A surprise Wim Wenders project (Perfect Days), a rare directorial debut Ramata-Toulaye Sy (Banel et Adama) and a Wang Bing film (Jeunesse) are part of the surprise selections (from nineteen identified titles) that will compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Our top two most anticipated world cinema offerings for 2023 in Jonathan Glazer‘s The Zone of Interest (#2) and Nuri Bilge Ceylan‘s About Dry Grasses (#1) are part of the Palme d’Or heavyweights. Joining Glazer, Sy and Bing as noteworthy first-timers to the comp we also find Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania with Les Filles D’Olfa and Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz finally leaves the Un Certain Regard clubhouse (he has been there on four separate occasions) with Firebrand.
Italian cinema is back in force with filmmakers Marco Bellocchio (his new film is titled Rapito), Nanni Moretti and Alice Rohrwacher all lassoing spots while from Asia we have filmmakers Kore-eda Hirokazu and Tran Anh Hung (a very French tale) are in the mix. From Europe we find Finland’s Aki Kaurmaski and Austria’s Jessica Hausner. In the English language heavy hitters we find the latest from Todd Haynes (an acquisitions title in May October), Wes Anderson (Asteroid City), and Ken Loach‘s last film (The Old Oak). And finally we noticed the huge absence of big named French filmmakers not making the cut in Valérie Donzelli, Robin Campillo, Bertrand Bonello, Catherine Corsini and Bruno Dumont which leaves the door open for Justine Triet‘s Anatomie D’une Chute and Catherine Breillat‘s L’Ete Dernier. Expect two to three last minute additions in the coming weeks with all eyes on Lanthimos.
Club Zero – Jessica Hausner
Asteroid City – Wes Anderson
The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer
Fallen Leaves – Aki Kaurismaki
Les Filles D’Olfa (“Four Daughters”) – Kaouther Ben Hania
Anatomie D’une Chute – Justine Triet
Monster – Kore-eda Hirokazu
Il Sol Dell’Avvenire – Nanni Moretti
La Chimera – Alice Rohrwacher
About Dry Grasses – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
L’Ete Dernier – Catherine Breillat
The Passion of Dodin Bouffant – Tran Anh Hung
Rapito – Marco Bellocchio
May December – Todd Haynes
Firebrand – Karim Ainouz
The Old Oak – Ken Loach
Perfect Days – Wim Wenders
Banel Et Adama – Ramata-Toulaye Sy
Jeunesse – Wang Bing
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
