The complete lineup for the 2014 Cannes Film Festival has finally been announced, and it looks like it’s going to be another doozy, with new films from award winning, groundbreaking directors competing for the top honors and a spot in the history books alongside previous Palme d’Or winners Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction and last year’s winner, Blue is the Warmest Color.
This year’s festival will include all-new films from acclaimed directors Olivier Assayas (Clouds of Sils Maria, starring Juliette Binoche and Chloe Grace Moretz), Atom Egoyan (The Captive, starring Ryan Reynolds and Mireille Enos, pictured), Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher, starring Steve Carell and Channing Tatum), Tommy Lee Jones (The Homesman, starring Jones, Hilary Swank and Meryl Streep), David Cronenberg (Maps to the Stars, starring Robert Pattinson), Michael Hazanavicius (The Search, starring Berenice Bejo and Annette Bening), Mike Leigh (Mr. Turner, starring Lesley Manville and Timothy Spall) and French New Wave icon Jean-Luc Godard (Goodbye to Language, presented in 3D).
The 2014 Cannes Film Festival’s “un certain regarde” lineup includes Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut Lost River (formerly How to Catch a Monster), as well as new films from actor/directors Mathieu Almaric (The Blue Room) and Asia Argento (Incompresa).
Films playing out of competition at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival include Olivier Dahan’s biopic about Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, starring Nicole Kidman, and the upcoming 3D animated sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2.
Read on for the complete list of films (formatting courtesy of Variety) or see the official Cannes Film Festival .PDF for the full listings.
OPENER
“Grace of Monaco” (Olivier Dahan, France-U.S.-Belgium-Italy) Nicole Kidman stars as Grace Kelly in Dahan’s 1960s-set biopic, which is kicking off the festival out of competition. The Weinstein Co. is distributing the film Stateside. (Sales: Lotus Entertainment)
COMPETITION
“The Captive” (Atom Egoyan, Canada) Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman and Rosario Dawson star in this abduction thriller, Egoyan’s sixth competition entry; the Canadian helmer won the Grand Prix for 1997’s “The Sweet Hereafter.” (Sales: eOne)
“Clouds of Sils Maria” (Olivier Assayas, France-Switzerland-Germany) IFC has Stateside rights to this English-language picture about an actress who withdraws to the Swiss town of the title, starring Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart and Chloe Grace Moretz. Assayas was previously in competition with “Clean,” “Demonlover” and “Les Destinees sentimentales,” but has yet to win a Cannes prize. (Sales: MK2)
“Foxcatcher” (Bennett Miller, U.S.) Once slated to open last year’s AFI Film Festival before being pushed to 2014, this third feature from the highly regarded writer-director of “Capote” and “Moneyball” is a dark true-crime saga starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. Sony Classics is releasing the film Stateside. (Sales: Panorama Media)
“Goodbye to Language” (Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland) Previously at the festival with 2010’s characteristically cryptic “Film socialisme,” Godard will make his seventh appearance in competition (if you count his contribution to 1987’s “Aria”). His latest offering will be presented in 3D.
“The Homesman” (Tommy Lee Jones, U.S.) Starring Jones, Hilary Swank, Hailee Steinfeld, William Fichtner, Miranda Otto and Meryl Streep, this period Western is the actor-director’s first helming effort since his 2005 debut, “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” which won two prizes at Cannes (including an acting award for Jones). (Sales: EuropaCorp)
“Jimmy’s Hall” (Ken Loach, U.K.-Ireland-France) Reportedly the British realist’s final fiction feature, this drama about the Irish communist leader James Gralton will mark Loach’s 12th time in competition. He won the Palme d’Or in 2006 for “The Wind That Shakes the Barley” and recently received a jury prize for 2012’s “The Angels’ Share.” (Sales: Wild Bunch)
“Leviathan” (Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia) A multi-character fusion of social drama and sci-fi set in a “new country,” Zvyagintsev’s fourth feature marks his first return to the Cannes competition since 2007’s “The Banishment”; his previous film, “Elena,” closed Un Certain Regard in 2011.
“Le Meraviglie” (Alice Rohrwacher, Italy-Switzerland-Germany) One of two female directors in competition this year, Italian writer-director Rohrwacher delivers her second feature after her 2011 Directors’ Fortnight entry, “Corpo celeste.” It’s the story of a 14-year-old girl in the Umbrian countryside whose secluded life is shattered by the arrival of a young German ex-con.
