Potential selections and suspended expectations seven days from the Cannes announcement

by Fabien Lemercier

06/04/2023 - Invitations trickling in, intensive final viewings and well-kept secrets in the final stretch before the very promising Cannes selections are revealed

Potential selections and suspended expectations seven days from the Cannes announcement

Filmmakers Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Alice Rohrwacher (© Simona Pampallona), Aki Kaurismäki (© Elena Ringo), Jessica Hausner (© Manfred Werner), Yorgos Lanthimos (© Anna Hanks), Justine Triet, Abderrahmane Sissako (© Georges Biard), Catherine Breillat and Víctor Erice (© Hilltusk)

Rather than a crystal ball, it’s a time machine one would need to truly guess what films will be part of the selection of the 76th Cannes Film Festival (from 16 to 27 May), seven days from the Paris press conference for the Official Selection where Thierry Frémaux will climb into the ring (accompanied by new president Iris Knobloch – read the news) to unveil his picks.

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The teams of selectors on the Croisette indeed still have many films to watch and many contenders are still awaiting a response. However, beyond the titles previously announced (Jeanne du Barry [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] from France’s Maiwenn as opener – read the article –, Killers of the Flower Moon by American director Martin Scorsese – read the news – and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by James Mangold), a few favourites stand out. We survey the main tendencies, rumours, probabilities and hypotheses on the horizon.

In official competition, jury president Ruben Östlund (news) could discover About Dry Grasses [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
film profile] by Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Monster by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, La Chimera [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Italy’s Alice Rohrwacher, The Old Oak [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by British director Ken Loach, Il sol dell’avvenire [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti, Fallen Leaves [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Finland’s Aki Kaurismäki, Club Zero [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile] by Austria’s Jessica Hausner, Poor Things [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Suzy Bemba
Q&A: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile] by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos and, from the United States, The Holdovers by Alexander Payne, Asteroid City by Wes Anderson, May December by Todd Haynes and The Bikeriders by Jeff Nichols. Among other potential titles, the most likely are The New Boy by Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton, Black Tea [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Mauritania’s Abderrahmane Sissako, Cerrar los ojos [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Spain’s Victor Erice and Enterre seus mortos by Brazil’s Marco Dutra. Argentina also features as an outsider, with Eureka [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lisandro Alonso
film profile] by Lisandro Alonso and Puan [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Benjamín Naishtat and María…
film profile] from the duo Maria Alche-Benjamin Naishtat while a great mystery surrounds Io Capitano [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Italy’s Matteo Garrone. Finally, French films whose fate is traditionally decided only on the night before the press conference, Anatomy of a Fall [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Justine Triet
film profile] by Justine Triet is a favourite, before The Beast [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile] by Bertrand Bonello and Just The Two of Us [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valérie Donzelli
film profile] by Valérie Donzelli, and a small pack comprising Red Island [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Robin Campillo, Last Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Catherine Breillat
film profile] by Catherine Breillat, Along Came Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Katell Quillévéré
film profile] by Katell Quillevéré and, as a wild card, Salem [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jean-Bernard Marlin (a last minute candidate). However, it is possible that Thierry Frémaux will be tempted to do a bit of spring cleaning and upset part of the predictions for the race to the 2023 Palme d’Or. Story to be continued, especially as the code of silence seems to be better enforced than ever as the quality of this year’s edition is extremely promising.

Previsions are all the harder to make since the Directors' Fortnight (and its new general delegate - news) has chosen a wait-and-see attitude regarding invitations and rejections, with only small clues about its editorial line filtering through (more attention to direction than to topics). Critics' Week, meanwhile, is fully in tune with the game typical of the Croisette, where the final stretch is often a chance for the Official Selection to take its pick from the feature films appreciated by the parallel sections. A whole array of films therefore reverberates from one end of the Croisette to the other, including Omen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Baloji
film profile] from Belgian filmmaker of Congolese origins Baloji, animated film Robot Dreams [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Spain’s Pablo Berger, La Cocina by Mexico’s Alonso Ruizpalacios, Tiger Stripes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amanda Nell Eu
film profile] by Malaisia’s Amanda Nell Eu, Los Colonos (The Settlers) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Felipe Gálvez
film profile] by Chilean director Felipe Gálvez, Nobody Likes Me by Czech filmmakers Tomás Weinreb and Petr Kazda (news), Xue Bao by Tibet’s Pema Tseden, MMXX [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristi Puiu
film profile] by Romania’s Cristi Puiu, Heartless [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Brazilian directors Tião and Nara Normande, Solitude [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ninna Pálmadóttir
film profile] by Iceland’s Ninna Pálmadóttir, Some Rain Must Fall [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Chinese director Qiu Yang and a film from fellow Chinese filmmaker Wei Shujun, Zé by Mongolia’s Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (aka Dulmaa), a film by Canada’s Caitlin Cronenberg and Drag by Canada’s Sophie Dupuis, Crossing [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Levan Akin
film profile] by Sweden’s Levan Akin, (Ex)perience of Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ann Sirot & Raphael Balboni
film profile] by Belgian duo Ann Sirot - Raphaël Balboni, Ebba by Finnish-Swedish director Johanna Pyykkö, Handling the Unded [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Norway’s Thea Hvistendahl, Hesitation Wound [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Selman Nacar
film profile] by Turkish filmmaker Selman Nacar, Banel & Adama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ramata-Toulaye Sy
film profile] by Senegalese-French director Ramata-Toulaye Sy, In Flames by Canadian-Pakistanese filmmaker Zarrar Kahn, Amanhã sera outro dia by Portugal’s Pedro Pinho and L’or et le monde by Portugal’s Ico Costa, The Devil’s Bath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
film profile] by Austria’s Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, a film from American filmmaker Zia Anger, Lost Country [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Vladimir Perišić
film profile] by Serbia’s Vladimir Perisic, Jepotá by Brazil’s Carlos Papá Guarani and Augusto Canani, La bella estate [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Italy’s Laura Luchetti and Basileia by Italy’s Isabella Torre, Who Do I Belong To [+see also:
film review
interview: Meryam Joobeur
film profile] by Tunisia’s Meryam Joobeur and Behind the Maountains [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mohamed Ben Attia
film profile] by Tunisia’s Mohamed Ben Attia.

Finally, emerging among the possible documentary titles are Dahomey [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Mati Diop, Ricardo and Painting [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Barbet Schroeder, the documentary-fiction hybrid Four Daughters [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile] by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania and Room 999 by Lubna Playoust.

The die is cast, and light will be shed on the gems of Cannes 2023 during the press conferences of April 13 (when Thierry Frémaux plans to reveal 80% of his Official Selection), 17 and 18.

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(Translated from French)