Cannes unveils auteur-led line-up for 79th festival

PARIS: The Cannes Film Festival has announced the line-up for its 79th edition, with 21 films set to compete for the Palme d'Or in a programme that leans strongly toward arthouse cinema and features fewer major Hollywood studio titles.

The festival will run from May 12 to 23 on the French Riviera, where filmmakers, actors and studios gather for screenings, dealmaking and industry events. Festival director Thierry Fremaux said the limited presence of major US studio productions reflected broader changes in the American film industry.

The main competition includes a mix of returning Palme d'Or winners and first-time contenders. Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda will present Sheep in the Box, described as a story about childhood and artificial intelligence. Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu returns with Fjord, while Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev is in contention with Minotaur, a film about wealthy Russians facing conscription.

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar will compete for the seventh time with the civil war drama Amarga Navidad (Bitter Christmas). Iranian Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi is also returning with Histoires Paralleles (Parallel Tales). Other competition titles include Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski's Fatherland, centred on German novelist Thomas Mann, and a film by Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes focused on French Resistance figure Jean Moulin.

Japan's Ryusuke Hamaguchi and France's Arthur Harari are also part of the competition selection, continuing the festival's emphasis on filmmaker-driven work. Several entries feature internationally known actors. US director Ira Sachs will present the 1980s AIDS drama The Man I Love, starring Rami Malek, while Spain's Rodrigo Sorogoyen directs The Beloved, led by Javier Bardem.

Women directors have taken five places in the main competition. Among them are first-time contenders Lea Mysius with the thriller The Birthday Party and Jeanne Herry with the drama Another Day, starring Adele Exarchopoulos.

Out-of-competition titles and Hollywood presence

Outside the main competition, the festival will also screen a broad range of films. Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn returns with Her Private Hell, his first Cannes appearance in 10 years.

Hollywood will still have a presence, though on a smaller scale. Steven Soderbergh and Ron Howard are due to premiere documentaries on John Lennon and Richard Avedon, respectively. Actor John Travolta is also set to make his directorial debut with Propeller One-Way Night Coach.

Other out-of-competition highlights include football documentaries on Eric Cantona and the 1986 World Cup match between England and Argentina, which featured Diego Maradona's controversial Hand of God goal.

Fremaux said American cinema would still be represented, noting that earlier editions of Cannes had hosted major launches including Top Gun: Maverick and the latest Mission: Impossible film. Industry observers believe some Hollywood studios are increasingly opting for their own release strategies, supported by social media, rather than festival premieres.

This year's selection was chosen from around 2,500 submissions. According to Fremaux, many of the selected films offer a form of escape from current global tensions, with themes focused on gentleness, songs and nature, while others revisit history through a contemporary lens.

He made the remark while introducing the French entry Quelques Mots d'Amour (A Few Love Words). Fremaux also addressed debate over politics in cinema following recent controversies at European festivals.

He said that while films and filmmakers may engage with political issues, the festival itself remains institutionally neutral. South Korean director Park Chan-wook will serve as president of the competition jury for this year's edition.