Columbia Filmmakers Shine at Cannes 2024
The 77th edition of the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival is taking place this year from May 14 to 25, 2024, and several School of the Arts filmmakers are screening their work.
Two short films by School of the Arts filmmakers will screen as part of the La Cinef Selection, the Festival de Cannes’ selection dedicated to film schools. Columbia is the only school with two films in this prestigious competition this year, which includes 18 short films selected from among the 2,263 submitted by film schools all over the world.
In Out the Window Through the Wall, written and directed by Asya Segalovich '23, as people try to adapt to the new reality of present-day Russia, a cartographer encounters a young man who has recently escaped from an adult psycho-neurological facility.
Three, written and directed by Film student Amie Song, follows a Chinese woman who has recently moved to the United States to live with her daughter and tries to keep her daughter's secrets from her new friends.
Cannes Critics Week, a section of the Cannes Film Festival, is aimed at championing the work of first and second time emerging feature filmmakers. The sole US film accepted to Critics Week this year, Blue Sun Palace, was directed by Film alumna Constance Tsang '20. The film was produced by fellow alumni Tony Yang '20 and Marta Cruana Compes '20. Additionally, Qianfin Chen '23 and Film student Shuli Tan worked as production assistants on set.
Blue Sun Palace tells the story of two migrants from Queens' Chinese community, bound together by a sudden loss. Far from home, and working tirelessly to support themselves, they grieve together in the hope of finding a family.
Lastly, the feature film Pierce, written and directed by alumna Nelicia Low '18, will have its Cannes Market Launch. Film Professor Eric Mendelsohn co-edited the film, which follows Jie, a young fencer reconnecting with his estranged older brother Han, who mysteriously returns after seven years in juvenile prison for killing an opponent during a fencing competition. The film was recently acquired by Magnify, the international sales arm of Magnolia Pictures, and an official trailer was just released in advance of the film's sales launch at Cannes.