Cannes. Snow.

"The prize list for the 47th Critics' Week is dominated by European films, including top winner Snow, the debut feature by Bosnian director Aida Begic." Fabien Lemercier has the full list.

Also in Cineuropa: "Begic has made a feature that looks at a familiar theme in Balkan cinema from a fresh point of view and with a raw energy that is especially noteworthy in the work of cinematographer Erol Zubcevic and actress Zana Marjanovic," writes Boyd van Hoeij.

"A polished but often tedious outing that may leave some auds cold, Snow depicts the daily hardships of a war-torn Bosnian village where all that remains are widows and their memories," writes Variety. "Debut feature by writer-helmer Aida Begic offers up female insights and a local point of view on the (literal) no man's land left by the mid-90s conflict. Yet strong performances and craftsmanship cannot save a paper-thin narrative that plays like heavy-handed Abbas Kiarostami without the Iranian auteur's poetic virtuosity."

"A fictionalized account of the plight of Muslim women in a mountain village two years after the 1995 Dayton Accords ended the ethnic cleansing of Muslims (and Croats) by their Bosnian Serb neighbours, Snow is a step up from director Aida Begic's experimental 2001 film First Death Experience," writes Howard Feinstein in Screen Daily. "Unobtrusively directed, this ensemble film successfully captures the special camaraderie among the survivors of such horror and the emotional and psychological toll it takes on the individuals."

Online viewing tips. Cineuropa talks with the players; the video's not subtitled, but there are notes on each interview in English.

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Coverage of the coverage: Cannes 08.

Last year: Cannes @ 60. And Cannes 06.

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Posted by dwhudson at May 25, 2008 6:09 AM