PARIS -- Films by David Cronenberg, Park Chan-wook and Kelly Reichardt will vie for the coveted Palme d'Or at a Cannes Film Festival set to unspool against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
Cannes film festival artist director Thierry Fremaux and president Pierre Lescure announced the lineup to this year's festival, Cannes' 75th, in a press conference Thursday in Paris. After cancelling the 2020 event and hosting a slightly scaled down 2021 edition, the French Riviera festival is looking to reclaim its pre-pandemic allure with some 35,000 accredited attendees expected next month.
The 18 films announced in Cannes' prestigious competition lineup feature new works by several former Palme winners, including Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda (鈥淏roker鈥�), Swedish social satirist Ruben Ostlund (鈥淭riangle of Sadness鈥�) and Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (鈥淭ori and Lokita鈥�).
Also in competition: Cronenberg's 鈥淐rimes of the Future,鈥� starring Lea Seydoux, Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen; Kelly Reichardt's 鈥淪howing Up,鈥� which reunites her with 鈥淲endy and Lucy鈥� star Michelle Williams; Chan-wook's Korean mystery thriller 鈥淒ecision to Leave鈥�; and French filmmaker Claire Denis' 鈥淪tars at Noon鈥� with Margaret Qualley.
The 75th anniversary of the French Riviera film extravaganza 鈥渋s happening in special circumstances: the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, a world that has changed and will keep changing,鈥� Fremaux said.
The biggest Hollywood splashes expected at Cannes had already been announced, including a screening of 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥� which will be accompanied by a tribute to star Tom Cruise. The 鈥淭op Gun鈥� sequel will play out of competition, as will Baz Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic 鈥淓lvis,鈥� starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.
Organizers will announce the jury at a later date.
Cannes' international village of flag-waving pavilions annually hosts more than 80 countries from around the world. But organizers earlier said no Russian delegations would be welcome at the this year because of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Russian director, Kirill Serebrennikov, who recently fled Russia for Berlin after several years banned from travel, will premiere his latest film, about composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky
As usual, most of the directors in the competition are men. Only three of the 18 films competing for the Palme d'Or were directed by women. Last year, Julia Ducournau became only the second woman in Cannes history to win the top prize, for her film 鈥淭itane,鈥� the body-horror thriller.
The festival will open on May 17 with the premiere of the zombie comedy 鈥淔inal Cut,鈥� by 鈥淭he Artist鈥� director Michel Hazanvicius. The film had earlier been scheduled to debut in January at the Sundance Film Festival but was pulled when the festival shifted to a virtual edition amid a virus surge.
Ethan Coen will debut his first feature without his brother, Joel, in the out-of-competition documentary 鈥淛erry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind.鈥� Other highlights include George Miller's first film since 2015's 鈥淢ad Max: Fury Road鈥�: 鈥淭hree Thousand Years of Longing,鈥� a fantasy romance with Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. And Brett Morgan will premiere 鈥淢oonage Daydream,鈥� a David Bowie documentary.
As has been the case since 2017, no Netflix films are in competition at Cannes. The streamer and the festival have been an impasse due to the country's rigid windowing rules. Once a film plays in cinemas in France, it can't stream for 15 months. Earlier this year, though, Netflix signed a three-year agreement with French film guilds to spend a minimum of $45 million financing French and European films to play theatrically in France.
The Cannes Film Festival runs May 17-28.
