A still from 'Kinds of Kindness' by Yorgos Lanthimos
New films by Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold and Francis Ford Coppola, as well as a 1980 portrait of Donald Trump, will compete for the Palme d'Or in its 77th year. Cannes Film Festival Next month, organizers announced Thursday.
Announcing the selections at a news conference in Paris with festival president Iris Knobloch, Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux said this year's lineup was drawn from 2,000 submissions. Frémaux noted that he went into process about the effect Last year's strikes In American films, the lineup is usually filled with top international filmmakers and some hotly anticipated blockbusters.
Cannes Film Festival President Iris Knobloch, right, and Cannes Film Festival Delegate General Thierry Fremaux attend a press conference to announce the International Cannes Film Festival lineup for the upcoming 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Paris | Photo Credit: Aurelien Morissard
Among the 19 films selected for competition is Lanthimos' “Kinds of Kindness,” the Greek director's Oscar-winning follow-up. “Poor things.” Its cast includes two stars of “Poor Things”: Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe.
Paolo Sorrentino, Italian filmmaker of “The Great Beauty”. Gary Oldman returns to Cannes with the Naples-set drama “Parthenope,” co-starring. Arnold, British director “American Honey” And “Fish Tank,” returning to Cannes with “Bird,” starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski.
Ali Abbasi's “The Apprentice,” a film about the former president's early business career, is sure to grab attention. It stars Sebastian Stan as Trump, Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn and Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump. Iranian director Abbasi was previously in competition at Cannes 2022's “Holy Spider.”
Several other big-name filmmakers are also returning to Cannes, which runs May 14-25. Among them: David Cronenberg (“The Shrouds,” with Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger); Paul Schrader (“Oh, Canada,” with Richard Gere and Uma Thurman) and acclaimed Chinese director Jia Zhang-ke (“Caught by the Tides”). In competition are Sean Baker (“Anora”), whose “Red Rocket” and “The Florida Project” also premiered at Cannes; and French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Perez”), who won the Palm in 2015 for “Dheepan.”
As previously reported, Francis Ford Coppola's “Megalopolis” premieres in competition In Cannes. The 85-year-old director's self-financed, long-running epic begins his “conversation” 50 years after winning the Palme d'Or.
This year's Cannes banner follows the 2023 edition, which featured the premieres of three films that won best-picture nominations at the Academy Awards: Martin Scorsese's “Killers of the Flower Moon”; “The Zone of Interest” by Jonathan Glazer; and Justin Tritt's Palme d'Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall.”
“Anatomy of a Fall” was Third film directed by a woman to win the Palme. This year there are four female filmmakers in the running. Fremaux said he may add more options in the coming weeks.
Cannes has already served some notable world premieres, including George Miller's, out of competition “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and Kevin Costner “Horizon, An American Saga.” Set by George Lucas Received an honorary Palme d'Or At the closing ceremony. The festival opens on May 14 with the French comedy “The Second Act” starring Léa Seydoux and Vincent Lindon.
Greta Gerwig, coming off the success of “Barbie.” is the head of the jury That determines the Palme d'Or.
Some entries get more attention because of current events, Fremaux noted. Yolande Zauberman's documentary “The Beauty of Gaza,” about transgender Palestinians immigrating to Tel Aviv, was the first selection announced Thursday. Ukrainian filmmaker Sergey Loznitsa will debut his documentary “The Invasion” about Russia's war on his native country.
A new addition this year: the festival is launching a competitive immersive section featuring virtual and augmented reality works.