The 76th edition of the Festival de Cannes, the first to be presided by Iris Knobloch, will take place from 16 to 27 May, highlighting a program that in its official competition section will include seven films directed by women. This year’s festival poster features the actress Catherine Deneuve, chosen as the official image in the poster designed by Lionel Avignon and Stefan de Vives, based on a photo of Jack Garofalo taken on the set of La chamade (Alain Cavalier, 1968). On the other hand, it will be his daughter Chiara Mastroianni, who will take over from Virginie Efira as master of ceremonies at the opening and closing ceremonies. The inaugural film, out of competition, will be Jeanne du Barry, directed by and starring Maïwenn, featuring Johnny Depp in a progressively diminishing role for various reasons; the closing film, on 27 May, will be followed by the screening of the animated film Elemental (Peter Sohn, 2023).
The 76th edition of the festival has prepared a line-up full of big names, including in the Special Sessions, where Kleber Mendonça Filho‘s Retratos fantasmas, for example, will be screened. Occupied City by Steve MacQueen, As Filhas do Fogo, by Pedro Costa and one of the two films presented by Wim Wenders, Anselm, the other being Perfect Days, starring Koji Yakusho and programmed in the Official Selection. Within the Special Sessions we will also see the short film Strange Way of Life, a gay western starring the couple formed by the actor of the moment, Pedro Pascal, and Ethan Hawke, directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The director, who gave up his last feature film project because he did not feel comfortable shooting in English, does not seem to have the same fears in the chamber format, as he already demonstrated in The Human Voice (2020), where he featured Tilda Swinton in a particular version of the famous monologue.
In a year in which Spain is the country being honoured at the Marché du film, Elena Martín (Julia ist) brings her second feature film, Creatura, to Cannes in the Directors’ Fortnight, a film co-written with Clara Roquet. In the Critics’ Week, there will be two short films in competition: Contadores (Irati Gorostidi) and the Spanish-Croatian The Real Truth about the Fight (Andrea Slavicek). On the other hand, in the Official Selection we will see two other shorts: Aunque es de noche (Guillermo García López) a co-production with France set in the village without electricity of Cañada Real (Madrid) and Nada de todo esto (Patricio Martínez, Francisco Cantón) a co-production with Argentina.
These films will be joined by the screening of Anna Llargués‘ work, Trenc d’alba, a short film that will participate in the La Cinef section, dedicated to film students from all over the world. In addition, the festival pays tribute to the recently deceased Carlos Saura, with a night-time screening on the beach of the restored 4K version of Carmen, presented by his son Antonio Saura. And at the last minute, it has also been announced that Pablo Berger‘s latest film, Robot Dreams, his first foray into the animation genre, will be included in the Official Selection, but out of competition.
As for Cannes Première, the rising section where As bestas (Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 2022) was screened last year, and followed by a standing ovation, will offer us, after a thirty-year wait, the new film by Víctor Erice (Cerrar los ojos), starring Manolo Solo, José Coronado, María León and Ana Torrent. We will also see the latest from Amat Escalante (Lost in the Night), Martin Provost (Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe) and Takeshi Kitano (Kubi).
Also out of competition, some films with well-deserved hype will be screened, such as the eagerly awaited Killers of the Flower Moon, by Martin Scorsese, again in collaboration with Leonardo di Caprio. The director also returns with Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, having previously collaborated on The Wolf of Wall Street, Silence and The Irishman. This eagerly awaited release, co-written by the director and Eric Roth, is adapted from the non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann. Its plot focuses on the investigation of serial murders in Oklahoma during the 1920s, when oil was found on Osage tribal lands.
Also premiering out of competition will be another great American production, from a mythical franchise: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, directed by James Mangold, announced as the fifth and last of the adventures of this peculiar archaeologist. Starring Harrison Ford (who will turn 81 next July), it will be released after the criticised fourth sequel, including in its cast Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the actress and screenwriter who collaborated in the last of the 007 series. Coincidentally, it will be another Bond character, Mads Mikkelsen, Indy’s antagonist, who, accompanied again by John Rhys-Davies, will return in an adventure that combines Nazis in America and the first trip to the moon with the essential musical score by John Williams. Fans not at Cannes will be able to enjoy the final chapter of the legendary character in cinemas from 30 June.
The Official Selection jury will be chaired by the director Ruben Östlund, double Palme d’Or winner, who will coordinate the Moroccan director Maryam Touzani (The Blue Caftan, 2022), the French actor Denis Ménochet (As Bestas, 2022), British-Zambian director and screenwriter Rungano Nyoni, actor and director Brie Larson, actor Paul Dano, Afghan author Atiq Rahimi, Argentinian director and screenwriter Damián Szifrón and the French director who triumphed at Cannes in 2021 with Titane, Julia Ducournau. Let’s hope that reality doesn’t mirror fiction, that their sessions have nothing in common with the Swede’s films, and that this jury comes up with an acclaimed list of winners.
Jurado de la Sección oficial del 76º Festival de Cannes.
Once again this year, the festival has closed its doors to films that are not released in commercial cinemas, and on this occasion it has not opened them to productions from Russia or the Ukraine either. The chapter of controversy that should not be missing at Cannes opened with the possibility of programming the new films by Roman Polanski (The Palace) and Woody Allen (Coup de chance). Regarding the former, starring Mickey Rourke, John Cleese and Fanny Ardant, Thierry Frémaux stated that he had not seen it, and as for the latter, the fiftieth in Allen’s filmography, starring Lou de Laâge and Melvil Poupaud, the festival director literally declared that it was not a candidate, adding that its screening could imply an added factor to the purely artistic, which could overshadow it as much as the rest of the films. A pity, considering the excellent reviews it has received from those who have been able to attend screenings for distribution.
Succeeding Italian director and actress Valeria Golino, American actor John C. Reilly will chair the jury of the Un certain regard section, formed by French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, French-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne. In addition, the actress Anaïs Demoustier will chair the Caméra d’Or jury, following in the footsteps of Rossy de Palma, who did so at the last edition.
The Palme d’Honneur at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, which went to Forest Whitaker and Jodie Foster at previous festivals, will be awarded to actor, director and producer Michael Douglas at the opening ceremony. This will be the third time he has come to the Croisette, following his previous visits in 1979 with The China Syndrome and in 2013 with Behind the Candelabra. The tribute will be completed with the premiere of the documentary directed by Amine Mesta, which will later be shown on the Arte channel.
More about Festival de Cannes: Official Selection of the 76th Festival de Cannes: The Masters and a Newcomer.
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