On the morning of April 11th, 2024, Cannes Film Festival president Isis Knobloch and executive officer Thierry Frémaux presented the official selection for this year’s festival. While some Cannes veterans weren’t announced, such as Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths,” Arnaud Desplechin’s “Spectacteurs!” or Walter Salles” “Ainda Estou Aqui,’ ‘the competition has a mix of both newcomers and directors that competed before and even won the Palme d’Or before. Let’s look at each of the 22 announced titles in the competition.
The Apprentice – Ali Abbasi
Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi returns to the festival after competing with Holy Spider in 2022 and participating in the Un Certain Regard programme in 2018 with the Academy Award nominated Border. Taking place in 1970s and 1980s New York City, The Apprentice follows a young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) and his relationship with Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) as the two help start his real estate empire. In an election year in the United States, the film can definitely benefit from the constant exposure of Trump’s controversial and problematic personality bringing more attention to the film and helping it find distribution in the U.S. The cast also features Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump, Martin Donavan as Fred Trump, and Emily Mitchell as Ivanka Trump.
Motel Destino – Karim Ainouz
For the second year in a row, Brazilian director Karim Auinouz is back at the competition, where he presented Firebrand last year, which is set to be released on June 21st, 2024, by Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment in the United States. This time around, Auinouz returns to Brazil’s landscapes with Motel Destino, described as an erotic thriller about a young man on the run and a woman trapped in her abusive relationship. The film’s cast includes Iago Xavier, Nataly Rocha, and Fábio Assunção. His second time in the competition, he also participated in Un Certain Regard with Invisible Life (2019) and Madame Satã (2002), in the Director’s Fortnight with Abismo Prateado (2011), and Special Screenings with Mariners of the Mountains (2021). Motel Destino is currently seeking U.S. distribution and is attached to The Match Factory, who are handling film sales.
Bird – Andrea Arnold
British Academy Award winner director Andrea Arnold is back in Cannes with her first fiction film since 2016, where she presented American Honey and won the Jury Prize (equivalent to the third place award in the competition). 12 year old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug and brother Hunter in a squat in North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids and Bailey who is approaching puberty seeks attention and adventure elsewhere. The cast features Academy-nominated actors Barry Keoghan, Jason Buda, James Nelson Joyce, Nykiya Adams, Jasmine Jobson, Frankie Box, and Franz Rogowski. The film headed alongside Cornerstone Pictures to the last edition of the European Film Market at the Berlin Film Festival. It is the Arnold’s fourth appearance in the competition, presenting her first full-length feature, Red Road (2006), Fish Tank (2009), and American Honey (2016), in the Cannes primary election, with the two latter receiving the Jury Prize. Bird is currently seeking U.S. distribution, while MUBI acquired the UK-Ireland rights.
Emilia Perez – Jacques Audiard
Palme d’Or winner with Deephan in 2015, French filmmaker Jacques Audiard is in this year’s selection with his French/Mexican co-production, Emilia Perez. The film is a musical crime comedy following a lawyer responsible for assisting an escaped Mexican cartel leader (Karla Sofia Gáston) undergoing sex reassignment surgery. Its songs are written by the French musician Camille, the score is composed by Clément Ducol, and Damien Jalet serves as the choreographer. Meanwhile, the film is co-produced by the fashion house Yves Saint Laurent through their Saint Laurent Productions. Its cast includes Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, Édgar Ramírez, Mark Ivanir, and Adriana Paz. Emilia Perez marks Audiard’s sixth appearance in the competition; presenting in the primary selection: Paris 13th District (2021), Deephan (2015), Rust and Bones (2012), A Prophet (2009), and A Self-Made Hero (1996). The film is currently seeking for U.S. distribution.
Anora – Sean Baker
U.S. based independent filmmaker Sean Baker is back at the Croisette after presenting his last film, Red Rocket, in the competition in 2021, and the Academy Award nominated The Florida Project in the Director’s Fortnight in 2017. His new film – Anora stars Mikey Madison and was shot in Brooklyn last year. The official synopsis consists of Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled. NEON acquired the film in the United States, and it is set to be released later this year.
