10:40.as well. Of the three female directors in competition for the
:10:41. > :10:45.Palm d'Or this year, Tony Edmund and Andrea Arnold with American Honey,
:10:46. > :10:51.have won plaudits for their very different pictures. What is really
:10:52. > :10:53.encouraging about the three female director Johnson, The Magician this
:10:54. > :10:56.year is how different they are. You wouldn't necessarily lump them
:10:57. > :11:01.together and say women directed these. So American Honey is very
:11:02. > :11:08.distinctive to its director, and it is linked to films not directed by
:11:09. > :11:11.women. But the debate about increasing women's visibility and
:11:12. > :11:15.power in the film industry continues to rage. A number of high-profile
:11:16. > :11:21.women including Jodie Foster, some are high at, Geena Davis and Susan
:11:22. > :11:29.'s Aaron did art taking part in Women in Motion here at Cannes. --
:11:30. > :11:33.Salma Hayek. There is much debate about how to bring about change. For
:11:34. > :11:37.some quotas and positive discrimination are the way forward
:11:38. > :11:41.but this approach comes with clear risks. I think it is an
:11:42. > :11:46.exceptionally dangerous road to go down. As soon as you devalued... As
:11:47. > :11:48.soon as you allow the possibility that people have got in there
:11:49. > :11:58.through positive discrimination you do devalue the currency itself.
:11:59. > :12:02.Germany hasn't had a film in competition for eight years but this
:12:03. > :12:08.year it had won, with a drama about a father daughter relationship. Its
:12:09. > :12:12.inclusion in the lineup could signal a positive change within the film
:12:13. > :12:17.industry in Germany, which hasn't exactly been flourishing of late.
:12:18. > :12:26.BBC Culture's Matthew Anderson reports. Funnily enough, one of the
:12:27. > :12:30.most hilarious films of this year's Cannes Film Festival comes from
:12:31. > :12:36.Germany, not a culture that people associate with a rollicking sense of
:12:37. > :12:39.humour. Toni Erdmann tells the story of a workaholic Management
:12:40. > :12:41.consultant on a work assignment in Bucharest and a retired piano
:12:42. > :12:47.teacher with a liking for practical jokes who travels from Germany to
:12:48. > :12:52.pay her a surprise visit. Confronted with the joyless and of his life, he
:12:53. > :12:54.puts on the character of Toni Erdmann, a lifestyle coach who
:12:55. > :13:05.starts making some unwelcome appearances in her life. He invents
:13:06. > :13:11.this character, Toni Erdmann was like a very radical step. He is
:13:12. > :13:16.doing, and that part, I mean, on the surface it's funny and its
:13:17. > :13:20.humourous, but for her as a daughter, underneath, the daughter
:13:21. > :13:23.is something very aggressive. Imagine your father would do
:13:24. > :13:27.something like that, appear there in a bar. You are sitting there with
:13:28. > :13:34.friends, and that is a tough challenge. Can I offer you ladies a
:13:35. > :13:39.glass of champagne? Toni Erdmann is a comedy but it is also a film about
:13:40. > :13:42.humour, about the importance of having a sense of humour and it has
:13:43. > :13:45.some serious things to say about family dynamics, about the pressures
:13:46. > :13:49.that professional women face, and how working too much can hollow us
:13:50. > :13:52.out and make us lose sight of the more important things in life. I
:13:53. > :13:57.think what makes this movie so outstanding is that based on a
:13:58. > :14:03.really script, you have a comedy of manners, and a family life -- really
:14:04. > :14:08.brilliant script. And of manners at the same time. And the look of the
:14:09. > :14:12.movie, it doesn't look even beautiful or anything, it doesn't
:14:13. > :14:18.try to get us by looking especially gorgeous. I think all of this
:14:19. > :14:24.together makes it a very good film. And this is my secretary. Other
:14:25. > :14:29.critics have been equally impressed. At its first press screening here in
:14:30. > :14:33.Cannes, the movie was greeted with gales of laughter and something
:14:34. > :14:37.almost unheard of from this tough crowd, spontaneous, non- sarcastic
:14:38. > :14:40.applause in the middle of the movie. During shooting of the film there
:14:41. > :14:47.was a point when I said to my producer I am sorry, I think this
:14:48. > :14:51.will be very, very sad film. So... Mostly I don't know if it will be a
:14:52. > :14:58.comedy, but it was cool that they laughed so much.
:14:59. > :15:04.Many have noted the total originality. It is hard to think of
:15:05. > :15:12.another film quite like this. When I got the script and the invitation
:15:13. > :15:23.forecasting I thought it was completely out of the usual script.
