By Utpal Borpujari

After Nandita Das’ “Manto” getting selected to the official Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, another woman director from India will shine at Cannes this year.

Debutante filmmaker Rohena Gera’s “Sir”, an unlikely romance between an upper class man and his housemaid, is the only non-European film among the eight selected for competition in the prestigious sidebar section of the Cannes Film Festival, Critics’ Week.

Critics’ Week and Directors’ Fortnight are the two highly-prestigious sidebar sections of the main Cannes Film Festival, which are as coveted for filmmakers as the official sections of the festival.

“Sir”, starring Tillotama Shome Geetanjali Kulkarni, Rahul Vohra, Vivek Gomber and Ahmareen Anjum, is one of the four films directed by woman filmmakers among the eight selected for compeititon in Critics’ Week section this time.

The other films in the section are Anja Kofmel’s “Chris The Swiss”, Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt’s “Diamantino”, Zsófia Szilágyi’s “One Day”, Agnieszka Smoczaska’s “Fugue”, Benedikt Erlingsson’s “Woman At War” and Camille Vidal-Naquet’s “Sauvage”.
The 11 films in the section were chosen from among nearly 1100 entries received this time, Charles Tesson, Critics’ Week artistic director, said.

Gera’s film has been selected as it says “something deep and meaningful about the middle and upper class in India through a tale of an impossible love”, Tesson said.

The section will open with American actor-director Paul Dano’s “Wildlife” Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan, while the closing film will be Alex Lutz’s “Guy”. Among other highlights of the section are Guillaume Senez’s “Our Struggles” and Jean-Bernard Marlin’s “Shéhérazade” which will have special screenings.

On the opening film, Tesson said, “‘Wildlife’ has a timeless dimension, as well as a social bent because it deals with the struggles of the white working class while also exploring the characters’ emotions with great sensibility”.

Meanwhile, the Directors’ Forthnight section will screen 17 features including world premieres from top directors like Gaspar Noe’ and Ciro Guerra.

The section will open with the world premiere of “Birds of Passage” by Colombian directors Guerra and Cristina Gallego, the former known for the deeply philosophical and Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent”.

The other films in the section led by artistic director Edouard Waintrop are “Amin” by Philippe Faucon, “Climax” by Gaspar Noé, “Carmen y Lola” by Arantxa Echevarria, “Comprame un Revolver” by Julio Hernandez Cordon, “Les Confins du Monde” by Guillaume Nicloux, “El Motoarrebatador” by Agustin Toscano, “En Liberté” by Pierre Salvadori, “Joueurs” by Marie Monge, “Leave No Trace” by Debra Granik, “Los Silencios” by Beatriz Seigner, “Ming Wang Xing Shi Ke De” by Ming Zhang, “Mandy” by Panos Cosmatos, “Mirai” by Mamoru Hosoda, “Le Monde Est a Toi” by Romain Gavras, “Petra” by Jaime Rosales, and “Samouni Road” by Stefano Savona.