Cannes Lineup Includes Steven Spielberg, Sean Penn, Pedro Almodovar Movies

Jodie Foster, the Dardenne brothers also place films in the festival, which runs from May 11 through May 22

Cannes movies
Left to right: "Julieta," "The BFG" and "It's Only the End of the World"

Steven Spielberg, Sean Penn, Pedro Almodovar, Xavier Dolan, Paul Verhoeven and the Dardenne brothers are among the directors who will have films at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Cannes organizers announced on Thursday morning in Paris.

Spielberg’s “The BFG,” with recent Oscar winner Mark Rylance starring in the Roald Dahl adaptation, will screen out of competition, as will Jodie Foster‘s “Money Monster,” Shane Black‘s “The Nice Guys” and Woody Allen‘s previously announced opening-night film, “Café Society.”

Penn, Almodovar, Dolan, Verhoeven and the Dardennes will be represented in the main competition, vying for the Palme d’Or that will be awarded by a jury headed by “Mad Max” director George Miller.

Penn will be at Cannes with “The Last Face,” starring Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem; Almodovar with “Julieta,” his 20th feature film; Dolan with “It’s Only the End of the World,” with Marion Cotillard; Verhoeven with “Elle,” starring Isabelle Huppert; and the Dardennes with “The Unknown Girl,” a drama with the potential to make them the first three-time Palme d’Or winners.

Other features in the prestigious 20-film competition include Andrea Arnold‘s “American Honey,” Jim Jarmusch‘s “Paterson,” Ken Loach‘s “I, Daniel Blake,” Jeff Nichols‘ “Loving,” Brilliante Mendoza’s “Ma Rosa,” Nicolas Winding Refn‘s “The Neon Demon,” Olivier Assayas‘ “Personal Shopper” and Cristi Puiu’s “Sierra-Nevada.”

Jarmusch is also represented with a second film, his Iggy Pop chronicle “Gimme Danger,” in an out-of-competition, midnight screenings slot.

The lineup will bring substantial star power to the Croisette, with actors likely to attend the festival including Julia Roberts and George Clooney (“Money Monster”), Kristen Stewart (“Cafe Society” and “Personal Shopper”), Marion Cotillard (“Mal de Pierres” and “It’s Only the End of the World”), Adam Driver (“Paterson”) and Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling (“The Nice Guys”).

The selections were made from 1,869 films screened by festival programmers.

The announcement was slightly delayed when protesting workers blocked the stage where Thierry Fremaux and Pierre Lescure were scheduled to reveal the lineup.

The 2016 Cannes Film Festival begins with “Café Society” on May 11, and ends on May 22 with the announcement of the Palme d’Or winner.

The lineup:

Main competition
“Agassi,” Park Chan-Wook
“American Honey,” Andrea Arnold
“Aquarius,” Kleber Mendonca Filho
“Bacalaureat,” Cristian Mungiu
“Elle,” Paul Verhoeven
“I, Daniel Blake,” Ken Loach
“It’s Only the End of the World,” Xavier Dolan
“Julieta,” Pedro Almodovar
“The Last Face,” Sean Penn
“Loving,” Jeff Nichols
“Ma Rosa,” Brilliante Mendoza
“Mal de Pierres,” Nicole Garcia
“The Neon Demon,” Nicolas Winding Refn
“Paterson,” Jim Jarmusch
“Personal Shopper,” Olivier Assayas
“Rester Vertical,” Alain Guiraudie
“Sierra-Nevada,” Cristi Puiu
“Slack Bay,” Bruno Dumont
“Toni Erdmann,” Maren Ade
“The Unknown Girl,” Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne

Un Certain Regard
“After the Storm,” Kore-Eda Hirokazu
“Apprentice,” Boo Junfeng
“Caini,” Bogdan Mirica
“Captain Fantastic,” Matt Ross
“La Denseuse,” Stephanie Di Giusto
“Eshtebak,” Mohamed Diab
“Fuchi Ni Tastu,” Fukada Koji
“Hymyileva Mies,” Juho Kuosmanen
“La Tortue Rouge” (“The Red Turtle”), Michael Dudok de Wit
“The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis,” Francisco Marquez & Andrea Testa
“Me’Ever Laharim Vehagvaot,” Eran Kolirin
“Omor Shakhsiya,” Maha Haj
“Pericle il Nero,” Stefano Mordini
“The Transfiguration,” Michael O’Shea
“Uchenik,” Kirill Serebrennikov
“Varoonegi,” Behnam Behzadi
“Voir Du Pays,” Delphine Coulin & Muriel Coulin

Out of Competition
“The BFG,” Steven Spielberg
“Café Society,” Woody Allen (opening film)
“Goksung,” Na Hong-Jin
“Money Monster,” Jodie Foster
“The Nice Guys,” Shane Black

Midnight Screenings
“Bu-San-Haeng,” Yeon Sang-Ho
“Gimme Danger,” Jim Jarmusch

Special Screenings
“Exil,” Rithy Panh
“L’Ultima Spiaggia,” Thanos Anastopoulos & Davide Del Degan
“Hissein Habre, Un Tragedie Tchadienne,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
“La Mort de Louis XIV,” Albert Serra
“Le Cancre,” Paul Becchiali

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