The eagerly-awaited Cannes Film Festival 2023 is fast approaching, and this Thursday, April 13, we're offering you the opportunity to follow the live press conference hosted by Thierry Frémaux and Iris Knobloch. They will present the official selection for the 76th edition, which runs from May 16 to 27 on the Croisette. Stay tuned for live coverage and updates as announcements are made.
This year's edition will feature a number of highly anticipated films. Maïwenn's "Jeanne du Barry", starring Johnny Depp, Pedro Almodóvar's "Strange Way of Life", starring Pedro Pascal, Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon", starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and James Mangold's "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ", starring Harrison Ford, are already guaranteed to be there, while many other directors and distributors are awaiting the final verdict!
This year's jury will be chaired by Ruben Östlund, winner of 2 Palmes d'Or for "Sans filtre" in 2022 and "The Square " in 2017.
For the first time, Iris Knobloch presented the press conference, as president of the festival, succeeding Pierre Lescure. She took the opportunity to thank the festival's partners, in particular the Carlton. Now it's Thierry Frémaux's turn to speak, as he prepares to reveal the jury, poster and selection.
Over 2,000 films were viewed this year to shape the official selection. In addition to the aforementioned films, the selection includes countries from all over the world, and even some for the first time, such as Mongolia, with director Zoljargal Purevdash for her first film, If only I could Hibernate. But this year, unlike the two previous editions, the selection is not as generous.
To begin with, Thierry Frémaux introduces the twenty or so feature films in the Un Certain Regard section, dedicated to more unusual films - the section for the unexpected. Many of the films selected are firsts, but there are also some prestigious names: Monia Chokri (Babysitter, La Femme de mon Frère), for Simple comme Sylvain, and Anthony Chen, with The Breaking Ice . The competition opens with Thomas Cailley's Le Règne Animal, starring Romain Duris and Adèle Exarchopoulos.
Special screenings mark the return of a great filmmaker, Wim Wenders, with a new documentary, Le Bruit du temps, devoted to Anselm Kiefer. Another, Steve McQueen, returns with a "radical" work, according to Thierry Frémaux, called Occupied City. The recent Cannes Premiere section is also making a comeback. Initiated with the Covid, it highlights four "formidable" films, according to Frémaux. The absurd and unusual Takeshi Kitano will show Kubi, a samurai comedy.
As for the out-of-competition films, dedicated to the movies that make the news, Killer of the Flower Moons will obviously be the biggest attraction. But as a platform, the film will not be shown in competition. Nor will Sam Levinson's new series, after Euphoria, The Idol. Here again, the event was too good to be true: the new Indiana Jones will also be presented out of competition.
First of all, it's not yet complete! As every year, additional titles are expected at the end of next week. Like every year, the young filmmakers will cross paths with the veterans.
Among these famous veterans is Aki Kaurismäki, winner of several awards at Cannes and elsewhere. A great filmmaker of the proletariat, with a unique style from another time. He returns with Les Feuilles Mortes. As with virtually every one of his films, Wes Anderson returns with Asteroid City. Hirokazu Kore-eda is another festival regular, having won the Palme d'Or with Une Affaire de famille and the Prix d'interprétation with Les Bonnes Etoiles, he returns with Monster. Ken Loach, meanwhile, will be coming to win a possible third Palme d'Or, with The Old Oak.
There are also many young filmmakers to discover during the festival, from countries all over the world. See you next week to discover the additional names added to the various competitions.
For the full list of films selected, see our article dedicated to the entire selection. We don't know about you, but we can't wait to see these films!
