Cannes Film Festival Official Lineup
Thursday, April 14, 2016 at 7:03PM 
Kieran, here. The Cannes film festival is a peculiar animal. Its relation to the Oscar race (it's April, so I'm allowed to mention it again) is nebulous. While the festival raerly fails to deliver at least a few titles that will net multiple nominations, it's hardly the launching pad into awards season in a way similar to Toronto or (in more recent years) Telluride. And truthfully, that's one of the things that makes it so compelling to follow. Regardless of whatever criticisms one can levy against Cannes, it's hard to deny that it clearly has its own rich history and identity with different motives on its mind compared to many high profile festivals.
The lineup for the festival is replete with interesting cinematic offerings. There are certain directors who can always garner a slot on the roster (*uses quiet voice* regardles of the quality of the actual film). Even still, it's such a thrill every year when they announce the list, quibble as we may at the inclusion of the usual suspects. Below is the official lineup for the 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival in full.
Opening Night Film
Cafe Society – directed by Woody Allen
Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart in Woody Allen's latest
Doesn't it seem strange that it took this long for Woody Allen to put Kristen Stewart in one of his films? Woody Allen is definitely on the list of aforementioned directors who can always land a spot on the Cannes roster. Whether it's a rapturously received Midnight in Paris or a more tepid You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger level offering. Which will this be?
Competition
Toni Erdmann – directed by Maren Ade
Julieta – directed by Pedro Almodóvar
American Honey– directed by Andrea Arnold
The Unknown Girl– directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Personal Shopper – directed by Olivier Assayas
It’s Only The End Of The World – directed by Xavier Dolan
Ma Loute – directed by Bruno Dumont
Paterson – directed by Jim Jarmusch
Rester Vertical– directed by Alain Guiraudie
Aquarius– directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho
Mal de Pierres – directed by Nicole Garcia
I, Daniel Blake– directed by Ken Loach
Ma’Rosa – directed by Brillante Mendoza
Loving – directed by Jeff Nichols
Bacalaureat – directed by Cristian Mungiu
Agassi– directed by Park Chan-Wook
The Last Face – directed by Sean Penn
Sieranevada – directed by Cristi Puiu
Elle – directed by Paul Verhoeven
The Neon Demon – directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Elle Fanning in Nicolas Winding Refn's THE NEON DEMON
The announcement of the lineup has dovetailed nicely with the release of the trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon, which has the internet buzzing. Have you watched yet? Seeing the haunting, enigmatic stills of Elle Fanning I opted not to and hopefully go into the film cold when it reaches stateside. Seriously, though...how absolutely amazing does this lineup of in-competition features look? Bacalaureat directed by Cristian Mungiu (Beyond the Hills and the fantastic 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) is the title that most has me wishing I could attend the festival. There's no guarantee it'll reach the United States in a timely manner.
Un Certain Regard
Varoonegi – directed by Behnam Behzadi
Apprentice– directed by Boo Junfeng
Voir Du Pays – directed by Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin
La Danseuse– directed by Stephanie Di Giusto
Clash– directed by Mohamed Diab
La Tortue Rouge - directed by Michael Dudok de Wit
Fuchi Bi Tatsu – directed by Fukada Koji
Omar Shakhsiya – directed by Maha Haj
Me’Ever Laharim Vehagvaot – directed by Eran Kolirin
After The Storm– directed by Kore-Eda Hirokazu
Hymyileva Mies– directed by Juho Kuosmanen
La Large Noche de Francisco Sanctis– directed by Francisco Marquez and Andrea Testa
Caini – directed by Bogdan Mirica
Pericle Il Nero – directed by Stefano Mordini
The Transfiguration– directed by Michael O’Shea
Captain Fantastic – directed by Matt Ross
Uchenik – directed by Kirill Serebrennikov
Viggo Mortensen in Matt Ross' CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Captain Fantastic, the second feature by actor turned director Matt Ross (American Psycho, TV's "Big Love" where he was excellent as a gay serpentine polygamist cult zealot) already played Sundance to good notices. Will it also impress the Cannes audience?
