The 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has announced its lineup. Above is our first look image of Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Fatherland,” starring Sandra Huller, which will have its world premiere on the Croisette. This will be Pawlikowski’s second time in competition after “Cold War” in 2018.
A total of 21 films have so far been confirmed to compete for the Palme d’Or. At the press conference, Cannes boss Thierry Frémaux noted that a larger portion of the lineup will be announced later than usual, making this effectively a “late” festival.
For now, this appears to be the first time in recent memory that Hollywood studios have not brought a single movie to screen on the Croisette, whether in competition or outside it. Although there is a persistent rumor that Warner Bros might be bringing something, and that it will be announced sometime next week.
Now, what’s missing. Yesterday, I posted a list of 20 films that were being heavily considered for competition. This morning, 17 of them made it. The three missing were James Gray’s “Paper Tiger,” Werner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” and Lila Avilés’ “Cábula.” One or all three of these could be added to the lineup in the next few weeks, but for now, they are absent.
Avilés was apparently very close to cracking the lineup, but she might now be a late addition to the Un Certain Regard sidebar—or wait it out until Venice, where she could have a competition slot waiting for her. As for Herzog, it’s radio silence; it’s not entirely clear what happened there. Maybe he’ll go out-of-competition, or to Directors’ Fortnight, or perhaps even head to Venice.
In the end, the actual Palme d’Or contenders for this 79th edition will include familiar names like Pedro Almodóvar, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Pawel Pawlikowski, Cristian Mungiu, Na Hong-jin, Hirokazu Koreeda, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Asghar Farhadi, Lukas Dhont, Ira Sachs and László Nemes.
If anything this lineup has far less veterans than in recent years, which will either freshen things up, or fall flat. Newcomers, their very first time in competition, include Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Léa Mysius, Emmanuel Marre, Marie Kreutzer, Jeanne Herry, Arthur Harrari, Valeska Grisebach, Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo, and Charline Bourgeois-Taquet.
The most striking absence has got to be James Gray’s “Paper Tiger,” which Variety has reported was submitted to the festival. The festival’s chief Thierry Fremaux confirmed to Variety that he’s seen the film, and hopes it will be added later on, comparing it to Gray’s first film, “Little Odessa.” My bet is it gets added very soon, especially with French distribution announced this morning for the film.
As for Zack Snyder’s “The Last Photograph,” highly tipped by WASK yesterday, and causing bewilderment on social media, its absence is not necessarily an indication that it will won’t appear as a late addition. Stay tuned.
As it stands, for now, only one American filmmaker is in the competition lineup: Ira Sachs with “The Man I Love.” This marks the first time in 15 years that the Cannes competition has featured just one U.S. filmmaker vying for the Palme d’Or. Most years there are 3 or 4. Gray’s film, which stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, would be a nice boost.
“When the studios are less present in Cannes, they are less present full stop," Fremaux said at the press conference.
More to come …
COMPETITION:
Minotaur (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
The Man I Love (Ira Sachs)
The Beloved (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
Fatherland (Pawel Pawlikowski)
Moulin (László Nemes)
The Birthday Party (Léa Mysius)
Fjord (Cristian Mungiu)
Notre salut (Emmanuel Marre)
Gentle Monster (Marie Kreutzer)
Nagi Notes (Koji Fukada)
Hope (Na Hong-jin)
Sheep in the Box (Hirokazu Koreeda)
Garance (Jeanne Herry)
The Unknown (Arthur Harrari)
All of a Sudden (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
The Dreamed Adventure (Valeska Grisebach)
Coward (Lukas Dhont)
The Black Ball (Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo)
A Woman's Life (Charline Bourgeois-Taquet)
Parallel Tales (Asghar Farhadi)
Bitter Christmas (Pedro Almodóvar)OUT OF COMPETITION:
Her Private Hell (Nicolas Winding Refn)
Diamond (Andy Garcia)
Karma (Guillaume Canet)
De Gaulle: Tilting Iron (Antonin Baudry)
L'objet du délit (Agnès Jaoui)
Abandon (Vincent Garenq)UN CERTAIN REGARD:
All the Lovers in the Night (Yukiko Sode)
La más dulce (Laïla Marrakchi)
Club Kid (Jordan Firstman)
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (Jane Schoenbrun)
Yesterday the Eye Didn’t Sleep (Rakan Mayasi)
Everytime (Sandra Wollner)
Meltdown (Manuela Martelli)
I’ll Be Gone in Jun (Katharina Rivilis)
I Am Always Your Maternal Animal (Valentina Maurel)
Congo Boy (Rafiki Fariala)
Le Corset (Louis Clichy
Benimana, Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo)
Elephants in the Fog (Abinash Bikram Shah)MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS:
Roma Elastica (Bertrand Mandico)
Full Phil (Quentin Dupieux)
Colony (Yeon Sang-ho)
Jim Queen (Nicolas Athane & Marco Nguyen)
Sanguine (Marion Le Coroller)SPECIAL SCREENINGS:
John Lennon: The Last Interview (Steven Soderbergh)
Avedon (Ron Howard)
Les Survivants du Che (Christophe Réveille)
Les Matins Merveilleux (Avril Besson)CANNES PREMIÈRE:
The Samurai and the Prisoner (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
The Visitation (Volker Schlöndorff)
Propeller One-Way Night Coach (John Travolta)
Not more than 24 hours later, Guy Ritchie’s role offer to Markle has now reportedly been withdrawn. The story goes that they don’t want her in the show anymore “after intense backlash in the U.K.”