“Maps to the Stars” (David Cronenberg, U.S.) This satire of the entertainment industry will be the Canadian auteur’s fifth film to screen in competition at Cannes (following “Crash,” “Spider,” “A History of Violence” and “Cosmopolis”), and his second consecutive collaboration with star Robert Pattinson. It could also be his first film to win the Palme d’Or. (Sales: eOne)
“Mommy” (Xavier Dolan, France-Canada) One of the younger directors to crack the competition (at age 25), the Quebecois helmer scooped up multiple Critics’ Week prizes for his 2009 debut, “I Killed My Mother,” and entered Un Certain Regard with “Heartbeats” and “Laurence Anyways.” His latest is a relationship drama starring Anne Dorval, Suzanne Clement and Antoine-Olivier Pilon. (Sales: eOne)
“Saint Laurent” (Bertrand Bonello, France) Not to be confused with Jalil Lespert’s “Yves Saint Laurent,” the other recent biopic of the French fashion designer, Bonello’s film stars Gaspard Ulliel, Louis Garrel and Lea Seydoux. The helmer was previously in competition with 2011’s “House of Pleasures” (then titled “House of Tolerance”) and 2003’s “Tiresia.” (Sales: EuropaCorp)
“The Search” (Michel Hazanavicius, France) Berenice Bejo and Annette Bening topline this drama centered around the bond between an NGO worker and a young boy in war-torn Chechnya. A remake of Fred Zinnemann’s Oscar-winning 1948 film of the same title, it marks Hazanavicius’ return to the Cannes competition after his 2011 prizewinner, “The Artist.” (Sales: Wild Bunch)
“Still the Water” (Naomi Kawase, Japan) By now a Cannes competition regular, Kawase won the Grand Prix for 2007’s “The Mourning Forest” and received the Camera d’Or for her 1997 debut, “Suzaku.” Her latest film is set on the Japanese island of Amami-Oshima and centers on a young couple trying to solve a mysterious death. (Sales: MK2)
“Mr. Turner” (Mike Leigh, U.K.) A four-time veteran of the Cannes competition who won the Palme d’Or for 1996’s “Secrets & Lies” and best director for 1993’s “Naked,” the British master will return to the festival with this portrait of the 19th-century painter J.M.W. Turner, starring Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville. Sony Classics is distributing in the U.S. (Sales: Focus Features Intl.)
“Timbuktu” (Abderrahmane Sissako, France) The Mauritanian director, who was previously at Cannes with 2006’s “Bamako,” tells the story of a young couple who were stoned to death in northern Mali for the crime of “not being married before God.” (Sales: Le Pacte)
“Two Days, One Night” (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium) Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione and Olivier Gourmet star in this story of a young woman trying to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so she can keep her job. Already acquired by Sundance Selects for the U.S., it will be the Belgian brothers’ sixth film to compete at Cannes; they have won the Palme d’Or twice, for 1999’s “Rosetta” and 2005’s “L’enfant.” (Sales: Wild Bunch)
“Wild Tales” (Damian Szifron, Argentina-Spain) Pedro Almodovar is one of the producers of this series of comic sketches from Argentinean writer-director Szifron, making his first appearance at Cannes.
“Winter Sleep” (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey-Germany-France) This three-hour-plus drama is set in the titular landscape of Ceylan’s previous film (and 2011 Cannes Grand Prix winner), “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.” The rigorous Turkish auteur also won the festival’s directing prize for 2008’s “Three Monkeys” and the Grand Prix for 2002’s “Distant.”
OUT OF COMPETITION
“Coming Home” (Zhang Yimou)
“How to Train Your Dragon 2“
“Les Gens du Monde” (Yves Jeuland)
UN CERTAIN REGARD
“Amour fou” (Jessica Hausner)
“Bird People” (Pascale Ferran)
“The Blue Room” (Mathieu Amalric)
“Charlie’s Country” (Rolf de Heer)
“Dohee-ya” (July Jung)
“Eleanor Rigby” (Ned Benson)
“Fantasia” (Wang Chao)
“Harcheck mi headro” (Keren Yedaya)
“Hermosa juventud” (Jaime Rosales)
“Incompresa” (Asia Argento)
“Jauja” (Lisandro Alonso)
“Lost River” (Ryan Gosling)
“Party Girl” (Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis) (OPENER)
“Run” (Philippe Lacote)
“The Salt of the Earth” (Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado)
“Snow in Paradise” (Andrew Hulme)
“Titli” (Kanu Behl)
“Tourist” (Ruben Ostlund)
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
“The Rover” (David Michod)
“The Salvation” (Kristian Levring)
“The Target” (Yoon Hong-seung)
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
“The Bridges of Sarajevo” (various directors)
“Maidan” (Sergei Loznitsa)
“Red Army” (Polsky Gabe)
“Silvered Water” (Mohammed Ossama and Wiam Bedirxan)
“Caricaturistes – Fantassins de la democratie” (Stephanie Valloatto)
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
