{"id":9764,"date":"2025-04-11T03:35:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T03:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/9764\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T03:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T03:35:11","slug":"cannes-film-festival-unveils-2025-lineup-with-julia-ducournau-wes-anderson-and-ari-aster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/9764\/","title":{"rendered":"Cannes Film Festival unveils 2025 lineup with Julia Ducournau, Wes Anderson and Ari Aster"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled its highly anticipated 2025 line-up, following the resounding success of its 2024 edition<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Indeed, the 78th edition of the film festival returns after a banner year which saw Cannes steal a lot of Venice\u2019s thunder as awards kingmaker. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/p>\n

Anora<\/strong><\/a> won the Palme d\u2019Or\u00a0and went on to win five Oscars including Best Picture<\/strong><\/a>. The 2024 competition winners, including The Substance<\/strong><\/a> and Emilia P\u00e9rez<\/strong><\/a>, also picked up several awards,\u00a0while other competition titles like The Apprentice<\/strong><\/a> andThe Seed of the Sacred Fig<\/strong><\/a> also featured predominantly during awards season. \u00a0<\/p>\n

All to say that when it comes to setting the cinematic agenda for the rest of the year, Cannes is the place to be. And it looks like Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Fr\u00e9maux<\/strong><\/a>, General Delegate, know it all too well… \u00a0<\/p>\n

They presented this year\u2019s line-up, with Knobloch making a plea for tolerance and diversity, saying that the Cannes film festival has been in \u201cdialogue with the world, embodying a France that is brave, curious and open.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Out of the 2,909 feature films in the pre-selection (a record), 19\u00a0were chosen for the Official Competition \u2013 and the 2025 vintage is looking big, bold and star-studded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It includes new films by Kelly Reichardt, who returns to Cannes with the art-heist drama\u00a0The Mastermind; Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, who returns to the Croisette after The Worst Person in the World<\/strong><\/a> with\u00a0Sentimental Value, also featuring Renate Reinsve; and Ari Aster\u2019s Eddington, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone. \u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019ll also be Richard Linklater\u2019s\u00a0Nouvelle Vague, which tells the story of Jean-Luc Godard making his classic\u00a0Breathless; Julia Ducournau\u2019s much-anticipated return to the Croisette with Aplha, following Grave (Raw)* and the Palme d\u2019Or winning *Titane<\/strong><\/a>; and Oliver Hermanus\u2019 The History of Sound, starring Josh O\u2019Connor and Paul Mescal in a gay musical romance. Expect this one to break the internet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And of course, it wouldn\u2019t be a Cannes line-up at this point without the Dardennes brothers (Young Mothers) and\u00a0Wes Anderson, who will bring his latest film, The Phoenician Scheme, to the Croisette.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scroll down for the full line-up of this year\u2019s Cannes Film Festival.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth singling out this year\u2019s Opening Film which, for the first time, will be a debut feature – Partir Un Jour by Am\u00e9lie Bonnin – and that six of the 19 directors in Competition are women: Reichardt, Ducournau, Carla Simon, Mascha Schilinski, Chie Hayakawa and Hafsia Herzi. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, the Un Certain Regard sidebar selection will showcase several actors making their directorial debuts, including Scarlett Johansson with Eleanor\u00a0The Great and Harris Dickinson<\/strong><\/a>with Urchin. There will aslo be the A24-acquired feature debut from British director Harry Lighton,\u00a0Pillion, which delves into the gay biker scene in the UK. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Among the Out Of Competition highlights this year are Jodie Foster-starrer\u00a0Vie Priv\u00e9e, directed by Rebecca Zlotowski; the music documentary\u00a0Bono: Stories of Surrender; and the previously announced eighth (and possibly final) Mission: Impossible film, Mission: Impossible \u2013 The Final Reckoning<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cannes Premiere section will also feature several early highlights like\u00a0Sebasti\u00e1n Lelio\u2019s Spanish-language feminist musical\u00a0The Wave; The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele\u00a0from Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov; and the new documentary from the always-brilliant Raoul Peck, Orwell \u2013 about the life and legacy of George Orwell. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Many may be disappointed to see that Lynne Ramsey\u2019s Die My Love, Jim Jarmusch\u2019s Father Mother Sister Brother or even Kogonada\u2019s A Big Bold Beautiful Journey are absent from the programme, but as is Fr\u00e9maux\u2019s custom, there will be further announcements in the coming weeks. We wouldn\u2019t be surprised if\u00a0the latest Spike Lee joint, Highest 2 Lowest, and at least one of the aforementioned names, gets a cheeky inclusion.<\/p>\n

