Farhadi’s “The Salesman” Completes Cannes Main Comp; Mackenzie’s “Hell or High Water” in UCR

And then they were twenty-one. Shown to Cannes’ head honcho Thierry Fremaux a tad too late for the initial announcement, Asghar Farhadi’s The Saleman (#23 in our most anticipated film list) has officially secured the last remaining Competition spot for the infamous walk up the red steps. This will be his second run for the coveted Palme d’Or prize after 2013’s The Past.

The fest additionally added a pair to the Un Certain Regard section: we find Mohamed Diab grabbing the opening film slot with Clash, and Sicario scribe Taylor Sheridan makes it 2-for-2 with the David Mackenzie titled Hell or High Water (formerly know as Comancheria) starring Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges.

Coming as a non-surprise addition and continuing in revenge Americana theme, Jean-François Richet’s Blood Father with Mel Gibson becomes the Midnight screening while three films in Jonathan Littell’s docu Wrong Elements, actor Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet’s directorial debut (which our Nicholas Bell mentioned as a possible contender) La forêt de Quinconces and Karim Dridi’s drug cartels Marseille based Chouf receive Special Screening status.