David Cronenberg's "Cosmopolis," Andrew Dominik's "Killing Them Softly" and Lee Daniels' "Paperboy" are among the films selected for the 65th Cannes Film Festival, which opens on May 16 in the south of France.
The lineup's unusually strong English-language presence is perhaps fitting in a year in which the official Cannes poster (below) sports an image of Marilyn Monroe to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her death. Among the other English-language filmmakers, "Take Shelter" director Jeff Nichols made the list with "Mud," John Hillcoat with "Lawless," Walter Salles with "On the Road" and Ken Loach with "The Angels' Share."
The lineup should lead to a heavy movie-star presence on the Croisette, with represented stars including Brad Pitt ("Killing Them Softly," which the Weinstein Company has been calling "Cogan's Trade"), Robert Pattinson ("Cosmopolis"), Eva Mendes ("Holly Motors"), Marion Cotillard ("Rust and Bone") and Kristen Stewart and Kirsten Dunst ("On the Road").
Matthew McConaughey will appear in two films in competition at the festival, "Mud" and "The Paperboy."
International auteurs on the list include Michael Haneke with "Love" ("Amour"), Cristian Mungiu with "Beyond the Hills," Sangsoo Hong with "In Another Country" ("Da-Erun Na-Ra-E-Suh") and Abbas Kiarostami with "Like Someone in Love."
Brandon Cronenberg, David Cronenberg's son, makes Cannes a family affair by appearing on the Un Certain Regard lineup with his film "Antiviral."
Also on the slate at Un Certain Regard, which focuses on younger filmmakers: Benh Zeitlin's Sundance sensation "Beasts of the Southern Wild," which will be released this summer by Fox Searchlight.
Among the films rumored to be earmarked for Cannes but not ready in time, according to festival director Thierry Fremaux, were Terrence Malick's "The Burial" and "There Will Be Blood" director Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master."
The competition slate does not include a single film directed by a woman.
Festival organizers announced 54 of this year's selections on Thursday morning, with more titles to be added next week. The selections were made from 1,779 submissions.
Out-of-competition slots include Bernardo Bertolucci's "Io e Te," DreamWorks Animation's "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" and Philip Kaufman's upcoming HBO film "Hemingway and Gellhorn."
Last year's Cannes lineup was unusually strong, and contained a remarkable three films that won Oscar Best Picture nominations: Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," Terrence Malick's Palme d'Or winner "The Tree of Life," and Michel Hazanavicius' Best Picture winner, "The Artist."
Berenice Bejo, the Oscar-nominated star of "The Artist," will host this year's opening and closing ceremonies. Italian director Nanni Moretti will serve as president of the main competition jury, while actor Tim Roth will preside over the Un Certain Regard panel.
Since the reintroduction of the Palme d'Or in 1975, 10 American films have won the top Cannes prize, including "The Tree of Life" last year. That total is far more than any other country; Italy, Japan, Denmark and the United Kingdom are tied for second with three winners each.
Another American film, Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom," was recently announced as Cannes' opening-night attraction. The festival also announced its closing attraction, the late Claude Miller's final film, "Therese Desqueyroux," and its short film and student film selections.
The festival will also screen a new version of Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America," with 40 minutes of previously unseen footage bringing the epic gangster film's running time to 269 minutes.
Cannes will open on May 16, and run through May 27.
Main competition:
"The Angels' Share," Ken Loach
"Baad El Mawkeaa Apres la Bataille," Yousry Nasrallah
"Beyond the Hills," Cristian Mungiu
"Cosmopolis," David Cronenberg
"Da-Reun Na-Ra-E-Suh" ("In Another Country"), Sangsoo Hong
"Holly Motors," Leos Carax
"Im Nebel (Dans la Brume)," Sergei Loznitsa
"Jagten" ("The Hunt"), Thomas Vinterberg
"Killing Them Softly," Andrew Dominik
"Lawless," John Hillcoat
"Like Someone in Love," Abbas Kiarostami
"Love" ("Amour"), Michael Haneke
"Moonrise Kingdom," Wes Anderson
"Mud," Jeff Nichols
"On the Road," Walter Salles
"The Paperboy," Lee Daniels
"Paradies: Liebe, Ulrich Seidl
"Post Tenebras Lux," Carlos Reygadas
"Reality," Matteo Garrone
"Rust and Bone," Jacques Audiard
"Taste of Money," Sangsoo Im
"You Haven't Seen Anything Yet," Alain Resnais
Un Certain Regard:
"Aimer a Perdre la Raison," Joachim Lafosse
"Antiviral," Brandon Cronenberg
"Beasts of the Southern Wild," Benh Zeitlin
"Confession of a Child of the Century," Sylvie Verheyde
"Despues de Lucia," Michel Franco
"Elefante Blanco," Pablo Trapero
"11:25 the Day He Chose His Own Fate," Koji Wakamatsu
"La Pirogue," Moussa Toure
"La Playa," Juan Andres Arango
"Laurence Anyways," Xavier Dolan
"Le Grand Soir," Beniot Delepine and Gustave Kervern
"Les Chevaus de Dieu," Nabil Ayouch
"Miss Lovely," Ashim Ahluwalia
"Mystery," Lou Ye
"7 Dias en la Habana," Laurent Cantet, Benicio Del Toro, Julio Medem, Gaspar Noe, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabio and Pablo Trapero
"Student," Darezhan Omirbayev
"Trois Mondes," Catherine Corsini
Out of Competition:
"Io e Te," Bernardo Bertolucci
"Hemingway and Gellhorn," Philip Kaufman
"Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
"Therese Desqueyroux," Claude Miller
Midnight Screenings:
"Ai Io Makoto" ("The Legend of Love and Sincerity"), Takashi Miike
"Dario Argento's Dracula 3-D," Dario Argento
Special Screenings:
"The Central Park Five," Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon
"Garbage in the Garden of Eden," Faith Akin
"Journal De France," Claudine Nougaret and Raymond Depardon
"Les Invisibles," Sebastien Lifshitz
"Mekong Hotel," Apichatpong Weerasethakul
"A Musica Segundo Tom Jobim," Nelson Pereira Dos Santos
"Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir," Laurent Bouzerau
"Villegas," Gonzalo Tobal
Short Films
:
"Mi Santa Mirada," Alvaro Aponte-Centeno
"Gasp," Eicke Bettinga
"Ce Chemin Devant Moi," Mohamed Bourokba
"Waiting for P.O. Box," Bassam Chekhes
"The Chair," Grainger David
"Night Shift," Zia Mandivwalla
"Chef de meute," Chloé Robichaud
"Yardbird," Michael Spiccia
"Cockaigne," Emilie Verhamme
"Sessiz-be deng," L. Rezan Yesilbas
Cinefondation selections (student films):
"Behind Me Olive Trees," Pascale Abou Jamra
"The Barber," Shoichi Akino
"The Raptures," Arthur Cahn
"Slug Invasion," Morten Helgeland
"Tambylles," Michal Hogenauer
"Matteus," Leni Huyghe
"
The Camp In Razoare," Cristi Iftime
"The Road To," Taisia Igumentseva
"Land," Piero Messina
"The Hosts," Miguel Angel Moulet
"The Ballad of Finn + Yeti," Meryl O’Connor
"Head Over Heels," Timothy Reckart
"Abigail," Matthew James Reilly
"Dog Leash," Eti Tsicko
"Could See A Puma," Eduardo Williams
