CANNES: Werner Herzog, Ira Sachs, László Nemes, and Unexpected French Contenders for Palme d’Or

Thierry Frémaux and his programmers are currently putting the finishing touches on the lineup for the 79th Cannes Film Festival, and to say this will be an eclectic batch of filmmakers vying for the Palme d’Or would be an understatement.

After a marathon day of online digging through intel, sending emails, and messaging sources, twenty filmmakers have either been confirmed or are all but certain to compete for the Palme d’Or:

Hirokazu Kore-eda, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, James Gray, Paweł Pawlikowski, Marie Kreutzer, Asghar Farhadi, Cristian Mungiu, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Werner Herzog, László Nemes, Lila Avilés, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Ira Sachs, Calvo/Ambrossi, Arthur Harari, Léa Mysius, Koji Fukada, Emmanuel Marre, Jeanne Herry, and Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet.

Meanwhile, we might expect a few late additions this year, a week or so after tomorrow morning’s lineup announcement. Na Hong-jin’s “Hope” was submitted only a few days ago — and, in a major surprise, Lukas Dhont now believes that his film, “Coward,” could be ready on time for this year’s edition.

There’s a very contentious fight for those French spots in competition, and at the moment, it looks like they will be filled by Léa Mysius’ “Histoires de la Nuit,” Emmanuel Marre’s “Notre Salut,” Jeanne Herry’s “Garance,” with a fourth and potential fifth slot open to Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s “La Vie d’Une Femme” and Arthur Harari’s “The Unknown,” which was originally not in the mix.

Now, you want surprises? Here goes. László Nemes (“Son of Saul”) is a major contender to crack competition with “Moulin.” Same goes for Japanese helmer Koji Fukada’s “Nagi Notes.” Furthermore, Lila Avilés (“Totem”) is also set to make her competition debut with “Cábula.”

Meanwhile, another confirmed title is Ira Sachs’ “The Man I Love,” which means he’ll be one of two Americans vying for the Palme d’Or this year, alongside James Gray’s “Paper Tiger.” Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard” will also be there — shot in the U.S., the film stars Rooney Mara and Kate Mara. This will be Herzog’s grand return to competition — he last vied for the Palme d’Or in 1984!

Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” will not be in competition. Instead, it’s been selected for the Un Certain Regard sidebar, potentially as the opening night film, although that has yet to be confirmed. Schoenbrun will be joined by fellow American Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid.”

Nicolas Winding Refn is currently looking at an out-of-competition slot for “Her Private Hell.” Same goes for Cannes regular Pedro Almodóvar, who apparently requested to have his “Bitter Christmas” screened out of competition, and — pure coincidence — a film he produced is now tipped to be in competition: that would be Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s “La Bola Negra.”

It seems like the Quinzaine/Directors’ Fortnight will have at least two big names in its lineup this year: Radu Jude’s “Diary of a Chambermaid” and Kantemir Balagov’s “Butterfly Jam” are currently being tipped for the sidebar.