Cannes Wish List: 40 Films We Hope Make The Festival’s 2014 Lineup
Cannes is a sort of annual cinematic Olympics, with almost every country vying for spots in the official selection. But with the official 2014 Cannes Film Festival announcement a little over a month away, Indiewire is offering its annual Cannes wish list.
Indiewire’s annual Cannes wish
list isn’t so much about officially predicting the lineup, but rather a roster of films we hope are finished in time, good enough and
invited to the festival. Thus we’re not including films that seem to have zero chance of making the cut (Todd Haynes’ “Carol” or Werner Herzog’s “Queen of the Desert,” for example, neither of which will be finished in time) or the one film we officially know is in — “Grace of Monaco,” which will open the festival.
Among
the candidates are celebrated filmmakers like Woody Allen, Paul Thomas Anderson, Olivier Assayas, Tim Burton, JC Chandor, David Cronenberg, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Xavier Dolan, Mia Hansen-Love, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Terrence Malick, Thomas Vinterberg, Lars Von Trier, Wim Wenders, among many others (including Ryan Gosling and Jon Stewart, no less).
Films that don’t get a spot in Cannes (and there will definitely be a
few) will immediately become hot topics for a fall fest berth in Venice
and/or Toronto. Either way, let the guessing games begin:
“The Assassin”
Directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Known for being a large figure in the Taiwanese New Wave movement, Hsiao-Hsien has remained relatively unknown stateside. Despite this, the director has been nominated for the Palme d’Or six times, with his last film being the critically acclaimed 2007 film “Flight of the Red Balloon.” His most recent film, “The Assassin” is a historical drama set in the Tang Dynasty, and we’d be surprised if it didn’t end up marking the director’s lucky seventh trip to the Croisette.
“Big Eyes“
Directed by Tim Burton
Tim Burton — who headed the Cannes jury two years back — has gotten a lot of flack as of late thanks to big budget,
critically panned films like “Alice in Wonderland” and “Dark Shadows.”
But he’s making a return to fantasy-free, low-budget fare in 2014
— really for the first time since 1994’s “Ed Wood” (which is perhaps
his most critically acclaimed film). Could it mean a trip to the Croisette? With a script from “Wood”
screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, “Big Eyes” takes on
the true story of husband and wife artists Walter and Margaret Keane
(Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams), the former of whom rose to fame in
1950s for his paintings of big-eyed kids. It sure sounds great on paper, and here’s hoping — Cannes or no Cannes — it makes us completely
forget about “Dark Shadows” and anticipate a whole new era of work from
Burton.
“Birdman”
Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Inarritu’s past films to have gotten into the Cannes Film Festival have been grim, foreign-language dramas that tackle issues of global and social importance. His upcoming film “Birdman,” on the other hand, is an American comedy starring Zach Galifianiakis, Emma Stone and Michael Keaton about an actor trying to regain his former glory on Broadway when his days playing a famous superhero have long been gone. But whether the acclaimed director makes an independent drama or a studio comedy, there’s little doubt that Inarritu has enough artistic integrity to get even the most mainstream of films into Cannes.
“Bird People”
Directed by Pascale Ferran
Is “Bird” gonna be the word at Cannes? Alongside Inarritu’s latest, French director Pascale Ferran could be in the mix for “Bird People.” The director hasn’t been up to much since her acclaimed 2006 feature “Lady Chatterly,” a drama based on the romance novel “Lady Chatterly’s Lover” by D.H. Lawrence. The film, which won Ferran numerous awards including a Cesar for best film, undoubtedly established her as someone to watch. Now almost a decade later, Ferran returns with “Bird People,” a drama about an American man who arrives to Paris and tries to create a new identity for himself.
“Clouds of Sils Maria”
Directed by Olivier Assayas
After choosing the Venice route instead for his last film “Something in the Air,” Olivier Assayas could very well return to Cannes with his latest film “Clouds of Sils Maria” (in fact, it seems like a certainty at this point). And if/when he does, he’ll bring along some American celebrities that we’re sure will make the folks at Cannes’ red carpet happy. Kristen Stewart and Chloe Grace-Moretz join Juliette Binoche in this English language film about an established actress (Binoche) and her loyal assistant Valentine (Stewart) who isolate themselves in the small Swiss town of the film’s title. It’s definitely a new direction for Assayas, and one that could potentially do a lot of good to the careers of Stewart and Grace-Moretz.
