Jan Kounen Articles

Sasha Grey in The Girlfriend Experience (top); 9 by Shane Acker (middle); Mads Mikkelsen, Anna Mouglalis in Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (bottom) The 2009 edition Stockholm International Film Festival attracted the two-decade-old festival's biggest audience ever: 130,000 moviegoers. The Stockholm festival's 20th anniversary was celebrated with screenings on ice, and the presence of international celebrities such as Lifetime Achievement Award winner Susan Sarandon, Luc [...]

Bitch Slap stars America Olivo, Julia Voth and Erin Cummings at the 2009 Stockholm Film Festival. (Photo: Carla Orrego Veliz.) Directed by Rick Jacobson, and co-written by Jacobson and Eric Gruendemann, Bitch Slap is a throwback to B movies of the '60s and '70s a la Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, in which women kick ass, throw punches, and display canyon-deep cleavage. The film had its [...]

Cannes 2009: Out of Competition Films / Special Screenings Below is a sample of out-of-competition films, special screenings, and midnight screenings at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Click on the photos to enlarge them.   Pete DOCTER, UP (Opening Night Film) Anne AGHION, MY NEIGHBOR, MY KILLER Alejandro AMENABAR, AGORA Terry GILLIAM, THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Robert GUÉDIGUIAN, L'ARMÉE DU CRIME (The Army of [...]