:15:24. > :15:27.We did castings and costume. Tony is the first -- it is the first German
:15:28. > :15:32.film to be in competition at camp since 2008. Why is it that festival
:15:33. > :15:38.selectors shy away from German movies? Because they aren't good
:15:39. > :15:48.enough. It has been 80 years that there wasn't a German movie here. --
:15:49. > :15:53.eight years. What you think is so good about this one? It is more
:15:54. > :16:00.risky. But the thing about German movies, they don't take risks. She
:16:01. > :16:04.takes every risk. I was surprised. She really pulls it out and it is
:16:05. > :16:17.amazing. I'm sorry, my father made a stupid joke. A striking animation
:16:18. > :16:22.was bought two cans audiences, produced by Studio Gibli. It tells
:16:23. > :16:23.the story of a man on a desert island who battles against the
:16:24. > :16:41.mysterious sea turtle. It starts with being passed away on
:16:42. > :16:46.a desert island. He is alone in nature and he wants to leave the
:16:47. > :16:49.island and go home and he can't because he is being stopped all the
:16:50. > :16:54.time and that's where the story develops. What makes this animation
:16:55. > :16:57.stand apart is that there's no dialogue. It is completely wordless,
:16:58. > :17:04.but the storytelling doesn't suffer. Far from it. It will certainly make
:17:05. > :17:08.it easier for the movie to find an international audience, in that
:17:09. > :17:13.there's no translation to worry about. Not to mention the fact that
:17:14. > :17:19.it is told in this almost mythic way, where anyone from any country
:17:20. > :17:24.should be able to see within this very simple story reflections of
:17:25. > :17:29.themselves. As for the animation it is far from flashy, it is not
:17:30. > :17:36.computer-generated. It is 2-D hand drawn animation, in that sense it is
:17:37. > :17:39.classical. It starts being realistic in design and we used actors to
:17:40. > :17:51.inspire us to get the subtlety of the movements. I am a bit inspired
:17:52. > :17:58.by the books. Among the director's credits is his Oscar-winning short
:17:59. > :18:02.Father and Daughter, also wordless. There are similarities between this
:18:03. > :18:06.and The Red Turtle. What they have in common is that I really love the
:18:07. > :18:10.strength of the light and shadows. I use shadows a lot in animation. I
:18:11. > :18:17.tend to be quite sensitive in the acting, in the emotions. Not
:18:18. > :18:21.cartoony emotions, but more finer movements. At the end of the day the
:18:22. > :18:27.director has put together a very heartfelt film dealing with
:18:28. > :18:32.relationships in a natural setting. It may sound corny but I think it is
:18:33. > :18:34.a film about love. Natural love. He don't have to make big gestures, it
:18:35. > :18:50.just feels natural. On documentary in the Cannes Film
:18:51. > :18:53.Festival lineup shows how the magical cinema is being conveyed to
:18:54. > :18:58.audiences in India through travelling movie theatres, complete
:18:59. > :19:02.with lovingly maintained old-fashioned projectors. This
:19:03. > :19:05.machinery longs to the analogue age at its days are numbered. The
:19:06. > :19:15.documentary examines the changes that are taking place. The Indian
:19:16. > :19:18.filmmakers put together this documentary, launching their film at
:19:19. > :19:23.Canon marked the end of an eight-year filmmaking process. More
:19:24. > :19:27.than anything else this is a documentary that shines a light on
:19:28. > :19:31.the huge significance of cinema in rural India, by focusing on
:19:32. > :19:35.travelling mobile theatres. They used to be the only vehicle for
:19:36. > :19:39.movies to reach the villagers, because they travelled to villages
:19:40. > :19:46.far from standing theatres. They were significantly embedded in the
:19:47. > :19:52.cultural tradition of fairs in rural India. So aside from being the
:19:53. > :19:55.exclusive vehicles, there were also part of a ritual and cultural
:19:56. > :20:01.tradition that families have been following for so many decades. The
:20:02. > :20:04.heyday of the travelling cinemas is most definitely over. By one
:20:05. > :20:09.estimate nowadays they number in the single digits. Their decline has
:20:10. > :20:12.been hastened by digital technology, which has given communities
:20:13. > :20:17.everywhere quicker access to movies. The end of the analogue era, a lot
:20:18. > :20:21.of films are now available on the digital platform, so people can
:20:22. > :20:25.access films not only through DVDs but also on their mobile phones. The
:20:26. > :20:30.moment a film is released in the bigger cities somehow it finds a way
:20:31. > :20:35.into the cellphones and of course piracy is also huge. That's why
:20:36. > :20:39.people are drawn more, because they want to see the movie is quicker
:20:40. > :20:42.like everyone else. So less people are coming to the travelling cinemas
:20:43. > :20:49.because by the time they arrive to the villagers their films are stale
:20:50. > :20:55.and old. This canst documentary looks at the decline in travelling
:20:56. > :21:02.cinemas, by focusing on individuals. -- Cannes. The film is
:21:03. > :21:08.the story of three custody are striving to preserve one of the last
:21:09. > :21:12.travelling cinemas in the world. We encounter them at this moment when
:21:13. > :21:16.the world is changing in a fundamental way and the film uses
:21:17. > :21:21.this as a lens to look at the associations that this custody is
:21:22. > :21:27.have built into the travelling cinemas over the decades. This is
:21:28. > :21:29.really a film documenting how way of life has been rapidly disappearing
:21:30. > :21:35.forefather Lisa have been running travelling cinemas. This film has
:21:36. > :21:41.been well received. The kits have called it the witchy, a documentary
:21:42. > :21:45.which shows the 20th century celluloid splendour. -- critics have
:21:46. > :21:50.called. celluloid splendour. -- critics have
:21:51. > :21:57.Called it bewitching. That brings this edition of Talking Movies to a
:21:58. > :22:02.close. Remember you can always reach us online and you can find us on
:22:03. > :22:06.Facebook. From me and the rest of the Talking Movies production crew
:22:07. > :22:11.here on the French Riviera it is goodbye, as we leave you with a
:22:12. > :22:13.performance .