Cannes Preview 2024: 10 Official Selection Titles to Be Hyped For
Courtesy of Cannes.
And just like that, it is time for Cannes again! In less than three weeks, film lovers, celebrities, and journalists from around the globe will flock to the French Riveria for the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, which will take place May 14-25.
While festival director Thierry Frémaux and the rest of his crew have already announced most of the titles appearing at this year’s edition, including buzzy big-budget movies like Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Megalopolis, festival goers and spectators following along from afar will undoubtedly be treated to more surprises, snubs, and hot gossip as Cannes kicks off on the Croisette, with French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux’s latest, Le Deuxième Acte, serving as the Opening Night film. Actress-turned-Blockbuster director Greta Gerwig will preside over this year’s Competition jury, with the rest of the delegates to be announced any day now. Last year saw many Cannes premieres go on to hold much influence in the year-end awards conversation, including Oscar winners Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest, so it will be fascinating to see which debuts from this year’s festival will go on to influence the landscape of cinema in similar ways. Keep reading to check out the 10 titles from this year’s Cannes that we are most excited to see:
Courtesy of Neon.
‘Anora’
Director: Sean Baker
Main Competition
After debuting in Competition with Red Rocket in 2021, Baker will again compete for the Palme d’Or with his latest film, Anora. The film stars Mikey Madison (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Scream) and was shot in New York City and Las Vegas. With a plot still under wraps, Anora has been described as a comedy centering around a sex worker, a profession that has informed much of Baker’s filmography. Acquired by Neon last fall for North American distribution, Anora could be the company’s hopeful pick for the Palme: their films have won it every year since Parasite in 2019.
Courtesy of Cannes.
‘Bird’
Director: Andrea Arnold
Main Competition
Arnold has become a Cannes fixture over the years, with many of her narrative and documentary works choosing to make their world premieres on the Croisette. Bird will undoubtedly have flashbulbs bursting on the red carpet, especially with the rising star power of its two leading actors, Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski. Produced by A24, Bird was shot in the summer of 2023 in Kent, England. Little has been released about the film’s storyline. Nevertheless, its central performers have already generated much buzz around the film. As of now, Arnold is notably one of four female filmmakers who have been included in the Main Competition, a pitiful figure in regards to Cannes’ continued promises of more inclusion and diversity in its lineup.
Courtesy of Cannes.
‘Caught by the Tides’
Director: Jia Zhangke
Main Competition
Zhangke will make his fifth appearance in the Main Competition with Caught by the Tides. The follow-up to 2018’s Ash is the Purest White, Caught by the Tides is set in the early 2000s and follows a woman (played by frequent Zhangke collaborator Zhao Tao) searching for her lover in the provinces of China. Zhangke is well-known for his experimental, durational cinema, so the promise of his style’s intertwinement with a dramatic love story sounds both promising and compelling.
Courtesy of Les Films du losange.
‘The Damned’
Director: Roberto Minervini
Un Certain Regard
Minervini continues his fascination with the cultural fabric of America in his Cannes entry, The Damned, which will be in Un Certain Regard. A period piece, the film is set during the winter of 1862 and centers around a group of young volunteer soldiers sent to protect the edges of the Western territories, largely unsettled by white populations at the time. The film’s central cast includes many unfamiliar names ( Cuyler Ballenger, Jeremiah Knupp, and René W. Solomon), which draws the opportunity to discover potential budding talents. The Damned will likely feature Minervini’s sensibilities for realism and inquisition into the interiority of the American experience.
Courtesy of Magnum Photos.
‘Ernest Cole: Lost and Found’
Director: Raoul Peck
Special Screening
For his upcoming project, Peck will focus on the life and body of work of Ernest Cole, often referred to as South Africa’s first freelance black photographer. Cole was an early advocate for the country’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, which led him to move to New York City in the late 1960s. There, he published a photo book called House of Bondage and continued to explore black oppression through his work. Ernest Cole: Lost and Found will highlight Cole’s life journey by focusing on his photography and writings, with Lakeith Stanfield as the narrator of Cole’s own words. The film will premiere in Cannes’ relatively new Special Screening section.
Courtesy of MUBI.
‘The Girl with the Needle’
Director: Magnus von Horn
Main Competition
After his last feature, Sweat, was set to premiere at the canceled 2020 edition of Cannes, von Horn will finally get to premiere his work on the Croisette with The Girl With the Needle. The film’s narrative will concentrate on one of Denmark’s most notorious criminal trials: that of Dagmar Overbye, known for assisting unmarried mothers to kill their children during the early 20th century in Copenhagen. Dagmar will be played by notable Danish actress Trine Dyrholm, and Michal Dymek, best known for his innovative work on 2022’s EO, will handle the film’s cinematography.
Courtesy of Wildside.
‘Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie’
Director: Kiril Serebrennikov
Main Competition
Serebrennikov will make his English-language debut at this year’s Cannes with Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie, which stars Ben Whishaw as the controversial Russian dissident writer-turned-politician Edouard Limonov. Based on a 2011 biography written by Emmanuel Carrère, Limonov: The Ballad boasts a screenplay co-written by Pawel Pawlikowski, who was initially set to direct the film. The movie will be part of the Main Competition, which has been notably slight on Russian cinema since the country invaded Ukraine in 2022. When Serebrennikov’s last film, Tchaikovsky’s Wife, premiered at Cannes, the director was met with backlash for his former ties with oligarchs in his home country. Serebrennikov may have found a much deeper kinship with this project and Limonov’s story, as he too knows what it is like to be harshly persecuted by an authoritarian regime: Serebrennikov fled Russia at the onset of the Ukrainian invasion and is now based in Germany.
Courtesy of Cannes.
‘Motel Destino’
Director: Karim Aïnouz
Main Competition
Brazilian director Aïnouz made his Competition debut last Cannes with the polished yet underwhelming bodice-ripper Firebrand that starred Alicia Vikander and Jude Law. This year, he will return with Motel Destino, a film more closely tied to his cultural heritage and upbringing. From early descriptions, Motel Destino sounds like a sexy noir thriller set against the social disparity and corruption that has plagued Brazil in recent years. Aïnouz made his first big splash at Cannes in 2019, where his lush and sweeping film Invisible Life (which can be watched in the U.S. on Amazon Prime) was awarded the top prize in Un Certain Regard.
‘On Becoming a Guinea Fowl’
Director: Rungano Nyoni
Un Certain Regard
After appearing on the Competition jury in 2023, Nyoni will return to Cannes with her latest effort, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, featured in the festival’s Un Certain Regard section. Nyoni’s 2017 debut, I Am Not A Witch, was a cutting satire that concentrated on the place of women in contemporary Africa –– shot in Zambia, where the director was born–– that made a substantial impact on the festival circuit that year. Little has been released about the film’s storyline, but Cannes’ director Thierry Fremaux has described it as a family dramedy set in Africa. Just days after On Becoming a Guinea Fowl was announced to bow at Cannes, A24 acquired the film for international sales.
Courtesy of Bleeker Street.
‘Rumours’
Director: Guy Maddin
Out of Competition
The announcement of a new film by Canadian artist and filmmaker Maddin always promises a singular—if not challenging—viewing experience. Premiering out of competition at Cannes will be Rumours, starring a heavy-hitting cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Charles Dance, and Alicia Vikander. The movie’s logline sounds like an outlandish satire: following world authorities who get lost in the forest while en route to a G7 conference. Maddin’s unique works of cinema rarely disappoint critics, so Rumours could turn out to be a hot ticket at this year’s edition of Cannes.