by Nathaniel R
The Cannes lineup was announced very early this morning (time differences, don'cha know) and we're here to give you details, not just film titles. While TFE doesn't attend ($) we do follow from afar and hope to make the trek some day. The 70th Annual Cannes Film Festival runs May 17th through May 28th.
OPENING NIGHT
Which is a high profile gig but also risky as the knives are often out for a sacrifice to the festival gods to launch the cinextravaganza.
Ismael’s Ghosts (Arnaud Desplechin)
French auteur Desplechin's latest will be released in the US by Magnolia. It stars French A-Listers Marion Cotillard, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Mathieu Amalric, and Louis Garrel and revolves around a filmmaker (Amalric) working on a new picture when his long dead lover Carlotta (Cotillard) returns to life sending his life into a tailspin. If you've never seen Desplechin classics Kings and Queen (2004) and A Christmas Tale (2008) get right to that!
THE COMPETITION LINEUP...
From whence lots of silly Oscar buzz shall emerge. Silly in that the concerns of Cannes and Oscar are quite different and the overlap is notsomuch. These are the films that President of the Jury Pedro Almodóvar and his jury (yet TBA) shall pull from for the Palme d'Or and the acting prizes and such. But, please note: usually the first announcement is not the complete list as another title or three will slip in last minute before the festival.
120 Beats per Minute (Robin Campillo)
A French film from the director of Eastern Boys
The Beguiled (Sofia Coppola)
Coppola's remake of the Clint Eastwood/Geraldine Page Civil War era psychosexual drama from 1971.
The Day After (Hong Sangsoo)
The prolific South Korean director returns with new muse Kim Min-Hee (The Handmaiden) in front of the camera again
A Gentle Creature (Sergei Loznitsa)
From the Russian director of the memorable and brutal My Joy (2010)
Good Time (Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie)
This is an American indie from the Safdie brothers (Heaven Knows What) about a bank robber starring Robert Pattinson
Happy End (Michael Haneke)
The Austrian master (Amour, Caché, The White Ribbon) returns with this story set against the backdrop of the European refugee crisis. Isabelle Huppert stars
In the Fade (Fatih Akin)
A revenge picture set within the German-Turkish community from the director of Head-On and Soul Kitchen. Diane Kruger and Numan Acar, both pictured with Akin above, headline.
Jupiter’s Moon (Kornél Mundruczó)
A Hungarian picture from the director of the celebrated allegorical drama White Dog
Farrell and Kidman on set
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos)
The latest from The Lobster and Dogtooth auteur. Like The Beguiled, this one stars both Colin Farrel and Nicole Kidman
L’amant double (François Ozon)
Hot on the heels of his wonderfully elegant Frantz (now playing) the French auteur's new drama stars Jacqueline Bissett and two Ozon alums Marine Vacth and Jeremie Renier
image via French premiere
Le redoubtable (Michel Hazanvicius)
The director of The Artist returns with a biographical French film about Jean-Luc Godard (played by Louis Garrel) marrying a 17 year old actress Anne Wlazemsky (Stacy Martin from Nymphomania)
Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
The Russian director of Oscar nominee Leviathan returns with this story about a divorcing couple whose son disappears
The Meyerowitz Stories (Noah Baumbach)
We just talked about this one. Netflix plans to release it in theaters... but what's the window like before its streaming?
Okja (Bong Joon-Ho)
Another one going to Netflix. Starts streaming in late June
Radiance (Naomi Kawase)
This rising Japanese director's latest is a romantic drama about a photographer (Masatoshi Nagase) and a woman who has grown disconnected from the world (Ayame Misaki).
Rodin (Jacques Doillon)
A French film from the director of Ponette . And yes it's a biopic of the great sculptor. Cannes winning actor Vincent Lindon plays Rodin.
Wonderstruck (Todd Haynes)
Haynes's adaptation of celebration children's author Brian Selznick's (who also wrote The Invention of Hugo Cabret) book of the same name tells two stories simultaneously about a young boy in the Midwest and a young girl from 50 years earlier in New York. Julianne Moore plays two roles but the leads are children Ben (Oakes Fegley from Pete's Dragon) and Rose (newcomer Millicent Simmonds)
You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay)
Ramsay's first feature since We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011). This one is the story of a vet trying to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Alessandro Nivola, and Ekaterina Samsonov. NOTE: this film is not actually finished. Will Ramsay make her deadline?
