Cannes 2023

Film Quarterly editor and veteran critic B. Ruby Rich reports from the 2023 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. She notes that the gap between outside perception and insider experience of the Festival was profound, as bad weather and ticketing woes meant that the advice most often shared was the bromide “If you’re not feeling humiliated, you’re not at Cannes.” Nonetheless, Rich reports on a satisfying array of films, both from known auteurs including Todd Haynes, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Kleber Mendonça Filho and new discoveries such as the Georgian film Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry from director Elene Naveriani and the animated Robot Dreams by Pablo Berger.