More Cannes 2024 Intel ...

Next Thursday, the Cannes Film Festival will announce its lineup. With a lack of U.S. presence, due to the 2023 strikes, it’s starting to look as though this year’s competition will be one of the more eclectic ones in recent years.

Firstly, I haven’t heard any updates on Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis.” 50 years after winning the Palme d’Or for “The Conversation,” will Coppola bring his sci-fi epic to the Croisette? I sure hope so, but the film still has no distributor!

Meanwhile, I’m hearing that Audrey Diwan’s “Emmanuelle” is still in the editing stages and might not be ready. However, it will be screened for Thierry Fremaux and, I’m assuming, if he finds it worthy for competition then it might show up in the lineup. If he doesn’t then it’s on to Venice.

Another film I’m hearing that won’t be going to Cannes is Lucrecia Martel’s “Chocobar.” Ditto Pablo Larrain’s “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie, and Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The End.” All three of these films are going to Venice in September.

I can confirm, according to my sources, three surprising films that will definitely be in competition for the Palme d’Or. Roberto Minervini’s “The Damned,” Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Hotel” and Lou Ye’s still-untitled COVID documentary, which was shot in China. Another chinese film, Jia Zhangke’s “We Shall Be All” might squeak into competition as well, but I’m hearing it’s polarized some Cannes programmers and might instead get a sidebar slot, or go to Venice.

American filmmaker Carson Lund’s “Eephus” will be screening in Directors Fortnight, known as Quinzaine des Realisateurs. This is a micro-budgeted indie about a rundown New England Baseball league. Last year, the Quinzaine screened Sean Price Williams’ “The Sweet East,” Western Razooli’s “Riddle of Fire” and Joanna Arnow’s “The Feeling That The Time for Doing Something Has Passed.”

Finally, Jeff Nichols, a Cannes regular, might be screening “The Bikeriders” out of competition. It already premiered at Telluride last year and is set to be released this coming June in U.S. theaters. Nichols was previously at Cannes for “Take Shelter,” “Mud” and “Loving.”

My current predictions for COMPETITION:

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness”
Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis”
David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds”
Sean Baker’s “Anora”
Andrea Arnold’s “Bird”
Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez”
Roberto Minervini’s “The Damned”
Paolo Sorrentino’s “Partenhope”
Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov”
Lou Ye’s “Untitled Documentary”
Miguel Gomes “The Grand Tour”
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Serpent’s Path”
Dea Kulumbegashvili’s “Those Who Find Me”
Walter Salles’ “Ainda estou aqui”
Nabil Ayouch’s “Everybody Loves Touda”
Alain Guiraudie’s “Miséricorde”
Noemie Merlant’s “Les Balconettes”
Francois Ozon’s “Quand Vient L’Automne”
Athina Rachel Tsangari’s “Harvest”
Patricia Mazuy’s “The Prisoner of Bordeaux”

MAYBES …

Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths”
Audrey Diwan’s “Emanuelle”
Luca Guadagino’s “Queer”
Justin Kurzel’s “The Order”
David Lowery’s “Mother Mary”
Guillaume Senez’s “Une Part Manquante”
Paul Schrader’s “Oh Canada”
Michel Franco’s “Dreams”
Arnaud Desplechin’s “Spectateurs”
Babak Anvari’s “Hallow Road”
Adam Elliot’s “Memoir of a Snail”
Ali Abassi’s “The Apprentice”
Julian Schnabel’s “In the Hands of Dante”
Guy Maddin’s “Rumors”
Karim Ainouz’s “Motel Destino”
Karim Moussaoui’s “L’effacement’