This morning the official 2012 Cannes Film Festival line-up was announced after the selection committee saw 1,779 films submitted from 26 different countries. Of those, 54 have been chosen (so far) including the opening night film which will be Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom and the closing night film comes from the late Claude Miller's Therese D. starring Audrey Tautou.
Looking over the list the most universally recognized names are among a stacked competition list that includes the likes of Wes Anderson, Jacques Audiard, Leos Carax, David Cronenberg, Lee Daniels, Andrew Dominik, Matteo Garrone, Michael Haneke, John Hillcoat, Sangsoo Hong, Sangsoo Im, Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach, Cristian Mungiu, Jeff Nichols, Alain Resnais, Walter Salles and Thomas Vinterberg. Those names alone should pique any film fans interest and that's just the competition.
Go exploring further and you'll find David Cronenberg's son Brandon Cronenberg along with the likes of Xavier Dolan, Bernardo Bertolucci, Fatih Akin and midnight screenings of new films from Dario Argento and Takashi Miike. On top of that, there are still films yet to be revealed including the April 22 announcement of the films included in the Semaine de la Critique.
Many were expecting Terrence Malick's The Burial, but festival director Thierry Fremaux announced it was not yet ready and it appears neither was Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master.
The current list is presented below and any films with links can be clicked for additional information and in about 50% of the cases pictures and/or early trailers.
- Nanni Moretti
- Jean-Pierre Dardenne, President
- Arsinee Khanjian
- Karim Ainouz
- Emmanuel Carrere
- Yu Lik-wai
- Tim Roth
- Moonrise Kingdom (dir. Wes Anderson) [In Competition]
- Therese Desqueyroux (dir. Claude Miller) [Out of Competition]
- 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 (Da-Reun Na-Ra-E-Suh) (dir. Sangsoo Hong)
- Taste of Money (dir. Sangsoo Im)
- 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 (Vous n'avez encore rien vu) (dir. Alain Resnais)
- Post Tenebras Lux (dir. Carlos Reygadas)
- On the Road (dir. Walter Salles)
- Paradise: Love (Paradies: Liebe) (dir. Ulrich Seidl)
- The Hunt (Jagten) (dir. Thomas Vinterberg)
- Im Nebel (Dans la Brume) (dir. Sergei Loznitsa)
- Miss Lovely (dir. Ashim Ahluwalia)
- La Playa (dir. Juan Andres Arango)
- God's Horses (Les Chevaus de Dieu) (dir. Nabil Ayouch)
- Djeca (dir. Aida Begic)
- Renoir (dir. Gilles Bourdos)
- Trois Mondes (dir. Catherine Corsini)
- Antiviral (dir. Brandon Cronenberg)
- 7 Days in Havana (7 Dias en la Habana) (dir. Laurent Cantet, Benicio Del Toro, Julio Medem, Gaspar Noe, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabio and Pablo Trapero)
- Le Grand Soir (dir. Benoit DELEPINE and Gustave Kervern)
- Laurence Anyways (dir. Xavier Dolan)
- Despues de Lucia (dir. Michel Franco)
- Aimer a Perdre la Raison (dir. Joachim Lafosse)
- Gimme the Loot (dir. Adam Leon)
- Mystery (dir. Lou Ye)
- Student (dir. Darezhan Omirbayev)
- The Pirogue (La Pirogue) (dir. Moussa Toure)
- 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)
- Me and You (Io e Te) (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
- Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (dir. Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath)
- Hemingway and Gellhorn (dir. Philip Kaufman)
- Dario Argento's Dracula 3-D (dir. Dario Argento)
- The Sapphires (dir. Wayne Blair)
- Maniac (dir. Franck Khalfoun)
- Ai Io Makoto (dir. Takashi Miike)
- Polluting Paradise (Der mull im garten Eden) (dir. Fatih Akin)
- Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir (dir. Laurent Bouzereau)
- Trashed (dir. Candida Brady)
- The Central Park Five (dir. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon)
- Les Invisibles (dir. Sebastien Lifshitz)
- Journal de France (dir. Claudine Nougaret and Raymond Depardon)
- A Musica Segundo Tom Jobim (dir. Nelson Pereira dos Santos)
- Villegas (dir. Gonzalo Tobal)
- Mekong Hotel (dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
- Une Journee Particuliere (dir. Gilles Jacob and Samuel Faure)
- Mi Santa Mirada (dir. Alvaro Aponte-Centeno - Puerto Rico
- Gasp (Souffle) (dir. Eicke Bettinga - Germany
- Ce Chemin Devant Moi (dir. Mohamed Bourokba a.k.a. Hame) - France
- Waiting For P.O. Box (Falastein, Sandouk Al Intezar Lil Burtuqal) (dir. Bassam Chekhes) - Syria
- The Chair (dir. Grainger David) - US
- Night Shift (dir. Zia Mandivwalla) - New Zealand
- Chef De Meute (dir. Chloe Robichaud) - Canada
- Yardbird (dir. Michael Spiccia) - Australia
- Cockaigne (dir. Emilie Verhamme) - Belgium
- Silent (Sessiz-Be Deng) (dir. L Rezan Yesilbas) - Turkey
- Behind Me Olive Trees (Derriere Moi Les Oliviers) (dir. Pascale Abou Jamra) - ALBA, Lebanon
