1 week Ago
Paris: Films by American director Wes Anderson, Iran's Jafar Panahi and perennial Belgian favourites the Dardenne brothers will vie for the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival next month, organisers said on Thursday.
Festival director Thierry Fremaux revealed the list of around 20 films in the main competition at a press conference in Paris, with French director Amelie Bonnin, a newcomer, given the honour of opening the festival with her debut feature "Leave One Day".
Other directors chosen for the premier competition include veteran American independent filmmaker Richard Linklater, and Ari Aster, the new master of American horror whose previous credits include the chilling "Hereditary" and "Midsommar".
Other festival highlights are set to include a directorial debut film from Scarlett Johansson, who is also acting in Anderson's in-competition movie "The Phoenician Scheme" alongside Benicio Del Toro and Tom Hanks.
Johansson is set to showcase her debut behind the lens, "Eleanor the Great", which will compete in the secondary "Un Certain Regard" competition.
Among the eye-catching documentaries feature a film about U2 frontman Bono, "Bono: Stories of Surrender", and another by Haitian director Raoul Peck about British writer George Orwell, entitled "Orwell".
