Arts: Watch a Cannes Breakout?s Great First Film

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Brow Beat Watch a Cannes Breakout's Great First Film By Forrest Wickman Posted Thursday, May 31, 2012, at 12:16 PM ET American films and stars may have fared poorly at Cannes this year, but there was one major exception: Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin, which won the Camera d'Or for best first film. This isn't the first award for Beasts. It also won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival, where Slate's Bill Wyman called it "unforgettable" and New York Times critic Manohla Dargis placed it "among the best films to play at the festival in two decades." Beasts of the Southern Wild won't hit U.S. screens until later this summer, but you can watch its predecessor on YouTube now (courtesy of Wholphin, the DVD magazine run by McSweeney's). Like Beasts, the short, called "Glory at Sea," concerns a southern Delta community endangered by a flood and focuses on a young girl who also serves as the film's narrator. "Glory at Sea" concerns the aftermath of that flood, and a community's Orpheus-like efforts to keep alive its old traditions and loved ones. It's a short film, but it's epic in scope—and so was the production. According to the website of the production company, Court 13, the film was made over five months, with multiple stoppages due to running out of cash—and at least one run-in with the Coast Guard over the seaworthiness of the film's makeshift vessel (which they assembled out of wreckage from Hurricane Katrina)."The final result (and that it ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Hulu Is Too Good. It Has To Make Itself Crummier. Do Baseball Players Try Harder During the Year Their Contract Is Up? Ai Weiwei on What It's Like Being Constantly Watched by the Chinese Government	Advertisement
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