Cannes Roundup


There are lots of stories about what's going on at Cannes on the web. Dark movies for a darker world. Scarlett is not Woody Allen's muse. The Weinstein's are going crazy, generating international monster buzz, making "2 deals (at Cannes) in less than 24 hours," reports Indiewire. The rise of India, Indian film, and Aishwarya Rai.


Reuters writes of Kilomatre Zero:

"Kurdish Iraqi director Hiner Saleem needed a statue of Saddam Hussein to star in his 2005 movie 'Kilometre Zero.'

"No Kurd would agree to make one, so Saleem finally convinced an Arab sculptor to travel to the Kurdish north. The only problem was, when the Kurdish authorities discovered the effigy of the toppled leader, the artist was put in jail.

"Such logistical headaches surrounded the first Iraqi film to be shown in competition at the annual Cannes Film Festival, reflecting one of main themes of 'Kilometre' -- the tensions between Iraqi Arabs and Kurds."