Before we dive headfirst into full-on Palme d’Or predictions tomorrow (with a part deux that will drop brunch time on Sunday) – we now look at the items that Thierry Frémaux would have possibly looked at (and secured) for the Out of Competition, Midnight, Special Screenings and Cannes Premiere slots.
The Out of Competition slate usually runs a half-dozen strong, a mix of blockbuster studio tentpoles and quirky indie curiosities – (how many people had Amélie Bonnin’s feature debut Partir un jour on their bingo card?). Midnight screenings—always the wild cards—tend to stick to a fivesome and lean heavily on genre thrills, chills, and adrenaline-soaked mischief. Special Screenings are the playground for animation and documentaries, typically about ten films in total. And don’t get me started on the Cannes Premiere section which keeps expanding. While we don’t understand the curatorial thinking behind it, the result is a grab bag of seasoned auteurs who no longer fit in Un Certain Regard, might not quite cut it for the main competition, but whose film teams nonetheless still want that coveted Cannes stamp. I guess this is where Jarmusch would have been asked to go with Father Mother Sister Brother and we know what happened there. Here are our guesses per section:
Cannes Premiere
Kirill Serebrennikov was an habitual of the competition with his four straight Palem d’Or comp premieres and then last year he made his first Cannes Premiere appearance with The Disappearance of Josef Mengele. The issue is we already have two other Russian filmmakers in competition so with no plot deets Après is a French-language film that stars Ludivine Sagnier, Fanny Ardant, Vincent Macaigne, Guillaume Gallienne, and Louis Garrel.
Emmanuel Courcol‘s Banquise (aka Greenland) features Kali Boisson, Sandrine Kiberlain and Benoît Magimel in the book to film project which begins with a young woman’s disappearance. Three years later her young sister sets off in search of her in Greenland and her parents take off after her. While the film is only set to drop domestically in November, we think Courcol will return to the lieu that invited him twice before with The Big Hit (2020) and Cannes Premiere title The Marching Band (2024).
Spanish helmer Rodrigo Sorogoyen was finally invited to Cannes when his feature in 2022’s As bestas was selected for the Cannes Premiere section (but should have been in competition). The Beloved follows the father-daughter relationship between an acclaimed film director and a middling actress, as they reunite on set after several years of estrangement, exploring a film crew shooting a motion picture in Fuerteventura titled Desierto, in turn set in 1930s Western Sahara. Javier Bardem and Victoria Luengo star.
French-Iranian-German filmmaker Emily Atef has been to the Croisette twice with 2008’s Then Stranger in Me (in the Critics Week section) and 2022’s More Than Ever (in the Un Certain Regard section). A book to film project, Call Me Queen tells the story of the friendship between Rwandan Queen, a single mother from the slums of Nairobi and Anna, an Irish journalist sent to Kenya in 1999 – they will journey together in a declaration of war against injustice. Eliane Umuhire, Denise Gough, Laurent Lafitte and Dominic West star.
After almost a dozen features in competition, it’s time for Nanni Moretti to find a new home for his twilight year features. A romantic drama loosely inspired by the novel, It Will Happen Tonight features Louis Garrel, Jasmine Trinca, Angela Finocchiaro, Elena Lietti, Antonio De Matteo, Hippolyte Girardot and Moretti himself.
Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert loaded up The Idiot(s) with Vicky Krieps, Christian Friedel, Aimee Lou Wood and Johnny Flynn for a book to film project which follows follows the lives of the famous writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his wife Anna during a period that inspired him to write “The Idiot” — at the time a commercial flop, but today, considered one of the greatest novels in the history of literature.
Élie Wajeman has three features under his belt and they’ve all premiered on the Croisette. So after 2012’s Alyah (Directors’ Fortnight), 2015’s The Anarchists (Critics’ Week) and 2020’s A Night Doctor (Official Selection) we could find Le joueur starring Pio Marmaï, William Lebghil, Sarah Le Picard, Hippolyte Girardot and Suzy Bemba housed here. This is about a theater director and a pathological gambler. One fateful night, he gambles away the entire grant for his new play: Chekhov’s Platonov. To recoup his losses and save his production, Ivan will enter underground poker games.
Special Screenings
Following in the footsteps of her Cannes presented short Me Too (2024), Judith Godreche‘s sophomore feature A Girl’s Story is set when during a book signing in Normandy, Annie Ernaux, 70, revisits her memories of the summer of 1958, when she was 17. That summer, she left her hometown to work as a camp counsellor. At the first party, the head counsellor set out to deflower her. Finding him handsome, she lets him do it, as if against her will… Her body becomes a foreign place for her, an offering to be sacrificed. Tess Barthélemy, Valérie Dréville, Victor Bonnel, Ariane Labed, Maïwène Barthélémy and Guslagie Malanda star.
