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.

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Image via Misty Mountains

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.

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Image via Memento Films

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


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Image via Big Beach Films and Raindog Films