- The Barber (Riyoushi) (dir. Shoichi Akino) - Tokyo University of The Arts, Japan
- The Raptures (Les Ravissements) (dir. Arthur Cahn) - La Femis, France
- Slug Invasion (dir. Morten Helgeland) - The Animation Workshop, Denmark
- Tambylles (dir. Michal Hogenauer) - FAMU, Czech Republic
- Matteus (dir. Leni Huyghe) - Sint-Lukas Brussels, Belgium
- The Camp in Razoare (dir. Cristi Iftime) - UNATC, Romania
- The Road To (Doroga Na) (dir. Taisia Igumentseva) - VGIK, Russia
- Land (Terra) (dir. Piero Messina) - CSC, Italy
- The Hosts (Los Anfitriones) (dir. MIguel Angel Moulet) - EICTV, Cuba
- The Ballad of Finn + Yeti (dir. Meryl O'Connor) - UCLA, US
- Head Over Heels (dir. Timothy Reckart) - NFTS, UK
- Abigail (dir. Matthew James Reilly) - NYU, US
- Dog Leash (Resen) (dir. Eti Tsicko) - TAU, Israel
- Could See A Puma (Pude Ver Un Puma) (dir. Eduardo Williams) - UCINE, Argentina
Weigh in with your thoughts below.
'Behind the Candelabra' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
'Before Sunrise' Location Map - Celine and Jesse in Vienna
'Blood Ties' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
Two New 'Wolverine' Posters Feature Yukio and Viper
Zod and Jor-El Featured in Four New 'Man of Steel' Posters
'As I Lay Dying' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
'Shield of Straw' (2013) Movie Review - Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Podcast #2: Talking 'Inside Llewyn Davis', 'Monsoon Shootout', 'Seduced and Abandoned' and 'Jimmy P.'
Three New 'Only God Forgives' Clips
Sean Penn Reportedly Circling Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Inherent Vice'
'Blood Ties' International Trailer and Poster
If Madagascar is in there, will Brave be as well?
Great List so far!
Pretty good list of films. Wish I could be there.
Brad which of these are you looking forward to the most?
really cool...just curious Brad, how do they go about with the selection process? perhaps you guys can touch upon this in the next podcast.
I am also curious to know which ones on that list you are excited about.
Sounds very interesting! I'll be looking forward to your reports again. If you can, please go see Haneke's latest, I'm always interested in hearing and seeing what he's done.
Btw, it's Fatih Akin, not Faith.
Glad to see that Ulrich Seidl got selected, even though it is only one film out of his 3-part-epic "Paradies".
Seidl stated in several interviews that he wanted to distribute all three films at once (every film runs 120 minutes) but that it wasn't possible. He also mentioned that every major festival rejected his idea but that they would invite him, if he would submit only one film.
(Sad that no Film Festival was brave enough to go with the 3-film-at-once-idea)
i am so excited...nicole kidman‘s the paperboy is on the list!
When did Cogan's Trade become Killing Them Softly?
Very beginning of March. Can't say I like the title change. Cogan's Trade sounded much more like a film I'd like to see. I mean, despite the title, I'll still see it, but I don't understand the change.
Yeah between that and The Wettest Country being renamed Lawless, studios just love their generic names.
Looks great. Really wanted to see the new Malick film included though. Hopefully it will be ready for the fall festival circuit.
Thanks for sharing, Brad. Pardon my film festival ignorance, but can anyone buy tickets to attend these or do you need to be invited? Or does it depend on the movie?
They don't sell any tickets. You have to either be a film professional or a member of the press to apply for festival credentials. I think they do some free screenings of films for the public, but not any of the films that are in competition.
Thanks for the response. Guess it depends on the festival. I'm in NYC and the general public can buy tickets to some screenings of this month's Tribeca Film Festival.
Yeah, most festivals, even prestigious ones like Telluride, Toronto, Sundance, and Tribeca sell public passes and tickets. Cannes goes out of their way to make it as exclusive as possible.
Cannes does allow general public to stand outside and beg for tickets though. That is a regular occurrence.
I am thoroughly pleased with the line-up. My only disappointment is Xavier Dolan's placement in Un Certain Regard. I think after his brilliant work in J'ai tue ma mere and Les Amours Imaginaires, I think he deserves to be in competition.
I'm looking forward to "Laurence Anyways"...but the list on the Cannes website says that the film is 2h41m long! Yikes!
Good films overall
Dario Argento's Dracula 3-D look so bad that should be awesome
Excellent, as usual. I am pleasantly surprised at the breadth and non-partisanship this selection represents. Can't say I'm familiar with all the films mentioned, but I plan on changing that.
Nice coverage Brad.