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Does Cannes respect documentaries?
No, not really.
Frankly, its a problem, and Cannes is not alone in this.
But things may be changing.
Kaouther Ben HaniasFour Daughtersmay be a more plausible Palme contender.
Ive heard a lot of buzz from veteran festgoers thatFour Daughtersstands more of a chance than many realize.
It is, after all, a title one can imagine different members of the jury embracing.
Two documentaries have won the Palme dOr in the past.
At any rate, that years jury decidedFahrenheit 9/11was better than Park Chan-wooksOldboyand Wong Kar-wais2046.
(MooresBowling for Columbinecompeted for the Palme in 2002 and would have made a far more worthy winner.)
But documentaries are more visible at this years Cannes in general.
Among the out-of-competition titles can be found Steve McQueensOccupied City, a four-hour look (another one!)
These are all major auteurs, of course, which explains why Cannes would show their documentaries.
(Wenders has another feature here as well,Perfect Days, a fiction film playing in competition.)
it’s possible for you to also find nonfiction thriving in some of the parallel sections.
Its subjects are Hamelas many passengers, each with a uniquely disturbing story to tell.
In some ways, these films underline the problem for Cannes and documentaries.
(It was eventually nominated for an Oscar.)
So its kind of natural that there should be a documentary presence in Cannes.
In fact, Hamela and his team brought their own carpet to their ACID premiere at Cannes.
We wanted to show that this is the carpet we want to stand on right here, he says.
It was a carpet given to us by a woman whose house was bombed and partially destroyed.
Half of the carpet is gone.
She gave it to us but said she needs it back.
