Quentin Tarantino will attend Cannes Directors’ Fortnight as a guest of honor on May 25 for a special event consisting of a secret screening and a discussion on his counter-history of cinema, the parallel sidebar has announced.
The discussion will spin off Tarantino’s recent book Cinema Speculation, which was published last November, and explores key American films of the 1970s.
“In 1969, in Cannes, the Directors’ Fortnight was born, a counter-programming of free-spirited films from all over the world. In 1969, in California, a new generation of filmmakers rose against old Hollywood,” the Cannes parallel sidebar said in a statement.
“Of this, Quentin Tarantino has recently published a captivating analysis in a critical essay on 1970s cinema. As an exceptional and generous cinephile, Tarantino is at home at the Fortnight. He will be our guest this year to present a secret screening and discuss his counter-history of cinema. A rockabilly vibe on closing day.”
Tarantino has a long history with Cannes having shown six of his films in Official Selection and was last at the festival with Once Upon A Time In Hollywood in 2019.
His attendance at Directors’ Fortnight coincides with a strong showing for US indie cinema in the section this year.
Three US indie titles have made the cut: Sean Price Williams’s The Sweet East, Joanna Arnow’s The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed and Weston Razooli’s Riddle Of Fire.
The section’s incoming Delegate General Julien Rejl told Deadline this week that he felt there was something of a revival going on in the American indie scene, albeit on limited resources.
The section – unveiling 20 features and 10 short films – runs from May 17 to 26.
