If spring has arrived, then the cinephile world is gearing up for news of the Cannes Film Festival, the French Riviera-set annual celebration of international cinema. Anticipate no longer: the initial titles—both in and out of competition for the Palme d'Or—were announced this morning and we're now counting down the days until things officially kick off for the 71st edition.
Asghar Farhadi's 'Everybody Knows.'
David Robert Mitchell's latest feature, Under the Silver Lake (opening theatrically via A24 this June) will be in competition, as will new films from Spike Lee (BlacKkKlasman), Jean-Luc Godard (The Picture Book), Alice Rohrwacher (Lazzaro Felice), Eva Husson (Girls of the Sun), Asghar Farhadi (Everybody Knows), Matteo Garrone (At War), and Jafar Panahi (Three Faces).
Films playing out of competition will be Ron Howard's's Solo: A Star Wars Story and Gilles Lellouche's Le Grand Bain.
And while 18 titles in total will be in competition this year, you won't be seeing any from Netflix. After Cannes recently announced that upcoming Netflix films would not be allowed to play in competition at the festival—there was a French industry outcry when Bong Joon-ho's Okja and Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) were selected to play last year—the distributor, lead by Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, announced that Netflix would be bypassing the festival altogether rather than be penalized for its popular day-and-date streaming strategy.
Films playing out of competition this year will be the latest entry int the expanding Star Wars universe, Ron Howard's Solo: A Star Wars Story and Gilles Lellouche's Le Grand Bain.
Sounds like a pretty great festival to attend? Absolutely, and if you're between the ages of 18-28 and passionately adore cinema, Cannes wants you there.
Cannes has announced that it will be providing 1,000 cinephiles with free passes to attend the concluding three days of the festival and go to as many screening as they can. All you need to do is submit a letter that proves your moviegoing passion and you will be emailed by the festival if you have been chosen. Have a Photo ID handy, as the festival will need to verify your age.
There is no deadline to apply—obviously, the sooner you get your letter in, the better—and airfare and housing is not currently being offered. Even so, three days of free screenings at Cannes is a pretty awesome experience to have in your 20s, and you can learn more to apply here.
The films announced for this year's Cannes Film Festival are listed below. Which are you most looking forward to?
Films in competition for the Palme d'Or
At War, Stéphane Brizé
Dogman, Matteo Garrone
The Picture Book, Jean-Luc Godard
Asako I & II, Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Sorry Angel, Christophe Honoré
Girls of the Sun, Eva Husson
Ash Is Purest White, Jia Zhang-Ke
Shoplifters, Kore-Eda Hirokazu
Capernaum, Nadine Labaki
Burning, Lee Chang-Dong
BlacKkKlasman, Spike Lee
Under the Silver Lake, David Robert Mitchell
Three Faces, Jafar Panahi
Cold War, Pawel Pawlikowski
Lazzaro Felice, Alice Rohrwacher
Yomeddine, A.B Shawky
Summer, Kirill Serebrennikov
Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows will also be in competition, serving as the festival's Opening Night film.
Un Certain Regard
Border, Ali Abbasi
Sofia, Meyem Benm’Barek
Little Tickles, Andréa Bescond & Eric Métayer
Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Bi Gan
Manto, Nandita Das
Sextape, Antoine Desrosières
Girl, Lukas Dhont
Angel Face, Vanessa Filho
Euphoria, Valeria Golino
Friend, Wanuri Kahiu
My Favorite Fabric, Gaya Jiji
The Harvesters, Etienne Kallos
In My Room, Ulrich Köhler
The Angel, Luis Ortega
The Gentle Indifference of the World, Adilkhan Yerzhanov
Out of Competition
Solo: A Star Wars Story, Ron Howard
Le Grand Bain, Gilles Lellouche
Special Screenings
10 Years in Thailand, Aditya Assarat, Wisit Sasanatieng, Chulayarnon Sriphol, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul
The State Against Mandela and Others, Nicolas Champeaux and Gilles Porte
Le Grand Cirque Mystique, Carlo Diegues
Dead Souls, by Wang Bing
To the Four Winds, Michel Toesca
La Traversee, Romain Goupil
Pope Frances – A Man of His Word, Wim Wenders
Midnight
Arctic, Joe Penna
The Spy Gone North, Yoon Jong-Bing
The 71st Cannes Film Festival will run from 8th through May 19th, 2018. For more information, click here.
