I imagine I’ll be seeing some of the Cannes films at the Traverse City Film Festival in August. Until then, I’m reveling in hearing about the films and people involved in Cannes’ 12-day run, which ended tonight. 

“The White Ribbon” scored the coveted Palme d’Or, the festival’s top honor.  Jury president Isabelle Huppert presented Michael Haneke with the prize at the closing-night ceremony held in the Palais des Festivals.

It’s the first time a jury president has presented the award since Clint Eastwood gave the award to Quentin Tarantino for "Pulp Fiction."

Grabbing the Grand Prix award was Jacques Audiard’s "A Prophet," after being announced by Willem Dafoe. Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, who played "the Jew Hunter" in Quentin Tarantino’s "Inglourious Basterds," took home the best actor prize.

For a full list of 2009 Cannes winners, click here.

Image: INF; Source: Hollywood Reporter

Being a holiday week, most movies opened on Wednesday, Dec. 31. But there really weren’t a lot of new movies this week, and the two that opened were in limited release. At any rate, there’s the rundown:

Good (limited, Dec. 31, 2008). Viggo Mortensen plays John Halder, a German literature professor in the 1930s whose book about compassionate euthanasia is unexpectedly enlisted by powerful political figures in support of government propaganda. Viggo has certainly picked some interesting roles since his "Lord of the Rings" days. Also stars Jodie Whittaker (pictured, with Mortensen). [Trailer] [Official Site]

Defiance (limited, Dec. 31, 2008). Daniel Craig stars in this WWII movie about three brothers who take refuge in a dense woods to avoid the same fate as other Jews in Eastern Europe. [Trailer] [Official Site]

Image: Good, ThinkFilm, 2008

Movie: Australia * Official Site	In Theaters: Nov. 26, 2008
Runtime: 165 minutes	Directed by: Baz Luhrmann
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some violence, a scene of sensuality, and brief strong language	Gecko Rating:

“Australia” is a sweeping epic of a movie involving romance, adventure, drama and war. It begins with English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) journeying from London to Australia’s rugged Northern Territory to convince her husband to sell their unprofitable cattle farm known as Faraway Downs.

But when she gets there, she’s immediately a fish out of water among the uncivilized town filled with brawling bar thugs. One of those thugs is Drover (Hugh Jackman), a grizzled, raucous guy who takes her to the ranch to meet up with her husband. But when they get there, things are not at all as they should be, and the cultured Lady Ashley must decide what to do.

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I saw “Australia” today and loved it! In this clip, actor Hugh Jackman and director Baz Luhrmann talk about what they learned from working with Brandon Walters, the young aboriginal boy who narrated the story. That kid was fantastic!

“Australia” is in theaters right now, and I’ll be seeing and reviewing it in the next day or so. Until then, here’s director Baz Luhrmann talking the movie up with AMC’s Jacob Soboroff.

The Duchess premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Sunday, and opens in limited release Sept. 19, 200. It follows the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life (some critics are drawing comparisons to Princess Diana). Here are a couple of clips of Keira Knightley and director Saul Dibb talking about the film, followed by the theatrical trailer:

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I’ve been a big fan of Captain Abu Raed ever since I first watched the film and talked with director Amin Matalqa. It’s the touching story of an airport janitor who’s mistaken for an airline pilot by a group of kids living in his neighborhood. As he begins to weave fantastic stories for the kids, something bigger and more powerful begins to happen in all of their lives.

Now the film — the first to come out of Jordan — has been selected to represent the country at the 81st Annual Academy Awards, scheduled for Feb. 22, 2009 in Hollywood.

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Rolling off a warm reception at the Venice Film Festival, Paris-based distributor Celluloid Dreams has sold several territories on Marco Bechis‘ Birdwatchers.

An eco-drama romance, “Birdwatchers” is set in the Brazilian jungle, and tells of a rebellion by natives against wealthy landowners. The film has also sold to the U.K. (Artificial Eye), Germany (Pandora), Benelux (Cinemien), Austria (Filmladen) and Switzerland (Trigon). Come on, people! We need this film in the U.S.!

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These are some fightin’ words!

Marcos Oliveira, head of 20th Century Fox in Australia, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he believes the upcoming Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman and directed by Baz Luhrmann will become “the biggest [film] of all time” in that country.

That’s saying a lot, since Titanic came out of that studio, as well.

Further fueling my interest in this film is Jackman’s comment at the Australian International Movie Convention. He called his part in the film “the role of a lifetime.”

Sounds like “Gone With the Wind” territory, and I’m really looking forward to this film.

Image: Australia, 20th Century-Fox Film Corp., 2008

Steven Spielberg recently cinched a Dreamworks deal with Reliance Big Entertainment, a Mumbai film group.

Now we get word that the government-owned Abu Dhabi Media will spend more than $1 billion making feature films over the next five years. That’s fantastic news!

I recently talked with Amin Maltaqa, director of Captain Abu Raed, the first independent film to come out of Jordan. Things are moving along in that corner of the world, because Maltaqa talked about how the Royal Film Commission was started to encourage projects from local filmmakers. I love hearing these global film stories.

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