I might be getting ahead of myself, but what can you do. The Cannes Film Festival starts today and one of the highlights will be the directorial debut from Charlie Kaufman. "Synecdoche New York", which he also wrote. Kaufman was the genius behind those wonderful and amazing films "Being John Malkovich", "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Adaptation" and this new film is the first he has wrote AND directed. It stars the sublime Philip Seymour Hoffman as New York theatre director Caden Cotard, who attempts to put on a play by creating a life-size replica of New York in a warehouse. While this happens, his personal life is collapsing around him to add to the drama. Hoffman is supported by a quite incredible female cast. How about Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, Emily Watson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis and Catherine Keener. Pretty nice, hey? We will probably have to wait a while for this film though. I would imagine it would get a US release towards the end of 2008, timed to generate Oscar buzz. So hopefully an Australian release will occur shortly after.

Here are some stills, courtesy of Cannes.