by Nathaniel R
Best Actress possibility? Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani (About Elly, Paterson) and French star Emmanuelle Bercot headline the cast of "Girls of the Sun" about a Kurdish female battalion and the journalist embedded in their ranks
The initial Cannes lineups have arrived with films from their semi-typical list of famous international auteurs. Cannes has had problems leaning into super-male lineups (even when hugely acclaimed female directors are available) so it's worth noting that three of the first seventeen films announced in competition are from female filmmakers: Lebanon's Nadine Labaki, Italy's Alice Rohrwacher, and France's Eva Husson.
Which films are you most excited about? We've got the titles as well as a few details we could find about them after the jump...
Disclaimer: For the first time that I can recall Cannes didn't list the countries the films were from in their press release so I've filled that in as best I could though in several cases it's probably multiple countries behind the film since that's the way films are usually made now. Also several of the titles don't have IMDb pages yet or have possible IMDb pages under other names so information is to date a bit scarce.
COMPETITION LINEUP
- Asaka I & II (Japan) directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
A young woman at 21 and then at 23 falls in love with two men who look just like each other but have completely different personalities. - Ash is Purest White (China) directed by Jia Zhangke
The Cannes regular auteur (Still Life, A Touch of Sin, Mountains May Depart) is back with a violent love story (I'm not comfortable with those words strung together) that spans 16 years. - At War (France) directed by Stéphane Brizé
Not actually a war picture! It's about auto workers who've taken a pay cut to save their jobs but the company shuts down anyway. French movie star Vincent Lindon headlines. - BlacKkKlansmen (US) directed by Spike Lee
The gimmicky spelling of the title makes me so crazy. Argh. But I guess I shouldn't complain since I always call David Fincher's classic "Se7en". I still don't quite understand how this plot is plausible but it's a true story (!) about an African-American cop who successfully infiltrated the Klu Klux Klan to become head of a chapter in Colorado. Starring John David Washington (son of Denzel!) in the lead role.
Yoo ah-in and Steven Yeun in "Burning" from South Korea - Burning (South Korea) directed by Lee Chang-dong
The auteur behind Secret Sunshine, Oasis, and Poetry (he's just phenomenal with actors) returns with a drama about... well, the "plot" descriptions don't say much. Hearthrob Yoo Ah-in is the star with familiar face, Korean-American actor Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead), also in the cast. - Capernaum (Lebanon) directed by Nadine Labaki
- Cold War (Poland) directed by Pawel Pawlikowski
Finally the Oscar winner behind that amazing nun drama Ida is back. This time with a romantic drama set during the Cold War. Ida's Oscar nominated cinematography Lukasz Zal shot it and we think they went with black and white again. - Dogman (Italy) directed by Matteo Garrone
Here is the trailer... - Everybody Knows (Spain) directed by Asghar Farhadi
The opening night film (we previously shared the trailer) from the two time Oscar winner stars married couple Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem and ubiquitous Argentinian actor Ricardo Darín. - Girls of the Sun (France) directed by Eva Husson
Talented Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani (About Elly, Paterson) leads a Kurdish battalion trying to take back their village from extremists. - Lazarro Felice (Italy) directed by Alice Rohrwacher
- Leto (Russia) directed by Kirill Serebrennikov
His last picture, The Student, played in Un Certain Regard. - Le Livre d'Images (France) directed by Jean-Luc Godard
- Shoplifters (Japan) directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda
The prolific Japanese auteur is back with a story about a family of crooks who take in a street orphan. - Sorry Angel (France) directed by Christophe Honoré
I was JUST wondering the other day what had happened to Honoré. - Three Faces (Iran) directed by Jafar Panahi
- Under the Silver Lake (US) directed by David Robert Mitchell
His breakthrough film, the critically raved horror effort It Follows, also premiered at Cannes. This one is a thriller starring Andrew Garfield and Riley Keough and it hits US theaters in June from A24. - Yomeddine (Egypt) directed by AB Shawky
This sounds intriguing. It's about a leper and his apprentice leaving the leper colony and journeying across Egypt.
