This morning brought what is routinely the most tantalizing news of any given year, namely the line-up for the Cannes Film Festival, inarguably the biggest and best showcase of world cinema on the planet, with New York and Toronto barely nipping at its heels. The out-of-competition selection includes the bigger titles, including Steven Spielberg's mo-cap extravaganza The BFG, Shane Black's The Nice Guys, and Jodie Foster's Money Monster, but per usual, the real treats are in the competition line-up.
The festival opens with Woody Allen's Cafe Society, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, and Stewart is also top-lining Personal Shopper, the English-language latest from the talented French auteur Olivier Assayas, who last directed Stewart in the gorgeous but overpraised Clouds of Sils Maria. There's also the latest work from the unparalleled Pedro Almodovar, Julieta, though considering his connection to the recently unveiled Panama Papers, Almodovar might not actually show up to do press. Two of Romania's most exciting filmmakers are coming in with new works, namely Cristi Puiu's Sieranevada and Cristian Mungiu's Family Photos, his follow-up to the stunning Beyond the Hills.
Beyond Allen, America is represented by Jim Jarmusch, who is bringing in his long-awaited follow-up to Only Lovers Left Alive, Paterson, which stars Adam Driver as a bus driver, and Jeff Nichols' follow-up to Midnight Special, the interracial-marriage drama Loving; Sean Penn will also debut his latest directorial effort, The Last Face. Germany's Maren Ade is returning with Toni Erdmann, her first film since 2009's exquisite Everyone Else, while the UK is also repped here by one of its most talented female directors, Andrea Arnold, who will premiere her American Honey in the competition. The Argentinian auteur Kleber Mondonca Filho will bring his hugely anticipated follow-up to Neighboring Sounds, Aquarius, and Belgian titans the Dardenne brothers, who have a tendency to win the Palm d'Or, are coming back with The Unknown Girl.
New films by Xavier Dolan, Bruno Dumont, and Alain Guiraudic stand alongside Assayas to represent the French faction, while both Paul Verhoeven and Nicolas Winding Refn will also bring their latest - Elle and The Neon Demon, respectively - to the festival as well. To be honest, I could be here all day telling you why the latest films from Albert Serra, Ken Loach, and Park Chan-wook are reasons to be excited for the future of film, but I've done enough gushing. Check out the full line-up below and if you have any chance to get over to Cannes and catch any of these movies, take it.
The full list of films:
In Competition:
TONI ERDMANN by Maren Ade
JULIETA by Pedro Almodovar
AMERICAN HONEY by Andrea Arnold
LA FILLE INCONNUE by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
PERSONAL SHOPPER by Olivier Assayas
JUSTE LA FIN DU MONDE by Xavier Dolan
MA LOUTE by Bruno Dumont
PATERSON by Jim Jarmusch
RESTER VERTICAL by Alain Guiraudic
AQUARIUS by Kleber Mondonça Filho
MAL DE PIERRES by Nicole Garcia
I, DANIEL BLAKE by Ken Loach
MA'ROSA by Brillante Mendoza
BACALAUREAT by Cristian Mungiu
LOVING by Jeff Nichols
AGASSI by Park Chan-Wook
THE LAST FACE by Sean Penn
SIERANEVADA by Cristi Puiu
ELLE by Paul Verhoeven
THE NEON DEMON by Nicolas Winding-Refn
Out-of-competition:
THE BFG by Steven Spielberg
GOKUNG by Na Hong-Jon
MONEY MONSTER by Jodie Foster
THE NICE GUYS by Shane Black
Midnight Screenings:
GIMME DANGER by Jim Jarmusch
BU-SAN-HAENG by Yeon Sang-Ho
Special Screenings:
L'ULTIMA SPIAGGIA by Thanos Anastopoulos & Davide Del Degan
HISSEIN HABRÉ, UNE TRAGÉDIE TCHADIENNE by Mahamat Saleh-Haroun
LA MORT DE LOUIS XIV by Albert Serra
LE CANCRE by Paul Vecchiali
Un Certain Regard:
VAROONEGI by Benham Behzadi
APPRENTICE by Boo Junfeng
VOIR DU PAYS by Delphine Coulin & Muriel Coulin
LA DANSEUSE by Stéphanie Di Giusto
ESHTEBAK by Mohamed Diasso
LA TORTUE ROUGE by Michael Dudok De Wit
FUCHI NI TATSU by Fukada Kôji
OMOR SHAKHSIYU by Maha Haj
ME'EVER LAHARIM VEHAGVAOT by Eran Kolirin
AFTER THE STORM by Kore-Eda Hirokazu
HYMYILEVÄ MIESby Juho Kuosmanen
LA LARGA NOCHE DE FRANCISCO SANCTIS by Francisco Marquez & Andrea Testa
CAINI by Bogdan Mirica
PERICLE IL NERO by Stefano Mordini
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC by Matt Ross
UCHENIK by Kirill Serebrennikov