Cannes Veterans Soderbergh, Polanski, Payne, Coen Brothers Part of Festival Competition Lineup

PARIS – A slew of past Palme d’Or winners and a strong Asian presence mark this year’s Official Selection for the 66th annual Festival de Cannes, unveiled by president Gilles Jacob and artistic director Thierry Fremaux against a big-screen backdrop of this year’s official poster at a Champs Elysees theater here Thursday morning.

The Competition lineup, announced at the morning press conference in the French capital and listed in full below,  includes Croisette regulars Steven Soderbergh and the Coen Brothers, as well as Roman Polanski who will also bring a special screening to Cannes.

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This year, Soderbergh will present his Liberace biopic Beyond the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, the Coens will bring Inside Llewyn Davis, starring Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman, and Polanski will bring Venus in Fur to the Competition.

They are joined in the Competition by the likes of Nicolas Winding Refn‘s Only God Forgives, which reunites the director with his Drive star Ryan Gosling, Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska, French favorite Arnaud Desplechin‘s U.S.-set Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian) with Benicio Del Toro, and Iranian director Asghar Farhadi‘s French production The Past, starring Berenice Bejo. Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, who will screen Un Chateau en Italie, is the only female director in the Competition.

The Competition and Un Certain Regard sidebar lineups do not include a single British or German film, but show a strong Asian presence. During the conference, Fremaux highlighted the importance of exposing directors from less established filmmaking countries, such as Chad, which is in competition for the first time.

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At Thursday’s press announcement, which started around 11:15am Paris time, the organizers of the Cannes festival started off by highlighting the continuing importance of cinema, and Fremaux said 1,858 films were submitted to the festival’s selection committee this year.

Also screening in Cannes, but Out-of-Competition, are J.C. Chandor‘s ocean drama All Is Lost, starring Robert Redford, and Blood Ties by Guillaume Canet.

The Un Certain Regard sidebar (full lineup below) will include such films as Flora Lau‘s Bends, James Franco‘s As I Lay Dying, Anonymous by Mohammad Rasolouf, Les Salauds by Claire Denis, Fruitvale Station by Ryan Coogler, Omar by Hany Abu-Assad and Death March by Adolfo Alix Jr.

The international media has been buzzing about this year’s lineup since Baz Luhrmann‘s The Great Gatsby was announced as the opening film after a few low-key years. The selection is guaranteed to bring Hollywood glamor to the Croisette, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Mulligan set to walk the red carpet.

The titles that will be shown in Cannes in special screenings are: Roman Polanski‘s Weekend of A Champion, Jerry Lewis tribute Max Rose by Daniel Noah, Mohammad Ali’s Greatest Fight from Stephen Frears, Roberto Minervini‘s Stop the Pounding Heart, and Cannes exploration Seduced and Abandoned by James Toback, which was shot during last year’s festival. 

A special session honoring India, this year’s special guest country, will show Bombay Talkies, from Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Bajerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar.

Meanwhile, Amit Kumar‘s Monsoon Shootout and Johnnie To‘s Blind Detective will get midnight screenings.

Also previously announced, the Orlando Bloom and Forest Whitaker-starring, South Africa-set thriller Zulu will be the closing night film. French actress Audrey Tautou will host both the opening and closing evenings as the mistress of ceremonies. 

“As is tradition, it was late into the night before we finished the selection,” Fremaux tweeted before Thursday’s press conference. “And, as is tradition, we have a mix of auteurs, new discoveries, surprises and stars.”

Steven Spielberg is set to preside over the jury, while Palme d’Or winner Jane Campion will oversee the short film competition category. Danish director Thomas Vinterberg will lead the jury for the popular Un Certain Regard sidebar of the festival, which will be opened by Sofia Coppola‘s The Bling Ring as announced by Cannes organizers late Wednesday.

At the end of the conference, Fremaux hinted that more announcements will come next week.  He is known for making last-minute additions to the lineup. The remaining jurors have yet to be announced; the news is now expected next week. 

This year’s Cannes festival will run May 15–May 26.

 

CANNES COMPETITION LINEUP

Nicolas Winding Refn Only God Forgives

Alexander Payne Nebraska

Steven Soderbergh Beyond the Candelabra

Asghar Farhadi The Past

Francois Ozon Jeune et Jolie

James Gray The Immigrant

Roman Polanski Venus in Fur  

Arnaud Desplechin Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian)

Joel and Ethan Coen Inside Llewyn Davis

Arnaud Despallieres Michael Kohlhaas

Amat Escalante Heli

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Grisgris

Jia Zhangke A Touch of Sin (Tian Zhu Ding)

Takashi Miike Shield of Straw (Wara No Tate)

Kore-Eda Hirokazu Like Father, Like Son (Soshite Chichi Ni Naru) 

Abdellatif Kechiche La Vie d’Adele

Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi Un Chateau en Italie

Alex Van Warmerdam Borgman

Paolo Sorrentino The Great Beauty

 

UN CERTAIN REGARD SIDEBAR LINEUP

Alain Guiraudie L’Inconnu do Lac

Valeria Golino Miele

Flora Lau Bends 

James Franco As I Lay Dying

Rithy Panh L’Image Manquante

Diego Quemada-Diez La Jaula de Oro

Mohammad Rasolouf Anonymous

Claire Denis Les Salauds 

Ryan Coogler Fruitvale Station 

Hany Abu-Assad Omar

Adolfo Alix Jr. Death March

Sofia Coppola The Bling Ring 

Rebecca Zlotowski Grand Central

Chloe Robichaud Sarah Prefere La Course
   
Lav Diaz Norte, Hangganan Ng Kasaysayan

 

OUT OF COMPETITION

Guillaume Canet Blood Ties

J.C. Chandor All is Lost  

 

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS

Johnnie To Blind Detective

Amit Kumar Monsoon Shootout  

 

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Taisia Igumentseva Otdat Konci

James Toback Seduced and Abandoned

Roman Polanski Weekend of a Champion

Roberto Minervini Stop the Pounding Heart

Stephen Frears Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight 

 

JERRY LEWIS TRIBUTE

Daniel Noah Max Rose  

 

GALA SCREENING, TRIBUTE TO INDIA

Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee Bombay Talkies