Few things make us happier than a festival announcement, especially one as important and well respected as Cannes and for a day, Andrew and Marina have been plotting how to unleash these titles on the world.
Basically, if you’ve been following any of the speculation of who will/who won’t that has been circling for weeks, few titles on this list will surprise you. What may surprise is the omission of a few eagerly anticipated titles perhaps most notably Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life; which many of us around these parts have been eagerly anticipating for going on two years now. The rumors that it might debut at Cannes have been rampant the last few weeks but apparently the film is just not ready yet. Well, perhaps by TIFF time eh?
Also notably absent is the newest Julian Schnabel (Before Night Falls, Diving Bell And Butterfly) picture, Miral; which brings us some always welcome Willem Dafoe as well as the return of Slumdog Millionaire’s Freida Pinto. Apparently Cannes wanted Schnabel to screen Miral out of competition but in the main festival. To which he replied, thanks, but no thanks. The result is that Miral will debut in Venice, and then go to Toronto next September. In Toronto, Schnabel may also have a huge exhibition of his art simultaneously.
Speaking of Diving Bell, star Mathieu Amalric’s newly directed film, Tournée will debut at Cannes this year as well as Diego Luna’s directorial fiction debut, Abel will make an appearance. There are a few other good things as well including Im Sang-soo’s gorgeous looking remake of The Housemaid, Takeshi Kitano’s return to the underworld in Outrage and even a little Doug Liman actioner (I know…from Jumper to Cannes? Who would have thought?).
The Death of Mister Lazarescu director Cristi Puiu returns with a crime story while Canadian superstar Xavier Dolan follow’s up I Killed My Mother with a romantic comedy titled Les amours imaginaires and Russian director Nikita Mikalkov (of 12 fame) also returns with a new offering. Yet, among all these great titles, the one that I’m most excited to see is Gregg Araki’s Kaboom… or maybe the new Oliveira? Oh the goodness overload!
The official Cannes site will obviously have more information about the festival and it is always possible that titles may be added or changed sporadically over the next few days. But you’ll have to do a lot of the title research on your own. Of course you can download the Festival Press Kit for more info on the films, but we’ve also been gracious enough to transcribe all of the festival’s titles and jurors beneath the seats, as well as adding some images and links to trailers. We’ll be updating the post regularly with new links so check back often!
Opening Night
Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (watch the trailer)
Out of Competition
Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (watch the trailer)
Woody Allen’s You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger
Stephen Frear’s Tamara Drewe
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