Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Agnes Varda and Sergio Leone are just a few of the directors whose films Cannes has chosen to show as part of its "Cannes Classics" program for this year’s festival.
Since 2004, Cannes has selected a group of restored, iconic films to showcase, and this year’s crop includes 13 features, two shorts, a mini-concert and four documentaries.
This year's festival runs from May 16-27.
The classics include an even longer cut of “Once Upon a Time in America,” directed by Leone and restored by Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation. The epic depicts the criminal underbelly of New York in the first half of the 20th Century. Stars Robert De Niro, Jennifer Connelly and Elizabeth McGovern will appear, as will producer Arnon Milchan.
Polanski’s “Tess” will screen, and its 171-minute run time may feel like a breeze as compared to “America,” which will run at almost four hours. Polanski will attend, as will Nastassja Kinski.
Universal Pictures, celebrating its 100th year, chose Spielberg’s “Jaws,” one of Hollywood’s first modern blockbusters, as part of the festivities.
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The BFI National Archive in London has been restoring Alfred Hitchcock’s nine surviving silent films, and this year’s festival will show the world premiere of “The Ring.”
The Paris-based CNC French Film Archives chooses one restored print each year, and this time Varda’s “Cleo From 5 to 7” will make its return to Cannes 50 years after it was first shown at the festival.
Other films being screened include “Lawrence of Arabia,” celebrating its 50th anniversary, “Woody Allen: A Documentary” and Andrei Konchalovsky’s “Runaway Train.”