After months of speculation and drama from critics, industry insiders, and cinephiles alike, the Cannes Film Festival finally announced their lineup for the 71st edition of the prestigious festival. Amid a growing feud with Netflix that culminated in the streaming giant's removal of their hotly-anticipated films from the festival, Cannes director Thierry Fremaux stepped out this morning to announce the first wave of titles. Of course, there was plenty of room for discussion and controversy at Fremaux's press conference, divisive buzz that will surely continue until the festival begins. But the discussion quickly shifted to the lineup itself, which was both surprising and disappointing for many prospective festival-goers. While some of it went as predicted, this lineup is full of unknowns. So without further delay, check out the list of films that will be "In Competition" at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
In Competition
Everybody Knows, dir. Asghar Farhadi (Opening Night Film)
At War, dir. Stephane Brize
Dogman, dir. Matteo Garrone
Le Livre D'Image, dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Asako I & II, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Sorry Angel, dir. Christophe Honore
Girls of the Sun, dir. Eva Husson
Ash is Purest White, dir. Jia Zhang-ke
Shoplifters, dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
Capernaum, dir. Nadine Labaki
Burning, dir. Lee Chang-dong
BlacKkKlansman, dir. Spike Lee
Under the Silver Lake, dir. David Robert Mitchell
Three Faces, dir. Jafar Panahi
Cold War, dir. Pawel Pawlikowski
Lazzaro Felice, dir. Alice Rohrwacher
Yomeddine, dir. A.B. Shawky
Leto, dir. Kirill Serebrennikov
Notable films in the other categories include Ron Howard's Solo: A Star Wars Story and Wim Wenders' Pope Francis- A Man of His Word. With the caveat that I'm not a foreign film aficionado in any sense of the word, I must say that this is list is genuinely baffling. Not that there aren't any notable titles. David Robert Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake is one of the biggest indie films of the summer, Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman is quickly gaining traction for the award-winning filmmaker, and the return of French New Wave maestro Jean-Luc Godard is nothing to sneeze at either. Hirokazu Kore-eda is a festival mainstay, while Pawel Pawlikowski emerged as a director to watch after the release of Ida.
But when your lineup announcement is more notable for the films that didn't make the cut than for those that did, you're in trouble. Fremaux didn't close the door on a few titles being added in the coming weeks. Despite the auteur's status as persona non grata, reporters did mention that Fremaux was coy about the possibility of Lars von Trier's The House That Jack Built joining the lineup. However, the sheer number of big-ticket titles skipping Cannes will have an impact on the cinematic year that goes far beyond the Croisette.
Let's run things down quickly. There are several films we simply knew wouldn't be heading to Cannes. Damien Chazelle's First Man and Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk were always destined to hold off for the fall festivals, prompting what could be a repeat of the 2016 Oscar season. Rumors going into this morning had Fox Searchlight holding Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite, Marielle Heller's Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and David Lowery's The Old Man and the Gun for fall, so they were never really on the Cannes radar. The same could be said for any of the other big studio releases, as well as Richard Linklater's Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Joel Edgerton's Boy Erased, and Felix Van Groeningen's Beautiful Boy (have fun mixing those two up all awards season).
So with all of those titles, we were already looking at a rock-solid fall season for 2018. But when you add in all the movies previously thought to be making the trek to Cannes, the list goes from being rock-solid to flat-out spectacular. Once thought to be a Cannes lock, Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria now seems destined to complete the Venice/Telluride/Toronto trifecta. The aforementioned Variety article mentions that Jacques Audiard's The Sisters Brothers and Xavier Dolan's The Life and Death of John F. Donovan are still in the editing bay, so they'll likely head to the fall fests in lieu of Cannes. In addition, the situation around Paolo Sorrentino's Loro seems confusing (it's premiering in Italy very soon), but I doubt American audiences will see it until Telluride or TIFF. Mike Leigh's Peterloo is probably a fall premiere now as well, and as for Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote......I don't even know, honestly. That movie may still never see the light of day.
Venice, Telluride, and Toronto are looking pretty terrific right now. And I haven't even mentioned the Netflix titles yet! Alfonso Cuaron's Roma will likely premiere at one of those fests, Jeremy Saulnier's Hold the Dark seems like a good bet to open TIFF's Midnight Madness, and Paul Greengrass' Norway will probably be held for the fall as well. The situation with Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind is slightly more complex, but a festival berth isn't out of the question. Basically, the fall fests are stacked, and I almost booked my flight to Toronto after hearing the news of weak Cannes lineup. I'm sure the Cote d'Azur will be a blast for those lucky enough to go, but man, we could be in for one hell of a fall.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 8-19.
