Cannes Line-Up Unveiled

For me the Cannes film festival is one of just two festivals I get really, really excited about – the other, in second place, being Sundance. Perhaps part of this is that I have never attended either, though it is mainly down to the calibre of films and filmmakers these festivals attract. Truly extraordinary Palme D'Or winners (which is a healthy majority) far, far, far outnumber the exceptional and distinguished films to be given gongs at many other fests and certainly at the Academy Awards.

There's a few surprises in the line-up here – I'd all but forgotten Michel Gondry's documentary about his Aunt, an octagenarian who has been teaching for 50 years, but here it is, at Cannes.

After the break comes the list of films set for Competition and Out of Competition slots.

Opening Night Film:

  • Up, US., Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
  • In Competition:

  • Bright Star, Australia-UK.-France, Jane Campion
  • Spring Fever, China-France, Lou Ye
  • Antichrist, Denmark-Sweden-France-Italy, Lars von Trier
  • Enter the Void, France, Gaspar Noe
  • Face, France-Taiwan-Netherlands-Belgium, Tsai Ming-liang
  • Les Herbes Folles, France-Italy, Alain Resnais In the Beginning, France, Xavier Giannoli
  • A Prophet, France, Jacques Audiard
  • The White Ribbon, Germany-Austria-France, Michael Haneke
  • Vengeance, Hong Kong-France-US., Johnnie To
  • The Time That Remains, Israel-France-Belgium-Italy, Elia Suleiman
  • Vincere, Italy-France, Marco Bellocchio
  • Kinatay, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza
  • Thirst, South Korea-US., Park Chan-wook
  • Broken Embraces, Spain, Pedro Almodovar
  • Map of the Sounds of Tokyo, Spain, Isabel Coixet
  • Fish Tank, UK.-Netherlands, Andrea Arnold
  • Looking for Eric, UK.-France-Belgium-Italy, Ken Loach
  • Inglourious Basterds, US., Quentin Tarantino
  • Taking Woodstock, US., Ang Lee
  • A Certain Regard:

  • Mother – Bong Joon Ho
  • Irene – Alain Cavalier
  • Precious – Lee Daniels
  • Demain Des L'Aube – Denis Dercourt
  • Adrift – Heitor Dhalia
  • Nobody Knows About the Persian Cats – Bahman Ghobadi
  • The Wind Journeys – Ciro Guerra
  • Le Pere De Mes Enfants – Mia Hansen-Love
  • Tales From the Golden Age – Hanno Hofer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Propescu and Ioanna Uricaru
  • Tale in the Darkness – Nikolay Khomeriki
  • Dogtooth – Yorgos Lanthimos
  • Tzar – Pavel Lounguine
  • Independencia – Raya Martin
  • Police, Adjective – Corneliu Porumboiu
  • Nymph – Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
  • To Die Like a Man – Joao Pedro Rodrigues
  • Eyes Wide Open – Haim Tabakman
  • Samson & Deliah – Warwick Thornton
  • The Silent Army – Jean Van De Velde
  • Air Doll – Hirokazu Kore-Eda
  • Out of Competition:

  • The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Canada-France, Terry Gilliam
  • The Army of Crime, France, Robert Guediguian
  • Agora, Spain, Alejandro Amenabar
  • Midnight Screenings:

  • A Town Called Panic, Belgium, Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar
  • Ne te Retourne Pas, France-Belgium-Luxembourg-Italy, Marina de Van
  • Drag Me to Hell, US, Sam Raimi
  • Special Screenings:

  • Petition, China, Zhao Liang
  • L'epine dans le Coeur, France, Michel Gondry
  • Min Ye, France-Mali, Souleyumane Cisse
  • Jaffa, Israel-France-Germany, Keren Yedaya
  • Manila, Philippines, Adolfo Alix Jr., Raya Martin
  • My Neighbor, My Killer, US., Anne Aghion
  • Closing Night Film:

  • Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, France, Jan Kounen
  • Some of the films we've given the most coverage to – or are likely to talk about most in the coming months – are playing out of competition. That Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is out of the running denies him the Palm already, by default, so I can't help but feel a little disappointed.

    All in all, though, if there aren't at least twelve films on this incredibly varied list that get your pulse pumping then, really, you don't like cinema. I know that sounds like a cliche, but I mean it absolutely sincerely.

    Here are my personal top five – at least for the moment, as they could possibly shift a little every hour:

    Inglourious Basterds, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Antichrist, L'epine dans le Coeur, Thirst.

    I know – how boring. All by big names. Sure – but big names I trust implicitly.

    via: IonCinema