Female directors stand out for their talent on the Croisette. Andrea Arnold has established herself as a filmmaker of those left behind. Like her fellow citizen Ken Loach, she gives a voice to those who are never given a voice. Bird, presented in competition at Cannes, is no exception to the rule. The director ofAmerican Honey, Fish Tank, Red Road And Cow also known for the series Big Little Things paints the portrait of a 12-year-old girl on the path to adulthood in a work vibrant with life.
Andrea Arnold is as good at conveying the emotions of a working-class English teenager as she is of a cow, and there is no irony – but a lot of admiration – in this remark. “I wanted to show the suburbs of London as we never see them,” explains the filmmaker. The people I show are close to my own family: full of life and never afraid to speak their mind. »
Take flight
This vitality permeates the character of adolescent Bailey who manages to exist between her father and her brother before meeting the eccentric Bird, a young man who will help her take flight. The young Nykiya Adams, whom she found while searching for “the rowdiest student in middle schools”, is a marvel of naturalness in this overwhelming role. She will be a tough competitor for Malou Khebizi of Rough diamond as young shoots seem to overshadow established actresses on the Cannes red carpet. She is worthy of Andrea Arnold’s heroines whose thirst for living, quickly, now, she shares.
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Andrea Arnold was awarded the Golden Coach for her entire career last Wednesday. “Even when I shoot fiction I try to film reality,” she clarified before declaiming her support for the workers of “Sous les pavés la dèche”, who came to Cannes to defend their rights. Talented, committed, strong, Andrea Arnold has everything for the president of the Jury, Greta Gerwig, to be in her camp.
Andrea Arnold has won the Cannes Jury Prize three times in 2006, 2009 and 2016. Will she receive the supreme award this year? A Palme d’Or would be so good next to his Coach of the same metal…