Award season is over, but after the Oscars I usually try to catch up on my foreign film watching. Two months from now will be the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals. Below is a list of films that I predict could be shown at the festival this May. More importantly, I imagine these films in competition for the biggest prize, Palme d'Or.
Happy End-dir. Michael Haneke: The two-time Palme d’Or winning director of Amour and The White Ribbon is making another film starring Jean Louis-Trintignant and Isabelle Huppert who were both in Amour. This is the fourth collaboration between Michael Haneke and Isabelle Huppert. She has previously starred in Amour, Time of the Wolf, and The Piano Teacher for which she won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. Haneke also won Best Director at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for his film Cache.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer-dir. Yorgos Lanthimos: Yorgos Lanthimos won the Jury Prize and Palme Dog for The Lobster in 2015 and the Un-Certain Regard Award for Dogtooth in 2009. Colin Farrell reunites with Lanthimos for this upcoming film. The film also stars Nicole Kidman, Alicia Silverstone, and Raffey Cassidy.
Kings-dir. Deniz Gamze Erguven: The French-Turkish filmmaker previously wrote and directed Mustang, which won the Label Europa Cinemas award at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Mustang was also nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the 2016 Academy Awards. Kings stars Halle Berry and Daniel Craig.
Zama-dir. Lucrecia Martel: This is an adaptation of Antonio Di Benedetto’s 1956 novel of the same title. Martel has previously directed La Cienga (2001) and The Headless Woman (2008), both of which were nominated for Palme d’Or.
Ismael’s Ghosts-dir. Arnaud Desplechin: Desplechin previous film My Golden Days won the SACD Prize (Directors’ Fortnight) at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. His other films Jimmy P (2013), A Christmas Tale (2008), and Esther Kahn (2000) were all nominated for Palme d’Or. His film A Christmas Tale is in the Criterion Collection. Ismael’s Ghosts stars Marion Cotillard and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Dark River-dir. Clio Barnard: I am very excited for this film because it stars Ruth Wilson from The Affair. Clio Barnard’s previous film The Selfish Giant won the Label European Cinemas Award at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
Loveless-dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev: The Russian director’s previous film Leviathan won Best Screenplay at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. His film Elena won the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Wonderstruck-dir. Todd Haynes: This is an adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel of the same title. Todd Haynes’ previous film Carol won the Queer Palm at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Also, Rooney Mara won Best Actress for Carol that, tied with Emmanuelle Bercot for My King. Additionally, Todd Haynes’ film Velvet Goldmine won Best Artistic Contribution at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Wonderstruck stars Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, and Cory Michael Smith.
Thelma-dir. Joachim Trier: The Norwegian director previously directed Louder Than Bombs and Oslo, 31. August. Louder Than Bombs was nominated for Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and Oslo, 31. August won the Un-Certain Regard Award in 2011. Thelma is currently in post-production.