UN CERTAIN REGARD
The lineup that will prompt the most "why wasn't this in the main competition?!?" grousing from critics. Though this is secondary, in "weak" years (the strength of the festival always judged on the main lineup) people will nearly always say that this line-up is better.
Barbara (Mathieu Amalric). OPENER
France. Amalric is having another big Cannes as both actor and director
After the War (Annarita Zambrano)
Italy
April’s Daughter (Michel Franco)
Mexico. From the director of Daniel & Ana and After Lucia.
Beauty and the Dogs (Kaouther Ben Hania)
A relatively new Tunisian director
Before We Vanish (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
A Japanese picture about aliens scouting earth to prepare for a mass invasion of human possession.
Closeness (Kantemir Balagov)
???
The Desert Bride (Cecilia Atan & Valeria Pivato)
Argentina
Directions (Stephan Komandarev)
Bulgaria
Dregs (Mohammad Rasoulof).
Iran
Jeune femme (Léonor Serraille)
France
L’Atelier (Laurent Cantet)
France
Lucky (Sergio Castellitto)
From the Italian actor turned director Castellito. This drama is about a struggling single mother (Jasmine Trinca, pictured above) trying to open a hair salon.
The Nature of Time (Karim Moussaoui)
???
Out (Gyorgy Kristof)
A Slovakian picture about a 50 year old man wandering East Europe
Western (Valeska Grisebach)
Germany
Wind River (Taylor Sheridan)
FBI related thriller from the celebrated writer of Sicario and Hell or High Water, stepping up to the director's chair. The film stars Elizabeth Olsen, Jon Bernthal, and Jeremy Renner and opens August 4th stateside.
OUT OF COMPETITION
Blade of the Immortal (Takashi Miike)
The ever prolific and insane Miike returns with a revenge picture about a girl enlisting an immortal to fight against the villains who slaughtered her family
How to Talk to Girls at Parties (John Cameron Mitchell)
So happy to hear this is finally finished. It's been so quiet. The non-prolific Mitchell has never made less than an exciting movie. This story about two boys who meet otherworldy girls at a party in the 1970s began as a Neil Gaiman short story, then it became a graphic novel. And now it's a movie. Nicole Kidman has a glorious punk haired cameo (at least) but Elle Fanning and Alex Sharp are the leads.
Visages, Villages (Agnès Varda & JR)
A new documentary from the New Wave goddess.
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
Prayer Before Dawn (Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire)
The true story of Billy Moore (Joe Cole from Peaky Blinders) who survived prison by becoming a Muay Thai boxer. A24 will distribute in the US
The Merciless (Byun Sung-Hyun)
The Villainess (Jung Byung-Gil)
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
12 Jours (Raymond Depardon)
French documentary
An Inconvenient Sequel (Bonni Cohen & Jon Shenk)
Clair’s Camera (Hong Sangsoo)
Hong Sangsoo has two new pictures. This one stars Isabelle Huppert and Kim Min-Hee
Demons in Paradise (Jude Ratman)
???
Napalm (Claude Lanzmann)
The director of Shoah is back?!?
Promised Land (Eugene Jarecki)
The fine documentary filmmaker behind Why We Fight, The House I Live In, and Freakonomics
Sea Sorrow (Vanessa Redgrave)
Wait, what? Vanessa Redgrave as a director!?
They (Anahita Ghazvinizadeh)
Iran
70TH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS
Come Swim (Kristen Stewart)
Top of the Lake (Jane Campion)
Episodes of the new season
Twin Peaks (David Lynch)
Two episodes of the new season
VIRTUAL REALITY
This is a short film
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Jury President (Competition): Pedro Almodóvar
Mistress of Ceremonies: Monica Bellucci
Jury President (Cinedonation / Short Films): Cristian Mungiu
Jury President (Camera d'Or): Sandrine Kiberlain