By Lubna Abdel-Aziz "The lusty month of May" brings with it the lustier Festival de Cannes, indisputable king of international film festivals. This year it will bring in its 60th anniversary in grand style, with a star-studded line-up, never before seen on the Riviera Boardwalk. More on the Mediterranean fever that sizzles under Cannes' azure skies in the coming weeks. For now we seize the opportunity to learn about some of the many talents this festival is fond of displaying regularly. Premiering at Cannes (16 May - 27 May) will be the much awaited sequel of the very popular series -- Ocean's 13, directed by Steven Soderbergh, an enormously talented American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, Palme d'Or recipient and Oscar winning director. It is always a joy to watch Soderbergh in both his hits and misses. One can sense the dauntless spirit of adventure and exploration, much like a mischievous boy climbing leafy high trees in search of a bird's nest or a beehive, fearless of hazard or sting. This spirit paid off when he blew away audiences with his first feature Sex, Lies and Videotape, an original ground- breaking concept which captivated all viewers, simple and sophisticated, earning him the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival 1989. He was only 26, the youngest director ever to receive their precious award. Even more surprising is the fact that Soderbergh wrote the film in less than eight days, and filmed it himself with relative unknowns. Sex, Lies and Videotape remains an iconic oeuvre, an intriguing cinematic experience, and a must in every film scholar's library. Although the product of an academic family of Swedish ancestry, Soderbergh was busy making super-8 mm films when he was only 12. Rather than enrol at the Louisiana State University, where his father was Dean of Education, as was expected, Soderbergh packed his bags, following his high school graduation and headed for Hollywood. There, he eventually found work as a film editor, an experience which served him well in later years. During a visit to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he conceived the idea of video-taping sex aberrations, deceptions and adultery in small town USA. The tremendous critical and commercial success of Sex, Lies and Videotape was followed by a series of experimental low box-office disappointments, which ended in 1998 with a stylised adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel, Out of Light, starring the decade's heartthrob George Clooney, and the Puerto Rican bombshell Jennifer Lopez. The screen sizzled with their stunning love scenes and the film received wide praise for its brilliant vision and skilful photography, reaffirming the director's singularly remarkable talent. Clooney and Soderbergh founded a lucrative artistic partnership (Section Eight) that spawned many an abitious endeavour. In 2000, he directed Julia Roberts in Erin Brokovich, a role which handed Roberts her only Oscar,but it was his next project that same year that crowned his career as director. A two and a half hour social drama, Traffic, featured an ensemble cast of 138 speaking parts, in Spanish and English, and filmed in eight different cities. Soderbergh ended up with two Oscar nominations for Best Director, becoming the only director to have been nominated in the same year for two different films by Academy Awards in 50 years, the Golden Globes, and the Directors' Guild of America. The brilliant Benicio del Toro, under the directional baton of Soderbergh also won Best Supporting Actor in Traffic. How does he manage to stroke so many actor's egos at the same time? "I've always gotten along with them," says Soderbergh. "I try to make sure they're OK, and when they are in the right zone, I leave them alone. I don't get in their way." Appreciative actors return over and over to work with Soderbergh in whatever role he casts them, big or small. High-profile actors like Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones, played minor roles in Traffic, Ocean's 11, Ocean's 12, and Full Frontal. Ocean's 11, a remake of a 1960 film, starring Frank Sinatra and his "Rat Pak", became his highest grossing film to date. It clamoured for an encore, Ocean's 12, a disappointment, despite the exotic European backdrop. Unwilling to end their "little boys" mischievous adventure on a sour note, Ocean's 13 landed on a novel idea of plotting revenge rather than money. Seeking the blessings of a Cannes appearance, Ocean's 13 will premiere during the festival, "Out of Competition". Following the launching of Da Vinci Code, a mediocre film unpleasing to critics, went on from a Cannes premier to gross $750 million worldwide, one of the box office hits of 2006. The Red Carpet lure of Cannes, with the likes of the cast of Ocean's 13, which includes Al Pacino, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ellen Barkin, Don Cheadle, etc, will drive the French crowds wild, and the rest of the world will surely follow. At 44, Soderbergh has reached great heights and a reputation for being as multi-talented as he is mercurial. His fancy leads him from big budget Hollywood films to small house independent features. He writes and producers and often logs his camera on his back to shoot frank and intimate scenes. For an artist there are two roads towards excellence. One is repeating, polishing and perfecting one style, that will ultimately lead to an iconic position of indisputable value. Such was the case of Alfred Hitchcock who with thriller after thriller, became master of his trade. The other road is in developing the versatility of the artist, his sense of creativity, exploration, and innovation. His noble pursuit after growth and discovery thrills his fans. Such was the case with Billy Wilder gracefully moving from genre to genre with elegance and skill, from the gritty Witness for the Prosecution, to the witty Some Like it Hot, always delighting, surprising, and satisfying. Such is the nobility of Soderbergh's pursuit. His insight into the human soul is deep and true. His films' worth and excellence is so rare and precise, it is hardly worthwhile to remember the froth and effervescence he sometimes espouses. As we await Guerilla and other future Soderbergh projects, we are all gearing up for the third version of a clever caper, as the boys take us on an excitingly, breathless, swim in Ocean's 13. Two men look out through the same bars, One sees the mud, one the stars --Frederick Langbridge (1849-1923)
