Each year a certain brand of artistic achievement is showcased and honored in Cannes. It’s a mysterious quality, always. Perhaps it’s the inevitable “European”-ness of it all; you picture the cameras, the stars, the glamour, all done French Riviera style (very easy to romance). But for most people there, it’s really about the true art of the screen, and that for one is a true pleasure.

Browsing through our press kit for this year’s Cannes Film Festival we can’t help but notice   President Gilles Jacobs’ sentiment

 “What has changed in cinema? Everything. Gone, the pioneers and the innocence, the way of filming, cameras, understanding audiences, duration, rhythm, acting…In a world that sacrifices everything to what’s superficial, to the new-best-thing, to the lowest common denominator, to the non-debate of ideas through apathy, what counts, what makes us strong, is our passion for cinema and for those who make it”

This year, the lineup at Cannes is highly impressive, and boasts a handsome list of  international talent. Some of the directors competing this year include David Cronenberg, Michael Haneke, and 88-year old French Auteur, Alain Resnais.

As for the stars, there should be no shortage. Some names to expect to see: Tilda Swinton (Moonrise Kingdom), Brad Pitt (Killing Me Softly), Isabelle Hupert (L’Amour), Jessica Chastain (Lawless), Mia Wasikowska (Lawless), and of Twilight lore – Kristen Stewart (On the Road) and Robert Pattinson (Cosmopolis).

Some of the past winners of the Palme D’Or,  include: Apocalypse Now (1979), The Tree of Life (2011), La Dolce Vita (1960), Jigoku [“Gate of Hell”] (1954) , Taxi Driver (1976), Pulp Fiction (1994), Paris, Texas (1984), Wild at Heart (1990), The Piano (1993),  The Pianist (2002), and Elephant (2003). All have undoubtedly further the art of the cinema, as well as the art of style itself.

So, here’s the list:

OPENING NIGHT FILM:

Moonrise Kingdom – Dir: Wes Anderson

COMPETITION (20 FILMS):

Rust and Bone – Dir. Jacques Audiard
Holy Motors – Dir. Leos Carax
Cosmopolis – Dir. David Cronenberg
The Paperboy – Dir. Lee Daniels
Killing Them Softly – Dir. Andrew Dominik
Reality – Dir. Matteo Garrone
Love (Amour) – Dir. Michael Haneke
Lawless – Dir. John Hillcoat
In Another Country – Dir. Hong Sang-soo
Taste of Money – Dir. Im Sang-soo
Like Someone In Love – Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
The Angels’ Share – Dir. Ken Loach
Beyond the Hills – Dir. Cristian Mungiu
After the Battle (Baad el Mawkeaa) – Dir. Yousry Nasrallah
Mud – Dir. Jeff Nichols
You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet – Dir. Alain Resnais
Post Tenebras Lux – Dir. Carlos Reygadas
On the Road – Dir. Walter Salles
Paradise: Love – Dir. Ulrich Seidl
The Hunt (Jagten) – Dir. Thomas Vinterberg

CLOSING NIGHT FILM:

Therese Desqueyroux – Dir. Claude Miller

UN CERTAIN REGARD (17 FILMS):

Miss Lovely – Dir. Ashim Ahluwalia
La Playa – Dir. Juan Andres Arango
God’s Horses (Les Chevaus de Dieu) – Dir. Nabil Ayouch
Trois Mondes – Dir. Catherine Corsini
Antiviral – Dir. Brandon Cronenberg
7 Days in Havana – Dirs. Laurent Cantet, Benicio Del Toro, Julio Medem, Gaspar Noé, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabío, Pablo Trapero
Le Grand Soir – Dirs. Benoît Delépine & Gustave de Kervern
Laurence Anyways – Dir. Xavier Dolan
Despues de Lucia – Dir. Michel Franco
Aimer a Perdre la Raison – Dir. Joachim Lafosse
Mystery – Dir. Lou Ye
Student – Dir. Darezhan Omirbayev
The Pirogue (La Pirogue) – Dir. Moussa Touré
White Elephant (Elefante Blanco) – Dir. Pablo Trapero
Confession of a Child of the Century – Dir. Sylvie Verheyde
11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate – Dir. Koji Wakamatsu
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Dir. Benh Zeitlin

OUT OF COMPETITION (3 FILMS):

Hemingway & Gellhorn – Dir. Philip Kaufman
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted – Dirs. Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon
Me and You – Dir. Bernardo Bertolucci

SPECIAL SCREENINGS (5 FILMS):

Polluting Paradise – Dir. Fatih Akin
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir – Dir. Laurent Bouzereau
The Central Park Five – Dirs. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
Les Invisibles – Dir. Sebastien Lifshitz
Journal de France – Dirs. Claudine Nougaret & Raymond Depardon
A Musica Segundo Tom Jobim – Dir. Nelson Pereira dos Santos
Villegas – Dir. Gonzalo Tobal
Mekong Hotel – Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS (2 FILMS):

Dario Argento’s Dracula 3D – Dir. Dario Argento
The Legend of Love & Sincerity (Ai To Makoto) – Dir. Takashi Miike

 

 Who do you think’s going to carry it all the way this year? Let us know! Leave a comment below!

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