Megalopolis – Francis Ford Coppola
Arguably the most anticipated film from this year’s slate, two-time Palme d’Or winner Francis Ford Coppola returns to the Cannes competition 45 years after he presented his masterpiece, Apocalypse Now, as a work in progress and won the Palme in a tie with Volker Schlondorff’s The Tin Drum. Megalopolis is Coppola’s passion project, which he has been developing since 1983, and one that was only possible to be completed with the help self-financed funding, with $120 million coming directly from the director’s pocket. Taking place in New York City, a similar metropolis, and accident provokes a clash of visions of the rebuilding of the city as Caesar (Adam Driver) aims to build a sustainable utopia while mayor Frank Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) has other plans. The film boasts a star-studded cast featuring Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Talia Shire, Kathryn Hunter, and Grace VanderWall among others. It is Coppola’s fourth time competing; in the last two, he won the biggest prize with The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979). He also competed with You’re a Big Boy Now (1967), and it was featured in the Director’s Fortnight with Tetro in 2009. According to Deadline and IndieWire reports, besides his legendary status, Coppola is struggling to find distribution, as many studio executives who’ve attended preview screenings consider the film too ambitious and not commercial at all. However, a potential Cannes hit could be the push the film needs to find distribution, and an eventual win would make the director the first one in the festival history to win the prestigious Palme d’Or three times.
The Shrouds – David Cronenberg
Another festival mainstay, Canadian body-horror legend David Cronenberg, is back two years after competing with Crimes of the Future. This time, he presents The Shrouds, a film considered the most personal in the director’s filmography. The story centers around Karsh (Vincent Cassel), a grieving widower who builds an innovative gadget to connect with dead people. The cast includes Diane Kruger, Guy Pearce, Sandrine Holt, and Elizabeth Saunders. The plan was originally to develop the plot as a series for Netflix, but with streaming service scrapped the plan, Cronenberg shifted gears and readapted his project into a full-length feature. Marking his seventh appearance in the competition, following Maps to the Stars (2014), Cosmopolis (2012), A History of Violence (2005), Spider (2002), and his most memorable appearance of all was, in 1996 with Crash, winning a special jury prize for its “originality, daring, and audacity.” The Shrouds has locked up Canadian distribution with Sphere Films and awaits further distribution.
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat
A first-timer in the Croisette, French director Coralie Fargeat makes her Cannes debut with The Substance, her sophomore film. Her debut, Revenge, was a festival hit back at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival before being released in the U.S. by NEON before hitting Shudder. Described as a feminist take on body horror, it has a mysterious logline. HAVE YOU EVER DREAMT OF A BETTER VERSION OF YOURSELF .You, only better in every way. You should try this new product, it’s called The Substance. IT CHANGED MY LIFE. With the Substance, you can generate another you: younger, more beautiful, more perfect. You just have to share time – one week for one, one week for the other. A perfect balance of seven days each…Easy right?If you respect the balance…what could possibly go wrong?. Margaret Qualley, Demi Moore, and Dennis Quaid are part of the cast. The film was produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner’s Working Title, and MUBI will distribute in the multiple territories.
Grand Tour – Miguel Gomes
Eighteen years after Colossal Youth (Juventude em Marcha) by Pedro Costa, Portugal is back to the official competition of the Cannes Film Festival with Miguel Gomes’ Grand Tour. Set in 1917; the film tells the story of Edward (Gonçalo Waddington), a civil servant who runs away from his fiancée Molly (Crista Alfaiate) and flees to a grand tour in Asia, contemplating the emptiness present in his existence. The film’s development started in 2019 where Asian shoots began, but they had to be stopped in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shooting in Asia resumed in 2022 with Gomes directing remotely while the narrative sections were shot in Portugal and Italy in studios in 2023. Gomes’s debut in the competition, he previously appeared in the Director’s Fortnight with his three-part film Arabian Nights in 2015, Our Beloved Month of August in 2008, and The Tsugua Diaries in 2021. Produced by Uma Pedra no Sapato, the film is currently seeking distribution in the U.S. with The Match Factory are handling film sales.
The Most Precious of Cargoes – Michael Hazanavicius
A late addition to the competition lineup, The Most Precious of Cargoes, the latest from Academy Award winner Michel Hazanavicius, is an animated film adapted from the best-selling book by Jean Claude Grumberg. Set during the holocaust, it is described as a fable about a poor woodcutter and his wife who had no kids. Utilizing both 2D and 3D, the film features the voices of Dominique Blanc, Grégory Gadebois, Denis Podalydès, and Jean-Louis Trintignan. Produced by Ex Nihilo and Les Compagnie du Cinema, alongside StudioCanal, Les Films du Fleuve, France 3 Cinéma, RTBF, Voo, and BeTV, it is Hazanavicius’ fourth appearance in the competition, previously competing with Redoubtable (2017), The Search (2014), and The Artist (2011). The film also marks the first animation feature in competition since Waltz with Bashir in 2008.
Marcello Mio – Christophe Honoré
Back at the competition after six years, then competing with Sorry Angel, French director Christophe Honoré presents his new film, Marcello Mio, in this year’s official selection. The film is set in a reality where actor Chiara Mastroianni, the daughter of legends Marcello Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve, is obsessed with her father’s life and convinces herself she would rather live his life. Besides Catherine and Chiara, Fabrice Luchini, Benjamin Biolay, Nicole Garcia, and Melvil Poupad are also part of the cast. It is Honoré’s third time in the competition, after previous appearances with Sorry Angel (2018) and Les Chansons d’amour (2007). However, he also participated twice in the Un Certain Regard programme with On a Magical Night (2019) and his debut feature, Dix-Sept Fois Cecile Cassard (2002).