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UPDATE: An hour after the press conference in Paris, Spike Lee said on Instagram that Highest 2 Lowest is, indeed, going to Cannes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBon Jour. Good Morning. Whaddup. Da New SPIKE LEE JOINT-HIGHEST 2 LOWEST Starring My Brother DENZEL WASHINGTON Has Been Invited To Da 2025 CANNES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (In The Out Of Competition Category),\u201d Lee wrote.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Representatives for the festival didn’t immediately respond to messages.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cannes in the political spotlight<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 78th\u00a0edition doesn’t start until 13 May, but the political spotlight is already on the festival \u2013 a limelight on systemic violence in the world of culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Knobloch alluded to it during the announcement of the line-up and it may well end up being one of this year\u2019s main talking points. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Indeed, after six months’ work, more than 100 hearings and almost 400 people questioned,\u00a0the National Assembly\u2019s committee on violence in the film, theatre and advertising industries has presented its report and 89 recommendations.\u00a0One of these, for example, concerns the right of performers to have a say when it comes to\u00a0a film\u2019s final cut \u2013 a recommendation prompted by the testimony of actress Anna Mouglalis who recounted how, after refusing to allow a graphic shot showing her vagina to be kept in, the shot ended up not only in the film but also in the trailer.<\/p>\n

The report\u00a0is three hundred and thirteen pages of damning evidence\u00a0describing moral and sexual violence as \u201csystemic\u201d, \u201cendemic\u201d and \u201cpersistent\u201d. It calls out a system that reflects \u201cour society, which is still profoundly sexist and patriarchal,\u201d explained MP and commission rapporteur Erwan Balanant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked about the committee’s expectations when it comes to Cannes Film Festival, Balanant mentioned the \u201cstrong sign\u201d of Juliette Binoche<\/strong><\/a>‘s presidency and added: \u201cIf they can continue what they have started, that would be good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Indeed, the celebrated French actress\u00a0will succeed Greta Gerwig\u00a0as jury president of this year\u2019s festival<\/strong><\/a> – marking only the second time in Cannes history that the jury will be headed by a woman for two consecutive years \u2013 following 1966 when Sophia Loren took over president of the jury duties from Olivia de Havilland.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

However, Sandrine Rousseau, the chairwoman of the commission, was clearly not satisfied with Balanant\u2019s rather vague answer when it comes to Cannes, and has called on the film festival to be \u201cthe place to change attitudes\u201d. \u00a0<\/p>\n

She said that the international cultural event has\u00a0to \u201ctake responsibility\u201d, in particular because all the eyes of the world are focused on Cannes in May. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe festival must be the place for this change of attitude, where we say loud and clear, institutionally but also with the glitter and the red carpets, at the microphone and on the podium, that at last we all want, all the players, all the levels of these professions, for things to change – because this is not acceptable,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Rousseau added: \u201cThis is a message I’m sending to the Cannes festival. You have a responsibility to say: We hear you, we believe you, we will support you and we no longer want this world to be structured in this way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, will this year\u2019s 78th edition be a more engaged one? How will Iris Knobloch and Thierry Fr\u00e9maux address the\u00a0findings of the report in a meaningful way so as to contribute to changing mindsets and attitudes? \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is worth reminding that the industry’s trade unions signed an agreement in Cannes last year<\/strong><\/a>, an agreement aimed at preventing sexist and sexual violence in the film industry, and regulating the hiring and working conditions of minors under the age of 16. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Since 2018, as stated on the festival website, the event has also strengthened its commitments in the fight against sexist and sexual violence for the duration of the festival with a dedicated assistance unit.<\/p>\n

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All eyes on Cannes for this year\u2019s stellar line-up, but also for the future of cinema.<\/p>\n

Here is the\u00a0line-up of this year\u2019s Cannes Film Festival (for the moment):<\/strong> \u00a0<\/p>\n

OPENING FILM<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n