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Edgar Ortega
Website | + posts

Currently pursuing a film career with a passion for film journalism, storytelling of any kind has allowed me to let my imagination run wild in ways even I couldn’t predict. Expect me to write about film, TV, and the entertainment industry.

The official lineup for the 76th annual Cannes International Film Festival was unveiled yesterday, Thursday, April 13th. It is already shaping out to be an all-time great ceremony.

From May 16th to May 27th next month, audiences, critics, and members of the industry attending the occasion will be able to enjoy a variety of distinct movies made by some of the most celebrated artists in cinema across the globe. Acclaimed filmmakers premiering their latest work include James Mangold, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Martin Scorsese, Pedro Almodóvar, Steve McQueen, Wes Anderson, and more.

Palme d’Or Competitors

Wes Anderson and his stacked cast – consisting of Margot Robbie (Barbie), Jason Schwartzman (The Righteous Gemstones), Jeffrey Wright (The Batman), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Tom Hanks (A Man Called Otto), Tilda Swinton (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) – are headed to Cannes with his colorful Asteroid City, which will compete for the grand prize Palme d’Or. 

Competition is proving to be strong this year with the presence of Japanese director and past Palme d’Or winner (for Shoplifters), Kore-eda Hirokazu. He will be showcasing his new film Monster.

Other Cannes veterans and previous Palme d’Or nominees that will be present include Nanni Moretti and his new project Il Sol Dell’Avvenire, Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki with Fallen Leaves, and Todd Haynes’ May December, starring Academy Award winners Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman.

Breaking Cannes Records

Despite being a celebrated film festival, Cannes has often been criticized for failing to include more female filmmakers throughout the years. That seems to be an area they plan to course-correct in 2023, after announcing six movies by female directors will debut in the Competition category.

The six films breaking Cannes records are Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera, Catherine Breillat’s Last Summer, Four Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania, Club Zero by Jessica Hausner, Justine Triet’s Anatomie d’une chute, and Banel et Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy.

Out of Competition

Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's Western crime drama adaptation film, Killers of the Flower Moon, coming to Cannes
Pictured from left to right: Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone) and Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, premiering at the 76th Cannes Film Festival.

Both Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny are 2023’s big Hollywood productions showcasing at Cannes this year. They’re accompanied by Jee-woon Kim’s latest Cobweb and the already highly controversial HBO series The Idol from Sam Levinson, led by The Weeknd (Uncut Gems) and Lily-Rose Depp (Wolf).

Lily-Rose isn’t the only Depp who’s part of a critiqued project ahead of its release. Her father Johnny Depp is attached to the French period drama, Jeanne du Barry, directed by another controversial figure Mäiwenn after reportedly assaulting a French journalist via Variety.

Highlights

After winning Best Picture at the Oscars in 2014 for 12 Years a Slave, another Cannes returnee is Steve McQueen with his documentary Occupied City. It will be part of the Special Screenings category and it’ll retell the events of Amsterdam during Nazi occupation in World War II. 

Pedro Almodóvar’s LGBTQ western short and second English-language project Strange Way of Life, starring Ethan Hawke (The Black Phone) and Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), will be screened as part of the Official Selection and in World Premiere. The filmmaker is no stranger to Cannes after winning awards like Best Director for his work on All About My Mother in 1999, and Best Screenplay for Volver in 2006.

Oscars Potential

Festival de Cannes has been home to previous films that went on to become Oscar-nominated movies. Just last year they screened Close, Elvis, EO, Top Gun: Maverick, and Triangle of Sadness. Three of these became Best Picture nominees at the 95th Academy Awards ceremony.

Can we expect projects from this year’s event to go on and receive Oscar buzz down the road? We will have to wait and see until this year’s festivities are done and people discuss what they saw at the Cannes International Film Festival.

Full list below:

CANNES PREMIERE 

Kubi by Takeshi Kitano

Bonnard, Pierre Et Marthe by Martin Provost

Cerrar Los Ojos by Victor Erice

Le Temps D’Aimer by Katell Quillévéré

IN COMPETITION

Club Zero by Jessica Hausner

The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer

Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismaki

Les Filles D’Olfa (Four Daughters) by Kaouther Ben Hania

Asteroid City by Wes Anderson

Anatomie D’une Chute by Justine Triet

Monster by Kore-eda Hirokazu

Il Sol Dell’ Avvenire by Nanni Moretti

L’Eté Dernier by Catherine Breillat

Kuru Otlar Ustune  (About Dry Grasses) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

La Chimera by Alice Rohrwacher

La Passion De Dodin Bouffant (The Passion of Dodin Bouffant) by Tran Anh Hung

Rapito by Marco Bellocchio

May December by Todd Haynes

Jeunesse by Wang Bing

The Old Oak by Ken Loach

Banel E Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy

Perfect Days by Wim Wenders

Firebrand by Karim Aïnouz

Midnight Screenings

Kennedy by Anurag Kashyap

Omar La Fraise by Elias Belkeddar

Acide by Just Philippot

Out of Competition

Jeanne Du Barry by Maïwenn – Opening Film Out of Competition

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by James Mangold

Cobweb by Kim Jee-woon

The Idol by Sam Levinson

Killers of the Flower Moon by Martin Scorsese

Special Screenings

Man in Black by Wang Bing

Occupied City by Steve McQueen

Anselm by Wim Wenders

Retratos Fantasmas (Pictures of Ghosts) by Kleber Mendonça Filho

Un Certain Regard

Le Règne Animal by Thomas Cailley – Opening Film

Los Delincuentes (The Delinquents) by Rodrigo Moreno

How to Have Sex by Molly Manning Walker

Goodbye Julia by Mohamed Kordofani

Kadib Abyad (The Mother of All Lies) by Asmae El Moudir

Simple Comme Sylvain by Monia Chokri

Crowrã  (The Buriti Flower) by João Salaviza, Renée Nader Messora

Los Colonos (The Settlers) by Felipe Gálvez

Omen by Baloji Tshiani

The Breaking Ice by Anthony Chen

Rosalie by Stéphanie Di Giusto

The New Boy by Warwick Thornton

If Only I Could Hibernate by Zoljargal Purevdash

Hopeless by Kim Chang-hoon

Terrestrial Verses by Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami

Rien À Perdre by Delphine DelogetLes Meutes by Kamal Lazraq

Edgar Ortega
Website | + posts

Currently pursuing a film career with a passion for film journalism, storytelling of any kind has allowed me to let my imagination run wild in ways even I couldn’t predict. Expect me to write about film, TV, and the entertainment industry.

This article was edited by John Tangalin.

Edgar Ortega

About Edgar Ortega

Currently pursuing a film career with a passion for film journalism, storytelling of any kind has allowed me to let my imagination run wild in ways even I couldn’t predict. Expect me to write about film, TV, and the entertainment industry.

View all posts by Edgar Ortega