The movie world's highest of high brow event is indubitably Festival de Cannes, the annual French film fest that handpicks the finest works of new cinema to unleash upon the world. From legendary auteurs to first time directors, Cannes is exalted by film buffs as the premiere stage for big screen debuts. If a movie gets into Cannes, it's already earned a level of respect.
That same respect extends to the stars, who flock to the chic festival to walk the red carpet and command audiences with their latest performances. Cannes imbues an actor or actress with immediate cred — especially helpful if for up-and-comers looking for respect. There's a theme of this year's line-up: the new and the old rubbing shoulders, a younger generation ready to step out the door and rise above their goofy franchise roots. Robert Pattinson has teamed with the highly-respected David Cronenberg for the absolutely bonkers-looking Cosmopolis; Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund help Walter Salles (Motorcycle Diaries) bring his long-gestating Kerouac adaptation On the Road to life; Shia LaBeouf drops alien robots for Depression era gangsters and Tom Hardy in Lawless; and Zac Efron stars opposite John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey and Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy, the latest from director Lee Daniels (Precious). The kids, as it seems, are all grown up.
But don't think Cannes has abandoned its A-Listers. Facing off against the Millennials are familiar faces like Brad Pitt (Killing Them Softly), Clive Owen (Hemingway & Gelhorn) and the incredible ensemble assembled for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, which opens the festival. Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman…Hollywood friendly, but with the unique quirk that only an Anderson film could provide.
Check out the full list of titles, films ready to hook lucky attendees when the festival gets underway May 16.
In Competition:
Rust and Bone - dir. Jacques Audiard
Moonrise Kingdom - dir. Wes Anderson
Holy Motors - dir. Leos Carax
Cosmopolis - dir. David Cronenberg
The Paperboy - dir. Lee Daniels
Killing Them Softly - dir. Andrew Dominik
Reality - dir. Matteo Garrone
Love - dir. Michael Haneke
Lawless - dir. John Hillcoat
In Another Country - dir. Hong Sang So
The Taste of Money - dir. Im Sang So
Like Someone In Love - dir. Abbas Kiarostami
The Angels' Share - dir. Ken Loach
In The Fog - dir. Sergei Loznitsa
Beyond The Hills - dir. Cristian Mungiu
Baad el Mawkeaaa (Apres La Bataille) - dir. Yousry Nasrallah
Mud - dir. Jeff Nichols
You Haven't Seen Anything Yet - dir. Alan Resnais
Post Tenebras Lux - dir. Carlos Reygadas
On The Road - dir. Walter Salles
Paradise: Love - dir. Ulrich Seidl
The Hunt - dir. Thomas Winterberg
Un Certain Regard:
La Playa - dir. Juan Andres Arango
Miss Lovely - dir. Achim Ahluwalia
God's Horses - dir. Nabel Ayouch
Antiviral - dir. Brandon Cronenberg
Trois Mondes - dir. Catherine Corsini
Days In Havana - dir. Benicio Del Toro, Gaspar Noe, Laurence Cantat, et all
Laurence Anyways - dir. Xavier Dolan
Le Grand Soir - dir. Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern
Aimer A Perdre La Raison - dir. Joachim LaFosse
Después De Lucia - dir. Michel Franco
Mystery - dir. Lou Ye
Student - dir. Darezhan Omirbayev
La Pirogue - dir. Moussa Toure
Confession Of A Child Of The Century - dir. Sylvie Verheyde
The White Elephant - dir. Pablo Trapero
11:25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate - dir. Koje Wakamatsu
Beasts Of The Southern Wild - dir. Benh Zeitlin
Out of Competition:
Tess - restored by Polanski
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir - dir. Laurent Bouzereau
Once Upon A Time In America - dir. Sergio Leone
The Central Park Five - dir. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon
Garbage In The Garden Of Eden - dir. Faith Akin
Les Invisbles - dir. Sebastien Lifschitz
Journal De France - dir. Claudine Nougaret and Raymond Depardon
Dracula 3D - dir. Dario Argento
Madagascar 3 - dir. Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
Me and You - dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
The Legend Of Love and Sincerity - dir. Takashi Milke
Mekong Hotel - dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Villegas - dir. Gonzalo Tobak
A Musica Segundo Tom Jobim - dir. Nelson Pereira Dos Santos
Hemingway & Gellhorn - dir. Philip Kaufman
[Festival de Cannes]
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