Asmae El Moudir won the directing prize in Cannes 2023’s Un Certain Regard section for her brilliant docu feature debut The Mother Of All Lies. Her sophomore doc Don’t Let The Sun Go Up On Me has been picking up a lot of traction with prize wins at Marrakech and CPH:DOX. This retraces the life of Fatimazahra, a young woman born with a rare genetic disorder that made exposure to sunlight deadly. She lived a parallel, nocturnal existence and founded a community known as the Children of the Moon. Following her death in 2023, the group traveled to Norway’s Lofoten Islands to live beneath the polar night, seeking a world where darkness offers safety.
The tandem that combined their efforts on Eleven Days in May (2022) return with Gaza Year Zero. Michael Winterbottom and Mohammed Sawwaf tell the story of a 13-year-old boy and his family as they try to survive in a country destroyed by war. The film draws on the experiences of Sawwaf and his team who have been working in Gaza all through the war. Winterbottom has been in comp three previous times and 2007’s A Mighty Heart was an out of comp invite.
Without looking at the film fest’s history sheet, Sergei Lonitsa is perhaps the active living director with the most Cannes invites – his film are always considered and usually programmed. Imperium is a full visual journey through the vastness of the Soviet Union, composed exclusively of archival footage shot between 1970 and 1973 by a group of Italian filmmakers. From the nomadic encampments of Central Asia to Red Square, from remote villages in the Caucasus to the far reaches of the Far East, the film reveals a mosaic of cultures that the regime sought to homogenize.
It’s not uncommon to see a Sundance title break into Cannes as an international premiere and after assessing everything from Park City we believe that Olivia Wilde‘s The Invite has better than average chances for a showcase. The film has not premiered anywhere since, and A24 has the film opening on June 26th. It’s a critical darling with Wilde being joined by Seth Rogen, Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz.
Based on the graphic novel, In Waves by Phuong Mai Nguyen looks at AJ, a shy teenager, meets Kristen while in high school in Los Angeles. Kristen is passionate about surfing… and she’s the most beautiful person he’s ever met. They fall madly in love. As life seems to finally come together for AJ, Kristen’s life starts falling apart, shattered by illness. Together, they will fight adversity with dignity and enjoy their now-shared passion for surfing and for the ocean, but also their loyal band of friends. This is what happens when love and friendship become a wave stronger than anything.
Another Croisette animated film offering could be Jim Queen from the tandem of Julián Marco Nguyen and Nicolas Athane. The directorial debut has a domestic June release. This is about a gay influencer’s life crumbles when a virus turns Paris’s gay men straight. He teams up with a twink to find a rumoured cure in the Marais district.
French actor and filmmaker Gustave Kervern put together an alluring ensemble for his latest film project. Loïc Mandere, Suzanne Lindon, Léa Drucker and Mathieu Amalric star in Voilà, c’est fini which is set in Mauritius and tells the love story between Pierre, a local employee, and Louise, a French tourist suffering from anorexia. He shows her another side of his country: wild beaches, nightlife, bustling streets… Each, in their own way, dreams of escape and emancipation. But Louise’s departure is approaching, and Pierre grows tense at the thought of staying on this island he is desperate to leave. He will risk everything in an attempt to escape a future that seems already written. Kervern premiered Le Grand Soir in the Un Certain Regard section in 2011.
Taking his sweet time between features, it has been more than a decade since Bennett Miller launched Foxcatcher in competition in Cannes. He has been obsessed with A.I. before it was a daily news headline and he has been hacking away at an A.I. documentary for sometime now. Details are scarce according to multiple sources the doc is ready.
Out of Competition
Among the bigger-scale titles poised to unspool on the Croisette we see Antonin Baudry‘s La Bataille de Gaulle : L’âge de fer as a bonafide shoe-in for a drop especially when considering its June 3rd domestic release is just around the corner. The first of two films on French general Charles de Gaulle, this has a massive starry cast with Simon Abkarian in the commander’s seat.
2023’s Linda veut du poulet was a massive indie hit born on the Croisette from the often neglected ACID section and we think that Carmen l’oiseau rebelle will come with a lot of hype. French illustrator/animation director Sébastien Laudenbach brings us a tale set in Andalusia, Spain, 1840. After three years of wandering, Salva, who works as an assistant to a blind knife sharpener, returns to Seville, his hometown, where he meets Carmen, a gypsy woman with a captivating voice. The voice cast includes Camélia Jordana, Milo Machado-Graner, and Soumaye Bocoum. Haut et Court has dated the domestic release for December but is this is ready it would be hard for the film team to resist this profile.
