Last year's Cannes Film Festival bowed three eventual Best Picture nominees in Anatomy of a Fall, Killers of the Flower Moon, and The Zone of Interest. Anatomy of a Fall, which won Cannes' prestigious Palme d'Or, went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay; The Zone of Interest, which took home the Grand Prix, won Best International Feature Film and Best Sound. (The likes of Elemental, May December, and Perfect Days also premiered on La Croisette before receiving nominations at the 96th Oscars.)
The Official Selection for this year's 77th edition features new works from many renowned filmmakers, including Andrea Arnold, Francis Ford Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos, George Miller, and more. For Coppola, the Cannes premiere of Megalopolis marks his return to the festival exactly 50 years after the legendary filmmaker won the Palme d'Or with 1974's The Conversation. Apocalypse Now, which was released five years later, also won the Palme d'Or.
Below, A.frame has answers to all of your questions about this year's Cannes Film Festival, with one exception: Who will win the Palme d'Or this year? For that answer, stay tuned. Until then, read on for everything else you need to know.
When and where is this year's festival?
The 77th Cannes Festival runs from May 14 to May 25 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, the traditional home of the festival on the French Riviera. The Closing Ceremony will be broadcast live by France Télévisions in France and by Brut. internationally.
Which films are screening at Cannes?
Cannes' Official Selection is comprised of the films screening In Competition and Un Certain Regard (the sidebar focused on up-and-coming filmmakers), as well as Out of Competition premieres, Cannes Classics, Midnight Screenings, and Special Screenings.
The festival will open with French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux's comedy Le deuxième acte (The Second Act), starring Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel, Vincent Lindon, Raphaël Quenard and Manuel Gillot. Per its official synopsis: "Florence wants to introduce David, the man she's madly in love with, to her father Guillaume. But David isn't attracted to Florence and wants to throw her into the arms of his friend Willy. The four characters meet in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere."
Other titles premiering out of competition include George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which debuts at Cannes nine years after Mad Max: Fury Road did the same, Oscar winner Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga, and Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson's Rumours, starring Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander.
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Here are the 22 films that are In Competition for the Palme d'Or:
All We Imagine as Light, directed by Payal Kapadia
Anora, directed by Sean Baker
The Apprentice, directed by Ali Abbasi
Bird, directed by Andrea Arnold
Diamant Brut (Wild Diamond), directed by Agathe Riedinger
Emilia Perez, directed by Jacques Audiard
Feng Liu Yi Dai (Caught By The Tides), directed by Jia Zhang-Ke
Grand Tour, directed by Miguel Gomes
Kinds Of Kindness, directed by Yórgos Lánthimos
L’amour Ouf, directed by Gilles Lellouche
Limonov - The Ballad, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov
Marcello Mio, directed by Christophe Honoré
Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola
The Most Precious of Cargoes, directed by Michel Hazanavicius
Motel Destino, directed by Karim Ainouz
Oh Canada, directed by Paul Schrader
Parthenope, directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Pigen med nålen (The Girl With The Needle), directed by Magnus Von Horn
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
The Shrouds, directed by David Cronenberg
The Substance, directed by Coralie Fargeat
Three Kilometers Until the End of the World, directed by Emanuel Parvu
Who is on this year's Cannes Jury?
Four-time Oscar nominee Greta Gerwig will serve as president of the Feature Film Jury, making her the first female director from America to do so.
"I love films — I love making them, I love going to them, I love talking about them. As a cinephile, Cannes has always been the pinnacle of what the universal language of movies can be. Being in the place of vulnerability, in a dark theatre filled with strangers, watching a brand-new film is my favorite place to be," Gerwig said in a statement. "I am stunned and thrilled and humbled to be serving as the president of the Cannes Film Festival Jury. I cannot wait to see what journeys are in store for all of us!"
The Feature Film Jury also includes Oscar-nominated actress Lily Gladstone, along with actors Pierfrancesco Favino, Eva Green and Omar Sy, filmmakers Juan Antonio Bayona, Kore-eda Hirokazu and Nadine Labaki, and screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan. Their choice for the Palme d'Or will be announced during the Closing Ceremony on May 24.
This year's Un Certain Regard Jury is chaired over by Canadian actor and filmmaker Xavier Dolan, joined by actress Vicky Krieps, filmmakers Maïmouna Doucouré and Asmae El Moudir, and critic, writer and director Todd McCarthy. Meanwhile, actress Emmanuelle Béart and director and songwriter Baloji will co-preside over the Caméra d'Or Jury.
Who is receiving an Honorary Palme d'Or?
Cannes will award three Honorary Palmes this year: to the legendary actress and three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, to the iconic filmmaker George Lucas, and to the acclaimed Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli.
Streep will receive hers during May 14's Opening Ceremony, where she will be the guest of honor. Streep last attended the festival when she won Cannes' award for Best Actress with 1988's Evil Angels.
"I am immeasurably honored to receive the news of this prestigious award," she said. "To win a prize at Cannes, for the international community of artists, has always represented the highest achievement in the art of filmmaking. To stand in the shadow of those who have previously been honored is humbling and thrilling in equal part. I so look forward to coming to France to thank everyone in person this May!"
Lucas will receive his Honorary Palme d'Or during the Closing Ceremony on May 25.
"The Festival de Cannes has always held a special place in my heart," Lucas said of the honor. "I was surprised and elated when my first film, THX-1138, was selected to be shown on the Croisette in 1971. Since then, I have returned to the Festival on many occasions in a variety of capacities as a writer, director and producer. I am truly honored by this special recognition which means a great deal to me."
When Studio Ghibli receives the Honorary Palme d'Or, the occasion will mark the very first time that the honor has been bestowed upon a group.
"I am truly honored and delighted that the studio is awarded the Honorary Palme d'Or," said Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki. "I would like to thank the Festival de Cannes from the bottom of my heart. Forty years ago, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and I established Studio Ghibli with the desire to bring high-level, high-quality animation to children and adults of all ages. Today, our films are watched by people all over the world, and many visitors come to the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka and Ghibli Park to experience the world of our films for themselves. We have truly come a long way for Studio Ghibli to become such a big organization. Although Miyazaki and I have aged considerably, I am sure that Studio Ghibli will continue to take on new challenges, led by the staff who will carry on the spirit of the company. It would be my greatest pleasure if you look forward to what's next."
About This Year's Poster
The official poster of the 77th Festival de Cannes (above) features a still from master Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's Rhapsody in August. The film was presented Out of Competition in Cannes in 1991.
Here is what the festival says of the artwork:
All the poetic beauty, hypnotic magic and apparent simplicity of the cinema emerge in this scene from RHAPSODY IN AUGUST... In this film, a grandmother who was a victim of the Nagasaki bombing on August 9, 1945, passes on her faith in love and integrity as a bulwark against war to her grandchildren and her American nephew, with tenderness and contemplation. The next-to-last film by the director of Sanshiro Sugata, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Dersu Uzala and Dodes'ka-den reminds us of the importance of coming together, and seeking harmony in all things.
Mirroring the movie theater, this poster celebrates the Seventh Art, with naivety and wonder. Because it gives everyone a voice, it enables emancipation. Because it remembers wounds, it combats oblivion. Because it bears witness to perils, it calls for union. Because it soothes trauma, it helps repair the living.
In a fragile world that constantly questions otherness, the Festival de Cannes reaffirms a conviction: cinema is a universal sanctuary for expression and sharing. A place where our humanity is written as much as our freedom.
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