Midnight Screenings
Gimme Danger – directed by Jim Jarmusch
The Train to Busan – directed by Yeon Sang-Ho
A Chad Tragedy – directed by Mahamat-Saleh Aroun
The Death of Louis XIV – directed by Albert Serra
L’Ultima Spiaggia – directed by Thanos Anastopolous and Davide Del Degan
Outside Competition
The BFG – directed by Steven Spielberg
Money Monster – directed by Jodie Foster
The Nice Guys – directed by Shane Black
Gok Sung – directed by Na Hong-Jin
Jodie Foster directs George Clooney in MONEY MONSTERThe premiere and subsequent reception of Jodie Foster's Money Monster (which will be released in the US the following day) will be interesting to watch for several reasons. Foster, while obviously accomplished as an actor, has never really broken through with unanimous critical acclaim for any of her outings as a director (though Home For the Holidays is excellent). This is also the first film produced by George Clooney with a female director. He has previously only produced white-male-directed films--an odd bit of trivia given his reputation as a bastion of forward-thinking politics in Hollywood. He was one of the louder critics of the Academy's lack of diversity this past season, so perhaps we're seeing Clooney going beyond rhetoric (which does have value when you're a star of his reach and influence) and putting his money where his mouth is.
What are you most excited to see?
Reader Comments (21)
I am so excited to see Aquarius, by Kleber Mendonça Filho!!!!
Neighbouring Sounds was such a beast
I want to see all of these films.
"He has previously only produced white-male-directed films"
He produced the Robert Rodriguez directed Spy Kids...
I'm very excited for so many of these, but when you take a step back the competition directors are so many returning names. It makes it feel a little underwhelming even if the titles aren't.
A little surprised for no Farhadi.
agreed, dilma!! (also, you should not be impeached!)
GO AQUARIUS AND BRAZIL!
Excited to see:
Loving (I've been hoping for a Ruth Negga breakthrough for what seems like FOREVER)
Paterson
It’s Only The End Of The World
American Honey
Excited for Neon Demon, Elle, Loving, and Cafe Society.
STOKED for Mal de Pierres. Will Marion Cotillard finally break her 4-year Cannes losing streak? Either way, she'll be fabulous in this meaty role.
"He has previously only produced white-male-directed films"
He produced the Robert Rodriguez directed Spy Kids...
Here we go again...
Wow, two Romanian movies in competition ... being born in Romania I can't feel anything but proud. Not that they will ever show up on an Oscar chart .... if 4 Months, 3 weeks... couldn't make it to the finish line, what will??
Elle (let's dream La Huppert wins a 3rd Best Actress prize).
Wouldn't be cool if Andrea Arnold (which I ADORE) becomes the 2nd women to win a Palme d'Or?
I think if Money Monster was good, we would know. Gorge and Julia have bad 90's stank. Where is the new Q&A? It's my favorite column
I watched the trailer for The Neon Demon and all I could think is that a woman director with the same number of films under her belt would probably never get the movie made if she pitched the same concept. Which is to say that I don't really trust Winding Refn all that much with stories about women.
I'v very excited about Maren Ade'e new film. I loved Everyone Else, plus has new movie stars Sandra Hüller, one of the most exciting german theatre actresses.
Laurence Barber: 9? I don't necessarily trust Refn with a story primarily about female characters either, but name ten female directors, off the top of your head, who have even gotten to 9 films.
That pic of Jesse and Kristen is quite adorable. Something I thought I never would say about either of them. Woody is known for pulling off small miracles.
brookesboy: resting doucheface and sullen glare certainly lower the bar for "adorable." ;-)
so true, Paul...the perfect words to describe these two. LOL!
I'm really looking forward to Cafe Society. Early buzz is that it's quite strong, and Eisenberg and Stewart are always terrific together. Also, Vittorio Storaro did this one digitally, and the stills look beautiful.
stjeans: Don't forget, as well as Jane Campion, the two lead actresses from Blue is the Warmest Colour- Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux - have won Palmes d'or. (They were awarded them along with their director.) Campion does, however, remain the only female director to win so far.
I was just there last week! (They were filming "Ninja Warrior" right next door to the Theater.) I'm so excited to see photos from it now.