Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát, actress-turned filmmaker Nathalia Acevedo and veteran French filmmaker Robert Guédiguian are among the ten in the female-centric competition line-up. Horvát’s highly anticipated My Notes on Mars (we recently profiled the film) starring Mackenzie Davis and Rupert Friend will open the section in this sci-fi romance. The closing night slot also belongs to the larger genre category item in Lèa Domenach’s Peau d’homme. Re-teaming with Catherine Deneuve (2023’s Bernadette), this sophomore feature is based on the graphic novel with Claire Pommet and Karin Viard also in the mix.
In one of our most anticipated directorial debuts of the year we find Nathalia Acevedo (from Carlos Reygadas’s Post Tenebras Lux fame) who delivers Salón De Bellezza with Sam Louwyck and Erwan Kepoa Falé toplining. Inspired by the novel by Mario Bellatin, this is set in a beauty salon in a city ravaged by a mysterious disease which becomes a refuge for the afflicted as they linger between life and death. Also on our radar, Nigerian filmmaker Damilola Orimogunje‘s second feature (which had received some post production support via HBF+Europe). Dear Ajayi tells the tale of two estranged sisters forced to live under the same roof while caring for their paralyzed mother. Another second feature, Polish filmmaker Kuba Dorabialski’s proposes an oddity in Agata the Writer which features Mia Wasikowska as Agata who travels from Sydney to Sarajevo to write a war novel but is challenged by locals who question her motives. And Robert Guédiguian‘s Une femme aujourd’hui is a dramedy that features Marilou Aussilloux, his significant other in Ariane Ascaride, and the filmmaker’s muse in Jean-Pierre Darroussin. Aussilloux plays Juliette who
has nights filled with fleeting lovers until the moment she is assaulted by a work colleague at a company event. And as per usual, the section will showcase the Women’s Tales Projects shorts – this year the Miu Miu Label shorts are from Lido vets in Mona Fastvold and Claire Denis. Here is the line-up:
IN COMPETITION
“Sadness Sometimes, Other Times Revolt,” Maria Aparicio
“Agata the Writer,” Kuba Dorabialski
“Balcanica,” Nicola Sorcinelli
“Camouflage,” Mykyta Gibalenko
“Dear Ajayi,” Damilola Orimogunje
“I Plant My Hand in the Garden,” Boris Hadžija and Hoda Taheri
“Les Indes,” Pauline Julier, Nicolas Chapoulier
“My Notes on Mars,” Lili Horvàt – Opening Film
“Salón De Bellezza” Nathalia Acevedo
“A Woman Today,” Robert Guédiguian
OUT OF COMPETITION
“Man’s Skin,” Léa Domenach
SPECIAL EVENTS
“Al Baraneya,” Ashgan El-Hamus
“Carla Lonzi, A Feminist Story,” Francesca Archibugi
“The Phantom,” Ignacio Masilorens, David Lamelas
“The Massacre,” Cosimo Messeri
“Even if Hell Came,” Samuele Rossi
WOMEN’S TALES PROJECT (shorts), in collaboration with Prada’s Miu Miu Label
“Discipline,” Mona Fastvold
“Avec Kim,” Claire Denis