Filmmakers that were widely rumored to be in the running but aren't listed include Harmony Korine, Brian de Palma, Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan, French filmmakers Olivier Assayas, Claire Denis, and Jacques Audiard, Danish "persona non grata" Lars von Trier, UK giant Mike Leigh, and Italy's Paolo Sorrentino. BUT it's possible that their new films just aren't ready yet and will just wait it out for the fall film festival ballyhoo. Cannes usually squeezes in about 20 films for their main jury and this is only 18 so expect two or three additions before the festival hits and Cate Blanchett and jury start their judging.
THE REST OF THE TITLES ARE NOT IN THE MAIN COMPETITION AKA THE "DISRESPECTED" ACCORDING TO NETFLIX. teehee.
OUT OF COMPETITION
- Le Grand Bain (France) directed by Gilles Lelouch
This is sometimes referred to as Sink or Swim and stars awesome French actors Jean-Hugues Anglade, Mathieu Amalric, and Guillaume Canet among others - Solo: A Star Wars Story (US) directed by Ron Howard
Trailer just discussed.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
- Dead Souls (Hong Kong) directed by Wang Bing
He usually makes documentaries and this is 8 plus hours long. Yikes. - The Great Mystical Circus (Brazil) directed by Carlo Diegues
- Pope Francis – A Man of His Word (US) directed by Wim Wenders
A documentary on well, the title says it all. - The State Against Mandela and the Others (?)
Directed by Nicolas Champeaux & Gilles Porte - To the Four Winds (?) directed by Michel Toesca
- La Traversée (France) directed by Romain Goupil
- 10 Years in Thailand (Thailand) directed by Aditya Assarat, Wisit Sasanatieng, Chulayarnon Sriphol & Apichatpong Weerasethakul
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
Arctic with Mads Mikkelsen
- Arctic (Iceland) directed by Joe Penna
This film is in English and stars Mads Mikkelsen. - The Spy Gone North (?) directed by Yoon Jong-bing
UN CERTAIN REGARD
- El Angel (Argentina) directed by Luis Ortega
Cecilia Roth is in the cast. - Angel Face (France) directed by Vanessa Filho
Marion Cotillard stars. - Euphoria (Italy) directed by Valeria Golino
The new film from this actress-turned-director stars Riccardo Scarmarcio and Valerio Mastandrea and presumably has an entirely different plot than last year's Euphoria which was from the UK about estranged sisters staying at a mysterious hotel for the dying. - Friend (Kenya) directed by Wanuri Kahiu
- The Gentle Indifference of the World (Kazakhstan) directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov
- Girl (Belgium) directed by Lukas Dhont
A drama about a trans girl who dreams of becoming a ballerina - Gräns (Sweden) directed by Ali Abbasi
A female border guard must confront "terrifying revelations about herself" in this thriller - The Harvesters (South Africa) directed by Etienne Kallos
- In My Room (Germany) directed by Ulrich Köhler
Köhler won the Silver Bear at Berlin for his most recent feature Sleeping Sickness but that was seven whole years ago. His new film is about a man who realizes that everyone around him has disappeared. - Little Tickles (France) directed by Andréa Bescond & Eric Métayer
The cast includes (I believe) Karin Viard and Pierre Deladonchamps. - Long Day’s Journey into Night (China) directed by Bi Gan
The only new film IMDb has listed for him is something called Roadside Picnic starring Wei Tang and Sylvia Chang so this title is confusing. I don't beleive it's actually an adaptation of the Eugene O'Neill classic but I could be wrong. - Manto (India) directed by Nandita Das
This is a biopic of a writer in 1940s India starring Bollywood regular Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
a still from Manto - My Favourite Fabric (?) directed by Gaya Jiji
- Sextape (France) directed by Antoine Desrosieres
- Sofia (?) directed by Meye Benm’Barek
Thoughts?