Feng Liu Yi Dai (Caught by the Tides) – Jia Zhang-Ke
Considered one of the main representants of the sixth generation of Chinese cinema alongside Lou Ye, Wang Quan’an, and Zhang Yuan, Jia Zhang-Ke is back with his first film in four years and his first fictional work in six years after Ash is Purest White back in 2018. Caught by the Tides brings back the artistic partnership between Jia and his wife, Zhao Tao; they have worked together since the 2000’s Platform. Set in the early 2000s, the film follows the love story between Qiao Qiao and Guao Bin. When the former disappears, Qiao Qiao sets out to try and find him. Marking Jia’s sixth time in the competition, previously appearing with Ash is Purest White (2018), Mountains May Depart (2015), A Touch of Sin (2013), 24 City (2008), and Unknown Pleasures (2002). Meanwhile, his documentary I Wish I Knew was part of the Un Certain Regard programme in 2010.
All We Imagine as Light – Payal Kapadia
Debuting in the competition, following a Cinéfondation selection in 2017 with Afternoon Clouds and 2021 Director’s Fortnight appearance, winning the Golden Eye winner for the best documentary of the festival with her debut feature, A Night of Knowing Nothing, Indian director Payal Kapadia returns with her sophomore effort, All We Imagine as Light. Her latest film centers around Prabha (Kani Kusruti), a nurse who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband while her younger roommate, Anu (Divya Prabha), is looking for a spot in Mumbai to be intimate with her boyfriend. From there, the two embark on a beach trip to find a space for their desires to manifest. The film marks India’s first appearance in the competition since 1994 with Shaji N. Karun’s Swaham. The film is currently looking for U.S. distribution.
Kinds of Kindness – Yorgos Lanthimos
Fresh out of the 2023 awards season with Poor Things, which won the Golden Lion in last year’s Venice Film Festival competition. Yorgos Lanthimos returns to the Croisette with his latest, Kinds of Kindness. The long-awaited project is his third collaboration with Emma Stone, who recently won the Best Actress award at this year’s Academy Awards for her performance as Bella Baxter in Poor Things. After working twice in a row with the Australian screenwriter Tony McNamara, Yorgos re-teams with his longtime screenwriting partner Eftimis Filippou, who he collaborated on some of his weirdest projects: Dogtooth (2009), Alps (2011), Academy Award nominee for Best Original Screenplay, The Lobster (2015), and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017). The latter two competed at Cannes, while Dogtooth was part of the Un Certain Regard programme in 2009. Lanthimos’ new project is a triptych fable, a three-part film with independent stories about a man without choice trying to regain his life control, a policeman alarmed with the return of his disappeared wife believed to have been lost by sea, and a woman destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader. Alongside Stone is an all-star cast featuring Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn, Mamoudou Athie, and Hunter Schafer. The film is set to be released by Searchlight Pictures on June 21st, 2024.
L’Amour Ouf (Beating Hearts) – Gilles Lellouche
Famous French actor Gilles Lellouche is back in the director’s chair with Beating Hearts, an epic romance drama which holds the title of the most significant investment made by UK StudioCanal in a French-language film with an estimated budget of 35 million euros. It tells the love story of Jackie (Adéle Exarchopoulos/Mallory Wanecque) and Clotaire (François Civil/Malik Frikah) a couple who fall madly in love, but their future is quickly doomed when Clotaire is sentenced to 12 years in prison. An adaptation of the Irish novel Jackie Loves Johnser OK? by Neville Thompson, the script is co-written by Gilles Lellouche, Ahmed Hamidi, Julien Lambroschini, and Venice’s Golden Lion winner director and screenwriter Audrey Diwan. It also features three original choreographies made by the dance collective La Horde, which worked before with Sam Smith. The soundtrack is filled with well-known songs by The Cure, Madonna, New Order, Nas, and Jay-Z. It is Lellouche’s first time in the competition. His film, Le Grand Bain, appeared out of competition in 2018. The first film co-acquired by Canal Plus, France Televisions, and Netflix for SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) rights, it is expected to be released in French theatres October 2024.
