The line-up for the 67th Cannes Film Festival has been announced – and it is, as always, an eclectic and star-studded affair.
Director Jane Campion, the only woman to have won the Palme d’Or, is leading the jury at this year’s event, which opens with the world premiere of Olivier Dahan’s out-of-competition biopic ‘Grace of Monaco’, starring Nicole Kidman.
Altogether, 49 films will be shown at the festival, in categories ranging from the main competition to the closely watched ‘Un Certain Regard’ section. They were chosen out of 1,800 movies initially submitted, and represent 28 different countries.
“You can find, in the official selection, a lot of what you can call big names, but also young, new directors. And it is also one of the missions of a festival like Cannes – to introduce and put new names on the map of world cinema,” says Thierry Fremaux, Cannes Film Festival General Delegate.
In the race for the Palme d’Or, a strong Canadian presence with David Cronenberg’s ‘Maps to the Stars’ leading the pack.
It’s the story of a dynastic Hollywood family, deeply embedded in and dysfunctionally addicted to the Los Angeles celebrity culture.
The other Canadian films in competition are Atom Egoyan’s kidnapping thriller ‘The Captive’ and Xavier Dolan’s relationship drama ‘Mommy’.
Former Palme d’Or laureates Ken Loach and Mike Leigh are bringing their period dramas ‘Jimmy’s Hall’ and ‘Mr Turner’ to Cannes, as are the Dardenne brothers with ‘Two Days, One Night’.
Veteran Jean-Luc Godard is also competing with ‘Adieu au langage’, alongside France’s Olivier Assayas with ‘Sils Maria’ and Oscar-winner Michel Hazanavicius with ‘The Search’.
In all, 18 films will be vying for the top prize.
Also set to make its world premiere in Cannes is DreamWorks’ sequel ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’, out-of-competition, in keeping with the festival’s tradition of screening a US studio blockbuster the first weekend.
The 67th Cannes Film Festival runs from May 14th to 25th.
