The 2022 Cannes Film Festival is upon us and three Screen NSW supported films are in the line-up to screen at the 75th Festival de Cannes, running from 17 – 28 May 2022.

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis and Dr George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing will have their world premieres at the festival where they will screen out of competition, and Thomas M. Wright’s crime thriller The Stranger has been selected for the Festival’s Un Certain Regard program.

The Stranger

The film was financed with the assistance of Screen NSW, produced by Academy Award-winning See-Saw Films, Anonymous Content and Joel Edgerton of Blue-Tongue Films.

A friendship forms between two strangers. For Henry Teague (Sean Harris), worn down by a lifetime of physical labour, this is a dream come true. His new friend Mark (Joel Edgerton) becomes his saviour and ally. However, neither is who they appear to be, each carry secrets that threaten to ruin them – and in the background, one of the nation’s largest police operations is closing in.

Soundfirm provided full post-production services including picture, sound and VFX for The Stranger; Spectrum Films provided editorial services for The Stranger, including Avid equipment and Nexis storage; Trackdown provided music editorial, screening facilities and edit suites for The Stranger.

Three Thousand Years of Longing

Three Thousand Years of Longing was supported by Screen NSW’s Made in NSW – International Footloose Production fund and the NSW Post Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) Rebate incentive program.

Three Thousand Years of Longing follows Dr Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton), who is content with life and looks at the world with healthy scepticism. Despite this, she encounters a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.

This is a problem because she is a scholar of narrative and knows all the cautionary tales about wishes gone wrong. He pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past. Eventually, she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both. The film is being distributed by Roadshow.

Fin Design & Effects was one of two primary VFX vendors on Three Thousand Years of Longing, executing over 200 shots in the film, encompassing a wide array of disciplines from characters, environments, extensive FX and detailed particle simulations. Fox Lighting provided lighting equipment on Three Thousand Years of Longing, Heliguy provided aerial cinematography, Panavision supplied camera equipment. Showgroup provided travel management services, Simpsons Solicitors were production lawyers for the production, Spectrum Films provided a complete suite of post-production services, including data management, editorial, 4K Digital Intermediate (including HDR Grading), Dolby Atmos, 7.1 & 5.1 sound mixing stage and engineering, Theatrical and home entertainment deliverables. The Trackdown team provided score recording, coordination and ADR services, with Craig Beckett score recording in their Simon Leadley Scoring Stage, Elaine Beckett score coordinating and ADR recorded by Liam Moses at Trackdown Studios. Slatevfx provided VFX for Three Thousand Years of Longing.

You can see the full festival program at the Cannes Film Festival website.

Screen NSW congratulates all the hugely skilled and talented cast and crew who worked on these epic productions.

Feature Image: Thomas M. Wright, Writer and Director of The Stranger