One of the highlights of the movie year for me happens in a town of 73.000 people on the French Riviera. Sadly I’ve never been to the Cannes Film Festival but I’ve always enjoyed the announcement of films showing there along with some of the first reactions to them. It serves as a nice barometer for movies from all around the globe.
The bulk of the 2019 lineup has been announced with a few more movies certain to be added before the festival begins on May 14th. Some big names will be showing their work including Terrence Malick, Pedro Almodovar, and Nicolas Winding Refn among other. While I’m excited for a new (and hopefully return to form) Malick, the names that thrill me most are the Dardenne brothers and Jarmusch. Being able to see their new movies alone would be enough for me.
Again, the Cannes Film Festival begins May 14th and below you can check out this year’s lineup (so far). What do you think? Which films and/or directors excite you the most? Let me know in the comments below.
Opening Night Film
“The Dead Don’t Die” Jim Jarmusch (also in Competition)
In Competition
- “A Hidden Life” (Terrence Malick)
- “Pain and Glory” (Pedro Almodovar)
- “The Traitor” (Marco Bellocchio)
- “The Wild Goose Lake” (Diao Yinan)
- “Parasite” (Bong Joon-ho)
- “Young Ahmed” (Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne)
- “The Dead Don’t Die” (Jim Jarmusch)
- “Oh Mercy!” (Arnaud Desplechin)
- “Atlantique” (Mati Diop)
- “Matthias and Maxime” (Xavier Dolan)
- “Little Joe” (Jessica Hausner)
- “Sorry We Missed You” (Ken Loach)
- “Les Miserables” (Ladj Ly)
- “Bacurau” (Kleber Mendonça Filho & Juliano Dornelle)
- “The Whistlers” (Corneliu Porumboiu)
- “Frankie” (Ira Sachs)
- “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Céline Sciamma)
- “It Must Be Heaven” (Elia Suleiman)
- “Sibyl” (Justine Triet)
Un Certain Regard
- “Invisible Life” (Karim Aïnouz)
- “Beanpole” (Kantemir Balagov)
- “The Swallows of Kabul” (Zabou Breitman & Eléa Gobé Mévellec)
- “A Brother’s Life” (Monia Chokri)
- “The Climb” (Michael Covino)
- “Joan of Arc” (Bruno Dumont)
- “A Sun That Never Sets” (Olivier Laxe)
- “Room 212” (Christophe Honoré)
- “Port Authority” (Danielle Lessovitz)
- “Papicha” (Mounia Meddour)
- “Adam” (Maryam Touzani)
- “Zhuo Ren Mi Mi,” Midi Z
- “Liberte” (Albert Serra)
- “Bull” (Annie Silverstein)
- “Summer of Changsha” (Zu Feng)
- “Evge” (Nariman Aliev)
Out of Competition
- “The Best Years of Life” (Claude Lelouch)
- “Rocketman” (Dexter Fletcher)
- “Too Old to Die Young” (Nicolas Winding Refn)
- “Diego Maradona” (Asif Kapadi“Belle Epoque,” Nicolas Bedos)
Special Screenings
- “Share” (Pippa Bianco)
- “For Sama” (Waad Al Kateab & Edward Watts)
- “Family Romance, LLC” (Werner Herzog)
- “Tommaso” (Abel Ferrar)
- “To Be Alive and Know It” (Alain Cavalier)
- “Que Sea Ley” (Juan Solanas)
Midnight Screening
“The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil” (Lee Won-Tae)
Keith & the Movies 
I have to give Cannes credit for having a lot of variety when it comes to what they consider good. They actually acknowledge that comedies can be good or the best picture may not be in their native language. The Academy is far too manufactured and conservative in that regard – it’s like you could win best picture if you dance to their tune, which really doesn’t go far in promoting creativity.
Great point. Cannes does do a great job at covering different genres. I’ve also appreciated their willingness to bring in films from all over the globe. It’s pretty exciting.
Not to brag but I’ll be going to Cannes again this year. 😉
Seriously??? Then by all means brag away! I sure would! 😁
I’m excited for this year’s festival as I like the line-up they’re having so far. I really am anxious for what Almodovar, NWR, Malick, Joon-Ho, Herzog, Jarmusch, Loach, and the Dardenne Brothers are going to put out. Malick in particular as I know his recent films haven’t been well-received (though I actually like them except Song to Song and A Voyage of Time only because I haven’t seen them) but I have heard it is a return to more traditional-based narratives.
Did you like The Tree of Life? I adored that film and actually liked To the Wonder a lot more than many.
I love that film. In fact, I own the Criterion DVD set of The Tree of Life and I have a DVD copy of To the Wonder. I’ll follow Malick no matter what he does. My only concern about Cannes is this point is whether or not I will do my annual marathon.
That Criterion Collection edition is incredible. I got it last Christmas. Love it.
I don’t watch them, but I do think what comes out of Cannes is a sure fire way of catching some of the best filmmaking of the year. I look forward to trying out some of those titles!
Oh me too. I absolutely love the Dardenne brothers and will watch anything they make. It’s just waiting for it to make it over here!
I hope Malick’s ‘A Hidden Life’ with Bruno Ganz is a good one. He makes the most beautiful films but loses the plot in the process. I hope there’s a story here.
I loved Tree of Life and really liked To the Wonder but not much after it. I’ve heard his latest is close to 3 hours.
Oh my….
I am quite impressed by the selection this year maybe because there are more films this year on the list that I actually want to see – at least half of them I am curious about. Parasite by Bong Joon-ho certainly intrigued me.
Great list! Definitely interested in Parasite. I think I’m most excited about the Dardenne brothers. Their particular kind of filmmaking has always resonated with me.
I actually want to understand and appreciate the film-making of the Dardenne brothers more. I liked “The Kid with a Bike”, but still this tendency to dramatise the undramatic and mundane did not go well with me in theirs “Two Days, One Night”.
See I love that. They dramatize what could be mundane to us but is very important and relevant to his characters. I find myself really responding to that.