Cannes taps Dutch talent with Verhoeven, Dudok de Wit films

The Netherlands will be well represented at the Cannes this year with two Dutch films nominated for awards in the 69th edition of the festival, known as the Olympic games for films. Elle by Paul Verhoeven is taking part in the Palme d'Or competition, and The red turtle by Michael Dudok de Wit is taking part in the Un certain regard competition, Het Parool reports. A total of 1869 films were submitted, of which 49 were included in the official selection. The selection consists of the Palme d'Or (Golden palm) competition with 20 films, the second league competition Un certain regard with 17 films, the outside competition with 5 films, 5 special screenings and 2 midnight screenings. The program will be announced next week. Elle is the first French-language film by Verhoeven. the psychological thriller/rape-revenge movie was filmed in France with a French crew. Elle is based on a script by David Birke, which is based o the novel Oh... by French author Philippe Djian. In Elle businesswoman Michele, played by Isabelle Huppert, is attacked and raped by a masked man in her apartment. The film is about how this dramatic event changed her life. Elle will be released on Dutch cinemas on June 2nd. The red turtle is the first full length animation of Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit. It is a co-production between Japnese Studio Ghibli and French production company Wild Bunch and was written by French director Pascale Ferran. The film is about a man trying to escape a desert island where only animals live. He makes a raft, but is thwarted by a huge red turtle.