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Austin’s Jeff Nichols wins Critics’ Week in Cannes
Austin’s Jeff Nichols, the director of “Take Shelter,” won the Grand Prize of the 50th annual Critics’ Week, a prestigious sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival.
Nichols also won the SACD Screenwriting Award for “Take Shelter,” which stars Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. Chastain also stars in Austin director Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” which is competing for the Palme d’Or at the festival.
“These two awards are the highlight of my career to date,” Nichols said Friday. “It was an honor to be included in Critic’s Week with these films and a thrill to be singled out among them.”
Nichols has been highly visible on the Cannes circuit this week, conducting numerous interviews with representatives of the international press over the past few days. Earlier this week, he and Chastain were the center of attention, attracting dozens of journalists.
Nichols says that he wants “Take Shelter” to be seen as a story about the importance of communication in marriage. But he also says that he wanted to wrap this idea in the thriller genre. Hence, we get a movie about a working-class man, played by Shannon, who has nightmares about an impending natural disaster that threatens his family.
Before he took “Take Shelter” to the Sundance Film Festival in January, Nichols sold the North America, Latin America, Australian and New Zealand distribution rights to Sony Pictures Classics. After Sundance, FilmNation Entertainment acquired the remaining international rights to the movie.
For more on Nichols’ win, stay tuned to the Austin Movie blog for updates from our man in Cannes, Statesman movies editor Charles Ealy.
Writer and director Jeff Nichols poses for a portrait at the premiere of “Take Shelter” during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Monday, Jan. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
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