Cannes Film Festival lineup leans toward artistic films

PARIS – This year’s Cannes ​Film Festival will pit stalwarts of arthouse cinema such as Poland’s Pawel Pawlikowski and Spain’s ‌Pedro Almodovar against a small pool of newer voices as 21 titles compete for the gathering’s prestigious main prize next month.

The Cannes Film Festival brings together the film industry’s biggest names in the sun-soaked south of France each May to strike deals, pledge ​their love for cinema and party on yachts.

For directors, winning the festival’s Palme d’Or opens the ​door to bigger budgets, opportunities and seals their reputation as leading filmmakers.

In announcing this ⁠year’s line-up on Thursday, Festival Director Thierry Fremaux noted the absence of big studio films as weak box ​office revenues force Hollywood to avoid taking risks and to scale back production.

“In the U.S., it’s a moment ​of transition. When you have such a transition, they don’t have the projects to produce a lot of films, but I’m sure that it will come back, and we will be there waiting,” he told Reuters.

FORMER WINNERS COMPETE WITH NEWCOMERS

Two previous Palme winners ​return to competition, with Japan’s Hirokazu Kore‑eda exploring childhood and artificial intelligence in “Sheep in the Box,” while Romanian ​director Cristian Mungiu’s “Fjord” stars Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve, fresh from her success in Oscar winner “Sentimental Value”.

Also back in the running ‌are Pawlikowski ⁠with “Fatherland,” a portrait of German novelist Thomas Mann, and Hungarian filmmaker Laszlo Nemes, whose new film focuses on French Resistance figure Jean Moulin.

Other competition veterans include Almodovar, with tragicomedy “Bitter Christmas,” as well as Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, Japan’s Ryusuke Hamaguchi and France’s Arthur Harari.

Entries featuring big-name actors include U.S. director Ira Sachs’ 1980s’ AIDS drama “The Man ​I Love,” which stars Rami ​Malek from “Bohemian Rhapsody,” while ⁠Javier Bardem leads “The Beloved” from Spain’s Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

Five films in competition are directed by women, including first‑time contenders Lea Mysius, with the thriller “The Birthday Party,” and Jeanne Herry’s ​drama “Another Day” starring Adele Exarchopoulos.

OUTSIDE THE MAIN COMPETITION

Outside the main competition, the director ​of the cult ⁠classic “Drive,” Nicolas Winding Refn, returns after a decade with “Her Private Hell,” while U.S. directors Steven Soderbergh and Ron Howard premiere documentaries on John Lennon and fashion photographer Richard Avedon, respectively.

John Travolta, whose superstardom as an actor began with “Saturday Night ⁠Fever” ​and “Grease” in the 1970s, makes his debut as a director with ​the out-of-competition “Propeller One‑Way Night Coach”.

Korean director Park Chan-wook, who took the festival’s best director award in 2022 for “Decision to Leave,” will preside over the ​jury.

The 79th Cannes Film Festival runs from May 12-23.