Op de vijfde rij in Cannes (2021)

In three episodes of twenty minutes, Cesar Majorana takes the listener behind the scenes of the largest and most important film festival on earth. For film lovers who have never been to Cannes, but who are very curious about how it works.

illustration: Aafke Bouman

Episode 1: The first edition of a new era

In any case, it will be a strange festival year: the number of guests has halved due to corona, there are countless restrictions and the film world is still in crisis. But it is not the first time that Cannes has had to deal with the necessary setbacks: the first edition was canceled due to the outbreak of the Second World War, and in 1968 the festival was shut down by striking filmmakers.

Cesar talks about it with, among others, Mark Cousins, the Scottish documentary maker who made a special episode of his The Story of Film series about the pandemic. Cousins is also in Cannes with his documentary about Jeremy Thomas, the powerful film producer who has seen the festival change over the decades.

Episode 2: The fiasco of Sean Penn and Lars von Trier

Cannes is the biggest film festival on earth, but it can also be hell for filmmakers. One of the most legendary flops of the main competition is The Last Face (2016) by Sean Penn. It could have easily ended Penn's career as a director, but surprisingly, he returns this year with a new film, once again in the main competition. Will this be a glorious comeback, or will history repeat itself?

Cesar talks about it with Eye programmer Ronald Simons, who attended the very first screening of The Last Face in 2016.

Episode 3: Dreaming of your own feature film

Paul Joosse and Sezer Özdemir are two young filmmakers who dream of a great career, but who are still at the bottom of the film ladder. They go to Cannes with an ambitious plan: their first feature film should be made in 2022. Sezer (Mister Universe Turkey 2018) already went to the festival as a model, for Paul it will be the first time.

Cesar follows the pair throughout this adventure, trying to help them get to the right parties and knock on the right people's doors. Will the festival be a success, or will they drown in chaos?

Opposite this is the story of the young Flemish-Romanian director Teodora Ana Mihai, who made it straight to the Un certain regard section with her feature debut La Civil. How does she experience the festival?

Op de vijfde rij in Cannes (2021)

Episode 1: The first edition of a new era

Episode 2: The fiasco of Sean Penn and Lars von Trier

Episode 3: Dreaming of your own feature film

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