Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s ‘On Barren Weeds’ Set For Cannes 2023

And so it begins.

Last November, I had a little treat of intel for WoR readers. I had reported that Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave” and Ruben Ostlund’s “Triangle of Sadness” had already been accepted for the following year’s Cannes edition. Of course, they were and both ended up winning prizes, including the Palme d’Or for Ostlund.

Now, over a year later, the same source is back, giving me more early intel on next year’s festival.

It was back in February of this year that I mentioned Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “On Barren Weeds” wouldn’t be ready for Cannes. Now it is. It has unofficially been accepted by Thierry Fremaux for next May’s edition on the Croisette.

No word yet on whether it’ll be in competition, but one presumes Fremaux always has an open competition slot ready for Ceylan. The Turkish filmmaker, a world-class auteur, who has become a staple of the Festival with his 2014 Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep,” and other prize winners such as the masterful “Once Upon A Time in Anatolia” and “Distant,” will be returning with this mysterious new film.

Consider this our first Cannes spitball list. I’ll start updating it regularly in the new year. Right now, I’m tracking these 37 films that seem bound to premiere at the 76th edition of the festival:

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City”
Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest”
Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things”
Woody Allen’s “Untitled French Thriller”
Terrence Malick’s “The Way of the Wind”
Steve McQueen’s “Blitz”
Todd Haynes’ “May/December”
Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers”
Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders”
Ari Aster’s “Disappointment Blvd”
Lynne Ramsay’s “Stone and Mattress”
Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla”
Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera”
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “On Barren Weeds”
Sean Durkin’s “The Iron Claw”
Michel Franco’s “Untitled NYC Drama”
Roman Polanski’s “The Palace”
Matteo Garrone’s “The Captain”
Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak”
Aki Kaurismaki’s “Fallen Leaves”
Jean-Luc Godard’s “Scenario”
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster”
Lisandro Alonso’s “Eureka”
Catherine Breillat’s “Last Summer”
Bruno Dumont’s “The Empire”
Abdherrane Sissako’s “The Perfumed Hill”
Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall”
Robin Campillo’s “École de l'air”
Maiwenn’s “La Favorite”
Nanni Moretti’s “Il sol dell'avvenire”
Marco Bellocchio’s “La Conversione”
Jessica Hausner’s “Club Zero”
Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov”
Radu Jude’s “Do Not Expect too Much of the End of the World”

If I’m missing any potential titles please let me know. I gather that if a film hasn’t been completed yet, or isn’t currently in production, then it probably won’t be at next year’s Cannes.