Review: Cannes Film Festival Offered a Weak Main Programme, but Strong Side Selections

Film critic Tristan Priimägi writes in Sirp that this year's Cannes Film Festival competition programme was underwhelming, focusing mainly on moral dilemmas. The side programmes, however, offered plenty of quality cinema.

The Cannes Film Festival presented a contradictory experience this year: the main competition programme fell somewhat short of expectations, while the side events repeatedly drew the attention of audiences and critics with positive surprises.

Film critic Tristan Priimägi analyses in his review published in Sirp that this year's competition programme leaned primarily towards depictions of moral choices and ethical dilemmas. Such themes are certainly important, but the competition programme of the prestigious Cannes festival is usually expected to offer something more — bolder artistic approaches and more diverse narratives.

According to Priimägi, the side programmes contained considerably more compelling viewing material. It was precisely there that the festival's true energy and diversity emerged, offering the public with plenty of brilliant cinema moments that in many cases proved far more striking than those from the central competition programme.

The Cannes Film Festival is one of the world's most prestigious film festivals, whose competition programme often shapes the direction of international cinema seasons. Although this year's main selection did not meet the highest expectations, the richness of the festival's side programmes confirms that Cannes can still provide significant added value to world cinema.