Closely following the Cannes Film Festival since 2017, I’ve always dreamed of one day attending the festival even though that dream felt just out of reach. Earlier this year I decided to shoot my shot and apply for the Three Days in Cannes program and wrote an essay detailing my love for film, my aspirations within the industry and why I wanted to attend the festival. After a nerve-wracking several weeks of waiting, I received an emailing stating that I had been admitted into the program. This year has a particularly high profile lineup and with recent two time Palme D’Or winner and Oscar nominee Ruben Östlund leading the jury, the awards ceremony is going to be incredibly interesting to follow. With the 76th edition of Cannes Film Festival now upon us, here are my his picks for films to keep an eye on:
About Dry Grasses
Acclaimed Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s career trajectory has been as much of a slow burn as his films. Despite delivering three massive critical successes in the 2010’s with Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Winter Sleep, and The Wild Pear Tree, and winning the Palme D’Or for Winter Sleep, Ceylan has yet to become a household name within the realm of international cinema outside of the festival circuit. His latest follows a teacher, from rural Anatolia, who dreams of moving to Istanbul after being accused of abusing a student. Much like Ceylan’s previous films, About Dry Grasses is a lengthy undertaking, clocking in at over three hours. While it will likely be a endurance test, those who have the patience will likely be rewarded with another thought provoking gem in his already impressive oeuvre.
Asteroid City
Ever since The Grand Budapest Hotel gained Wes Anderson more visibility than he ever had before and firmly established him as one of the defining filmmakers of the 21st century, the idiosyncratic filmmaker has seemingly done everything in his power to isolate his increasingly mainstream audience. If The French Dispatch was any indication, he seems to be placing an emphasis on crafting Eurocentric films that allow him to continue to expand the scope of his visual style and work with a wide range of actors that he admires. The absurdly large cast of Asteroid City and its loose narrative will surely please Anderson’s hardcore fans, but leave others longing for the days when his films married his style with a compelling narrative.
Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny
It’s a bummer that supposedly that what looks to be the final in the beloved Indiana Jones franchise is not helmed by Steven Spielberg. However, James Mangold is a very competent filmmaker who is capable of achieving great things when he sets his mind to it, especially within the realm of blockbusters. With Cannes coming off a banner year for mainstream premieres, with Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis launching at the fest last year, the placement of Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny in the lineup is hopefully a good indication of its quality.
Killers of the Flower Moon
When it was announced late last year that Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated follow-up to The Irishman was going to be pushed to 2023, rumors began to circulate that the film would potentially be seeking a Cannes bow. Killers of the Flower Moon marks Scorsese’s first film to premiere at Cannes since After Hours launched at the festival in 1985. Despite not playing in competition, the three and half hour epic is without a doubt the most hotly anticipated film at the festival, and will likely be one of the most widely talked about films of the year. The film aims to continue Scorsese’s legendary late-career run and marks the very first time that his two muses, Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio, will share the screen together.
La Chimera
After winning the Best Screenplay prize at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for the sleeper hit Happy As Lazaro, as well as earning an Oscar nomination earlier this year for her Alfonso Cuarón-produced short film La Pupille, Italian Filmmaker, Alice Rohrwacher, returns to Cannes with her most high profile effort to date. La Chimera stars Josh O Connor and Isabella Rossellini and follows a group of palaeontologists who get caught up in the black market of historical artifacts. NEON is distributing the film and seems keen on giving it an awards push, so if that’s any indication, it’s a strong front runner to win the Palme D’or.
May December
While Todd Haynes post-Carol career has been relatively disappointing so far, May December seems to be a return to form. The film sees Haynes reunite with Julianne Moore, who stars alongside Natalie Portman, in this drama following a reporter who investigates a questionable relationship between an actress and her lover who are decades apart in age. The script has been floating around for months and those who read it claim it’s potentially Haynes best work yet, with juicy roles for Moore, Portman and Charles Melton. The film hasn’t been picked up by a distributor yet, so if it’s as good as many hope it will be, there could be a huge bidding war surrounding the film.
Monster
Hirokazu Koreeda has become a frequent presence at the Cannes Film Festival. His South Korean drama Broker premiered at the festival just last year to strong reviews. The prolific auteur is back with another film, this time in his native language of Japanese. The film follows a mother who notices her son is beginning to act strange, and suspects his teacher may be the cause of his behaviour. Koreeda is at his best when he’s exploring unconventional family dynamics, and it sounds like Monster is right in his wheelhouse
The Zone of Interest
While his filmography is sparse, Jonathan Glazer is one of the most intriguing and daring auteurs of the 21st century. It’s been a decade since Under the Skin premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and fans have been patiently awaiting his follow up. The Zone of Interest sees Glazer reunite with A24 for a polish language WWII drama. While on paper, it sounds to be more traditional than what we’re used to seeing from Glazer but the film seems to be a passion project and will likely be incredibly ambitious and provocative.
Stay tuned for our coverage of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, coming soon.
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