Image courtesy of A24
In Competition
Everybody Knows, dir. Asghar Farhadi (Opening Night Film)
At War, dir. Stephane Brize
Dogman, dir. Matteo Garrone
Le Livre D'Image, dir. Jean-Luc Godard
Asako I & II, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Sorry Angel, dir. Christophe Honore
Girls of the Sun, dir. Eva Husson
Ash is Purest White, dir. Jia Zhang-ke
Shoplifters, dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
Capernaum, dir. Nadine Labaki
Burning, dir. Lee Chang-dong
BlacKkKlansman, dir. Spike Lee
Under the Silver Lake, dir. David Robert Mitchell
Three Faces, dir. Jafar Panahi
Cold War, dir. Pawel Pawlikowski
Lazzaro Felice, dir. Alice Rohrwacher
Yomeddine, dir. A.B. Shawky
Leto, dir. Kirill Serebrennikov
Notable films in the other categories include Ron Howard's Solo: A Star Wars Story and Wim Wenders' Pope Francis- A Man of His Word. With the caveat that I'm not a foreign film aficionado in any sense of the word, I must say that this is list is genuinely baffling. Not that there aren't any notable titles. David Robert Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake is one of the biggest indie films of the summer, Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman is quickly gaining traction for the award-winning filmmaker, and the return of French New Wave maestro Jean-Luc Godard is nothing to sneeze at either. Hirokazu Kore-eda is a festival mainstay, while Pawel Pawlikowski emerged as a director to watch after the release of Ida.
But when your lineup announcement is more notable for the films that didn't make the cut than for those that did, you're in trouble. Fremaux didn't close the door on a few titles being added in the coming weeks. Despite the auteur's status as persona non grata, reporters did mention that Fremaux was coy about the possibility of Lars von Trier's The House That Jack Built joining the lineup. However, the sheer number of big-ticket titles skipping Cannes will have an impact on the cinematic year that goes far beyond the Croisette.
Let's run things down quickly. There are several films we simply knew wouldn't be heading to Cannes. Damien Chazelle's First Man and Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk were always destined to hold off for the fall festivals, prompting what could be a repeat of the 2016 Oscar season. Rumors going into this morning had Fox Searchlight holding Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite, Marielle Heller's Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and David Lowery's The Old Man and the Gun for fall, so they were never really on the Cannes radar. The same could be said for any of the other big studio releases, as well as Richard Linklater's Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Joel Edgerton's Boy Erased, and Felix Van Groeningen's Beautiful Boy (have fun mixing those two up all awards season).
So with all of those titles, we were already looking at a rock-solid fall season for 2018. But when you add in all the movies previously thought to be making the trek to Cannes, the list goes from being rock-solid to flat-out spectacular. Once thought to be a Cannes lock, Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria now seems destined to complete the Venice/Telluride/Toronto trifecta. The aforementioned Variety article mentions that Jacques Audiard's The Sisters Brothers and Xavier Dolan's The Life and Death of John F. Donovan are still in the editing bay, so they'll likely head to the fall fests in lieu of Cannes. In addition, the situation around Paolo Sorrentino's Loro seems confusing (it's premiering in Italy very soon), but I doubt American audiences will see it until Telluride or TIFF. Mike Leigh's Peterloo is probably a fall premiere now as well, and as for Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote......I don't even know, honestly. That movie may still never see the light of day.
Venice, Telluride, and Toronto are looking pretty terrific right now. And I haven't even mentioned the Netflix titles yet! Alfonso Cuaron's Roma will likely premiere at one of those fests, Jeremy Saulnier's Hold the Dark seems like a good bet to open TIFF's Midnight Madness, and Paul Greengrass' Norway will probably be held for the fall as well. The situation with Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind is slightly more complex, but a festival berth isn't out of the question. Basically, the fall fests are stacked, and I almost booked my flight to Toronto after hearing the news of weak Cannes lineup. I'm sure the Cote d'Azur will be a blast for those lucky enough to go, but man, we could be in for one hell of a fall.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 8-19.
Image courtesy of A24
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