Gael García Bernal‘s third feature film will likely be celebrated in Cannes where the actor has showcased his previous two features. After 2007’s Déficit (Critics’ Week) and 2019’s Chicuarotes (Special Screening), Hombre al agua is being coined as an “introspective drama infused with humorous elements and surreal, dreamlike sequences, delving into a realm of manipulation and the falsehood of social masks”.
With all three of his previous features premiering in Cannes, Hope could easily extend his winning streak to four in a row. After 2008’s The Chaser, 2011’s The Yellow Sea, 2016’s Wailing, Korean filmmaker Na Hong-Jin lassoed Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, Taylor Russell and Cameron Britton. Set in a remote village of Hope Harbor, near the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). When a tiger is suspected to have appeared and local police chief Bum-seok is alerted, it throws the community into chaos. But what begins as a local emergency soon spirals into a deeper, more terrifying mystery, one that forces the town’s residents to confront the unknown. This has been cooking in post production for almost two years now.
Pathé has dated the latest Guillaume Canet directed film as an October release but if this is in the same verve as 2013’s thriller Blood Ties (which was a Croisette out of comp entry) then this psychological thriller could sneak in. Karma finds Marion Cotillard, Denis Ménochet and Leonardo Sbaraglia in a tale where Jeanne tries to rebuild her life with Daniel, who knows nothing about her troubled past. One day, Jeanne’s six-year-old godson mysteriously disappears and Jeanne becomes the main suspect.
With four of his features being selected for the Un Certain Regard section and Jellyfish being his sole comp entry the name of Kiyoshi Kurosawa could be considered for a non-comp entry. Kokurojo: The Samurai and the Prisoner drops domestically in Japan next June and is a book to film historical drama mystery which stars Masahiro Motoki, Masaki Suda, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Munetaka Aoki, and Ryota Miyadate. During the Azuchi era, Araki Murashige, a samurai who served Oda Nobunaga, eventually rebelled against his lord and barricaded himself within Arioka Castle. As the siege wore on, a bafflingly brutal murder occurred inside the castle walls. With no one able to solve the crime, fears and tensions are rising, Murashige turned to a man he himself had cast into a dungeon: Kuroda Kanbei.
If they Frémaux can’t convince Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan or the Pixar folks to drop early, then common sense says Lucasfilm has a parking spot to grab. Not the first Star Wars universe feature to be preemed in Cannes, The Mandalorian and Grogu stars Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White and drops worldwide during the festival on May 22nd. The evil Empire has fallen but Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they enlist the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu. Jon Favreau directs.
We love films about the filmmaking process and the fest’s programmers appreciated having Isabelle Huppert over last year for out of comp entry The Richest Woman in the World so despite Memento’s listed September domestic release date we think Marc Fitoussi‘s latest comedy Ni vue, ni connue could make an appearance. Re-teaming with Huppert (he directed her in his sophomore Critics’ Week selected feature Copacabana) who takes on the shoes of Corinne Maclou. She is a film extra. She goes from one film shoot to the next, hoping to be noticed and finally lands a real role. When her path crosses that of Sandrine Kiberlain (yes the actress plays a version of herself) and a relationship begins to develop between them, Corinne hopes to make her dream a reality. But will the famous actress really help her find her place within the vast world of cinema?
Midnight
Although there is another film oddity starring Léa Seydoux that might be trying to nab a Palme d’Or competition spot it would be neat to find the Zellner Bros.’ alien invader comedy Alpha Gang there or as a hyped up late night screening. With a heavyweight cast in Cate Blanchett, Chris Pine, Dave Bautista, Léa Seydoux, Lily-Rose Depp, Adria Arjona, Doona Bae and Kelvin Harrison Jr., this is about a group of alien invaders disguised as a 1950s leather-clad biker gang sent to conquer Earth. Their mission is derailed when they succumb to “the most toxic, contagious human disease of all: emotion”.
Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike has flirted with Cannes populating both the Directors’ Fortnight and and main competition spots alike. Shun Oguri, Lily James, and Liv Morgan star in action thriller Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo – which is a standalone sequel to Abel Ferrara’s 1992 film. Here we find a Tokyo police officer, and compulsive gambler who become involved in a complex investigation when a mysterious FBI agent arrives in Japan following the disappearance of a politician’s daughter.
With about a dozen world premieres featured on the Croisette, chances for Werner Herzog to shore up feel especially great with this material. Bucking Fastard could be programmed in competition or offered late at night as it features Kate and Rooney Mara in a based on the true story of inseparable twin sisters Jean and Joan Holbrooke who are in search of an imaginary land where true love is possible and they start digging a tunnel through a mountain range.
