This year’s official jury has been announced for the 69th edition of Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 11th through 22nd. Festival president and Australian director, George Miller, will be joined by Arnaud Desplechin, Kirsten Dunst, Valeria Golino, László Nemes, Vanessa Paradis, Katayoon Shahabi, Mads Mikkelsen and Donald Sutherland. The nine members will pick the best of the best from the 22 films included in the official ‘In Competition’ category which features quite a few first time directors, as does the ‘Un Certain Regard’ selection. Although not a part of the juried selection, Woody Allen’s film, Café Society will open the main competition which also includes films from Pedro Almodóvar, Jim Jarmusch, and Nicole Garcia, to name just a few. One competing title that is getting a lot of buzz is The Neon Demon. Directed by Danish director, Nicolas Winding Refn, the movie centers around an upcoming model, played by Elle Fanning, whose meteoric rise to fame plunges her into a dark and dangerous world.
Another favorited feature of the competition is Hands of Stone from Venezuelan director, Jonathan Jakubowicz. The film tells the story of Panamanian boxer Roberto Duràn (Edgar Ramírez) and manager and coach Ray Arcel (Robert De Niro). It has just been announced that De Niro will be honored in a special screening of Hands of Stone on Monday, May 16th. The actor starred in 1976’s Taxi Driver and 1986’s Mission, two films that won Cannes’ prestigious Palmes d’or. Other screenings to look out for during Cannes include Money Monster from actress-turned-director, Jodie Foster, Steven Spielberg’s The BFG, and Gimme Danger, Jim Jarmusch’s film about legendary musician, Iggy Pop. The performer will be present for a special midnight showing of the film.
Cinema’s elite will flock to the red carpet of Cannes, appearances from Julia Roberts, Marion Cotillard, George Clooney, Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Jesse Eisenberg, Jodie Foster, Fabrice Lucchini, Javier Bardem, Isabelle Huppert, Iggy Pop, Juliette Binoche, and Sean Penn have already been confirmed. On a less glamorous note, Cannes is again getting flack for their lack of female directors. While women directors made up 33% of the competitors at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Cannes number of female talent is less than half that and tops out at 15% in the main competition where more than 20 films are featured but only three are directed by women. These include American Honey by Andrea Arnold, Toni Erdmann by Maren Ade, and From the Land of the Moon by Nicole Garcia. Females fared slightly better in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ category, which includes four films by female directors, out of 17 entries.
See the full 2016 Cannes Official Selection below.
IN COMPETITION
Opening Film: Woody Allen (USA) – CAFÉ SOCIETY *Out of Comp.
Maren Ade (Germany) – TONI ERDMANN
Pedro Almodóvar (Spain) – JULIETA
Andrea Arnold (United-Kingdom) – AMERICAN HONEY
Olivier Assayas (France) – PERSONAL SHOPPER
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc DARDENNE (Belgium) – LA FILLE INCONNUE
Xavier Dolan (Canada) – JUSTE LA FIN DU MONDE (IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD)
Bruno Dumont (France) – MA LOUTE (SLACK BAY)
Asghar Farhadi (Iran) – FORUSHANDE (THE SALESMAN)
Nicole Garcia (France) – MAL DE PIERRES (FROM THE LAND OF THE MOON)
Alain Guiraudie (France) – RESTER VERTICAL (STAYING VERTICAL)
Jonathan Jakubowicz (Venezuela) – HANDS OF STONE
Jim Jarmusch (USA) – PATERSON
Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil) – AQUARIUS
Ken Loach (United-Kingdom) – I, DANIEL BLAKE
Brillante Mendoza (Philippines) – MA’ ROSA
Cristian Mungiu (Romania) – BACALAUREAT (GRADUATION)
Jeff Nichos (USA) – LOVING
Park Chan-Wook (South Korea) – AGASSI (THE HANDMAIDEN)
Sean Penn (USA) – THE LAST FACE
Cristi Puiu (Romania) – SIERANEVADA
Paul Verhoeven (Netherlands) – ELLE
Nicolas Winding Refn (Denmark) – THE NEON DEMON
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Opening Film: Mohamed Diab (Egypt) – ESHTEBAK (CLASH)
Behnam Behzadi (Iran) – VAROONEGI (INVERSION)
Boo Junfeng (Singapore) – APPRENTICE
Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin (France) – VOIR DU PAYS (THE STOPOVER)
Stéphanie Di Giusto (France) – LA DANSEUSE (THE DANCER) *1st film
Michael Dudok De Wit (Netherlands) – LA TORTUE ROUGE (THE RED TURTLE) *1st film
Fukada Kôji (Japan) – FUCHI NI TATSU (HARMONIUM)
Maha Haj (Israel) – OMOR SHAKHSIYA (PERSONAL AFFAIRS) *1st film
Eran Kolirin (Israel) – ME’EVER LAHARIM VEHAGVAOT (BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS AND HILLS)
Kore-Eda Hirokazu (Japan) – UMI YORIMO MADA FUKAKU (AFTER THE STORM)
Juho Kuosmanen (Finland) – HYMYILEVÄ MIES (THE HAPPIEST DAY IN THE LIFE OF OLLI MÄKI) *1st film
David Mackenzie (United-Kingdom)- HELL OR HIGH WATER
Francisco Márquez, Andrea Testa (Argentina) – LA LARGA NOCHE DE FRANCISCO SANCTIS (FRANCISCO SANCTIS’S LONG NIGHT) *1st film
Bogdan Mirica (Romania) – CÂINI (DOGS) *1st film
Stefano Mordini (Italy) – PERICLE IL NERO (PERICLE)
Michael O’Shea (USA) – TRANSFIGURATION *1st film
Matt Ross (USA) – CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia) – UCHENIK (THE STUDENT)
OUT OF COMPETITION
Shane Black (USA) – THE NICE GUYS
Jodie Foster (USA) – MONEY MONSTER
Jonathan Jakubowicz (Panama / USA) – HANDS OF STONE
Na Hong-Jin (South Korea) – GOKSUNG (THE WAILING)
Steven Spielberg (USA) – THE BFG
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
Jim Jarmusch (USA) – GIMME DANGER
Jean-François Richet (France) – BLOOD FATHER
Yeon Sang-Ho (South Korea) – BU-SAN-HAENG (TRAIN TO BUSAN)
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Thanos Anastopoulos (Greece),Davide Del Degan (Italy) – L’ULTIMA SPIAGGIA (THE LAST RESORT)
Karim Dridi (France / Tunisia) – CHOUF
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad) – HISSEIN HABRÉ, UNE TRAGÉDIE TCHADIENNE (HISSEIN HABRÉ, A CHADIAN TRAGEDY)
Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet (France) – LA FORÊT DE QUINCONCES (FOOL MOON) *1st film
Jonathan Littell (USA) – WRONG ELEMENTS *1st film
Rithy Panh (Cambodia) – EXIL (EXILE)
Albert Serra (Spain) – LA MORT DE LOUIS XIV (THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV)
Paul Vecchiali (France) – LE CANCRE