Trei Kilometri Pana La Capatul Lummi (Three Kilometres to the End of the World) – Emanuel Parvu
Another competition late addition, Three Kilometres to the End of the World by Romanian director Emanuel Parvu, who is appearing at the festival for the first time. The film follows Adi (Ciprian Chiujdea), a 17-year-old teenager living spending the summer in his home village in the Danube Delta. Suddenly, a brutal attack turns his world upside down. It is Parvu’s film appearance at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Mohammad Rasoulof
The final last-minute addition to the official competition slate, Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig marks his Cannes official competition debut. He has appeared before with Jazireh Ahani in the Director’s Fortnight in 2005. Later, he appeared in The Un Certain Regard with Bé Omid é Didar in 2011, Manuscripts Don’t Burn in 2013, and A Man of Integrity in 2017. According to Screen Daily, the story centres on Iman, an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who grapples with mistrust and paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears. Suspecting the involvement of his wife Najmeh and his daughters Rezvan and Sana, he imposes drastic measures at home, causing tensions to rise. Step by step, social norms and the rules of family life become suspended. It is expected that Rasoulof will not be present at the festival. He was arrested in Iran in 2022 on charges of propaganda against the Iranian regime. He was released last year, but he is serving a two-year ban from leaving Iran.
Diamant Brut (Wild Diamond) – Agathe Riedinger
In her directing debut, Agathe Riedinger is already in the competition with her film, Wild Diamond. It is only the eighth time a debut film competed at the festival this century, the others being Ramata Toulaye Sy’s Banel & Adama (2023), Mati Diop’s Atlantique (2019), Abu Bakr Shawky’s Yomeddine (2018), László Nemes’ Son of Saul (2015), Markus Schleinzer’s Michael (2011), Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty (2011), and Andrea Arnold’s Red Road (2006). The story is about Liane (Malou Khebizi), a girl obsessed with her appearance and had dreams of becoming famous. Suddenly, she sees reality T. as a way of reaching her goal, so she promptly answers the casting call for a reality show. The cast includes Malou Khebizi, Idir Azougli, Andréa Bescond, Ashley Romano, and Alexis Manenti.
Oh, Canada – Paul Schrader
Controversial director and screenwriter Paul Schrader is back at the Croisette after his trilogy of First Reformed (2017), The Card Counter (2021), and Master Gardener (2022) which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Shot amidst the SAG-AFTRA strike through an interim agreement, Oh, Canada brings together a stellar cast of Richard Gere, Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli, and Kristine Froseth. Based on Russell Banks’ novel Foregone, which tells the story of a tormented writer on the brink of death who flees to Canada to avoid the Vietnam War draft. It is Schrader’s first appearance in Cannes since 2016, when he presented Dog Eats Dog at the Director’s Fortnight. He last competed in 1988 with Patty Hearst and Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters in 1985. Oh, Canada is still seeking U.S. distribution.
Limonov: The Ballad – Kirill Serebrennikov
Dissident Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov is back to the festival competing for the fourth time, following Tchaikovsky Wife (2022), Petrov’s Flu (2021), and Leto (2018). Limonov: The Ballad stars Ben Whishaw as dissident writer and politician Eduard Limonov, who founded the National Bolshevik Party in Russia. Based on the 2001 novelized biography Limonov by Emmanuel Carrére, the film was initially planned to be directed by Academy Award-nominated director Pawel Pawlikowski, who dropped the project but still shares a writing credit with Serebrennikov and Ben Hopkins. The film is being distributed by Pathé in France, and it is still looking for U.S. distribution.
Parthenope – Paolo Sorrentino
Another long-time festival partner, Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is back in Cannes after his last film, The Hand of God (2021), premiered at the Venice Film Festival. This year marks his seventh time in competition, where he premiered Youth (2015), The Great Beauty (2013), This Must be the Place (2011), Il Divo (2008), L’Amicco di Famiglia (2006), and Le conseguenze dell’ Amore (2004). Sorrentino describes Parthenope as a story Parthenope (Stefania Sandrelli/Celeste Dalla Porta as younger version), a woman who bears the name of her city, but it is neither siren nor myth. Shot in Naples and Capri, the film’s cast also includes Isabella Ferrari, Silvia Degrandi, and Gary Oldman. It is another Saint Laurent Productions film appearing at the festival. Deadline reported that A24 acquired the North America rights for the film.
Pigen Med Nâlen (The Girl with the Needle) – Magnus Von Horn
The last title presented in this year’s Cannes official competition, The Girl with the Needle, directed by Magnus Von Horn, is the director’s first time in competition; he was in the Director’s Fortnight in 2015 with The Here After. Meant to bring his last film, Sweat, to the festival in 2020, that did not come to be as that year’s festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic though the film was still part of that festival’s official selection. The film is based loosely on the true story of the Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye, who helped women kill their unwanted children. Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, and Besir Zeciri are part of the cast. The Girl with the Needle is currently seeking U.S. distribution and is attached to The Match Factory, who are handling film sales.
The 77th Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 14th to May 25th
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Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.