Happy cinephile Christmas, everyone! If you heard the pitter-patter of feet, and the salted caramel popcorn and Criterion DVD you left out overnight are gone, it means that Thierry Fremaux has been here, and left behind the announcement for the most hotly-anticipated festival line-up of the year for the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
After weeks and months of speculation, and the surprisingly late announcement of the opening film a few days ago, in the shape of Emmanuelle Bercot’s “La Tete haute,” the full line-up (at least in terms of Competition, Un Certain Regard and Special Screenings — Director’s Fortnight and Critic’s Week will follow in the next few days) has been unveiled. And it’s pretty exciting.
Relying slightly less on the familiar faces than in previous years (with a particularly intriguing Un Certain Regard full of fresh filmmakers), there are still a few big name Cannes auteurs: Paolo Sorrentino, Matteo Garrone, Jacques Audiard, Nanni Moretti, Jia Zhangke, Gus Van Sant. But we’ve also got the return of Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Todd Haynes to the festival, Yorgos Lanthimos‘ competition debut with "The Lobster," Joachim Trier‘s English-language "Louder Than Bombs," Justin Kurzel‘s "Macbeth," and a festival debut from "Prisoners" and "Enemy" helmer Denis Villeneuve with the Emily Blunt-starring "Sicario."
Pixar and Pete Docter also return to the festival with an out-of-competition screening of "Inside Out," with "The Little Prince" joining it among animated fare, while Woody Allen‘s "Irrational Man" gets a special screening, as does Natalie Portman‘s "A Tale Of Love & Darkness." There’s still more to be announced, with at least four movies in competition and as many in Un Certain Regard (plus, of course, the Director’s Fortnight or Critics’ Week), so let’s hope that notable omissions like Ben Wheatley‘s "High Rise," Apichatpong Weerasethakul‘s "Love In Khon Kaen," Miguel Gomes‘ "Arabian Nights," Gaspar Noe‘s "Love" and Cary Fukunaga‘s "Beasts Of No Nation" still turn up. The festival kicks off May 13th, and we’ll be there in force once again.
Official Selection
“The Assassin” (dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
“Carol” (dir. Todd Haynes)
“Dheepan” (dir. Jacques Audiard)
“The Lobster” (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
“Louder Than Bombs” (dir. Joachim Trier)
“Macbeth” (dir. Justin Kurzel)
“Marguerite et Julien” (dir. Valerie Donzelli)
“Mia Madre” (dir. Nanni Moretti)
“Mountains May Depart” (dir. Jia Zhangke)
“My King” (Maiwenn)
“Our Little Sister” (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda)
"Sea Of Trees" (dir. Gus Van Sant)
"Sicario" (dir. Denis Villeneuve)
“A Simple Man” (dir. Stephane Brize)
“Son Of Saul” (dir. Laszlo Nemes)
“The Tale Of Tales” (dir. Matteo Garrone)
“Youth” (dir. Paolo Sorrentino)
Un Certain Regard
“The Chosen Ones” (dir. David Pablos)
“Fly Away Solo” (dir. Neeraj Ghaywan)
“The Fourth Direction” (dir. Gurvinder Singh)
“The High Sun” (dir. Dalibor Matanic)
“I Am A Soldier” (dir. Laurent Lariviere)
“Journey To The Shore” (dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
“Madonna” (dir. Shin Suwon)
“Maryland” (dir. Alice Winocour)
“Nahid” (dir. Ida Panahandeh)
“One Floor Below” (dir. Radu Muntean)
“The Other Side” (dir. Roberto Minervini)
“Rams” (dir. Grimur Hakonarson)
“The Shameless” (dir. Oh Seung-Uk)
“The Treasure” (dir. Corneliu Porumboiu)
Out Of Competition
“Inside Out” (dir. Pete Docter & Ronaldo Del Carmen)
“The Little Prince” (dir. Mark Osbourne)
“Mad Max: Fury Road” (dir. George Miller)
“Standing Tall” (“dir. Emmanuelle Bercot) — opening film
Special Screenings
“Amnesia” (dir. Barbet Schroeder)
“Asphalt” (dir. Seamuel Benchetrit)
“A Tale Of Love & Darkness” (dir. Natalie Portman)
“Hayored Lema’ala” (dir. Elad Keidan)
“Irrational Man” (dir. Woody Allen)
“Panama” (dir. Pavle Vuckovic)
“Oka” (dir. Souleymane Cisse)
Midnight Screenings
“Amy” (dir. Asif Kapadia)
“Office” (dir. Hong Won-Chan)
Cannes Classics
“Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words”