“Coming Home”
Directed by Zhang Yimou
It’s quite an achievement if you’re the person behind the first Chinese film to be nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film. Yimou did just that with his his 1990 film “Ju Dou” and then again in 1992 (with “Raise the Red Lantern”) and 2002 (for “Hero”). And while he received mixed reviews for his last film, the historical drama “The Flowers of War,” starring Christian Bale, this year Yimou will be returning with “Coming Home,” about a man who is forced into a labor camp after escaping to America to avoid a marriage.
“Eden”
Directed by Mia Hansen-Love
At only 33, Mia Hansen-Love has already established herself as a director to watch. She won the Special Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for her drama “The Father of my Children.” Her latest project, “Eden,” follows the life of a French DJ who’s credited with inventing “French house” or the “French touch,” a type of French electronic music that became popular in the 1990s. Best of all? It stars “Frances Ha” star Greta Gerwig.
“Everything Will Be Fine”
Director: Wim Wenders
Following up his remarkably successful, Oscar
nominated 3D documentary “Pina,” Wim Wenders returns to narrative
filmmaking, but we’ll still be wearing the 3D glasses. From a script by
Bjorn Olaf Johannessen, the film tells the story of a writer (James Franco),
who loses control of his life after a car accident which kills a young
boy. It follows him over a period of 12 years as he tries to find
self-forgiveness, with Rachel McAdams (in a role originally set for Sarah
Polley) playing his girlfriend Kate. While clearly the plot does not
sound like your typical 3D fare, leave it to Wenders to offer us an
entirely new utilization of the format (as he did with “Pina”).
“Far From the Madding Crowd”
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg
“A Celebration” director Thomas Vinterberg made quite the comeback at
Cannes a couple of years back with the eventually Academy Award-nominated “The Hunt,” and he follows it up with
this promising adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s 19th century classic
headlined by the ever reliable Carey Mulligan as a woman who inherits a
large farm and becomes romantically entangled with three men (Michael
Sheen, Tom Sturridge and Matthias Schoenaerts). Vinterberg has proven
adept at drawing out career best performances from his cast (Mads
Mikkelsen took home top acting honors at Cannes for his showstopping
turn in “The Hunt”), so signs point to this being a heated character
study.
“Foxcatcher”
Directed by Bennett Miller
“Foxcatcher” was a highly anticipated potential fixture in last year’s awards
race. But the film was pushed
to 2014 at the last minute because director Miller (“Capote,”
“Moneyball”) didn’t want to rush things. But considering how crowded the Oscar race was, maybe it was for the best. And it gives us
something to very much look forward to in 2014 — potentially with Cannes kicking things off. Starring Channing Tatum,
Mark Ruffalo, Steve Carell, Sienna Miller and Vanessa Redgrave, the
film tells the true story of Olympic Wrestling Champion brothers Mark (Tatum) and Dave Schultz (Ruffalo) and their relationship with
the eccentric John du Pont (Carell), heir to the du Pont Chemical
fortune that led to murder. Written by E. Max Frye and “Capote” scribe
Dan Futterman, if it were to work out a little less than a year from now, it
would be Bennett Miller’s third straight film to receive a best picture
nomination. But does a Cannes stop come first?
“The Homesman”
Directed by Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones’s directorial debut “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” made its way to competition in Cannes (and Jones ended up winning the best actor award at the festival for it, making him the only director on this list to win an acting prize at the festival), suggesting his follow up “The Homesman” could very well do the same. It brings him together with the impressive likes of Hilary Swank, Meryl Streep, Hailee Steinfeld, James Spader, John Lithgow, and Tim Blake Nelson in a tale of a claim jumper and pioneer woman who travel from Nebraska to Iowa with three mentally ill women.
“How to Catch a Monster”
Directed by Ryan Gosling
Another actor familiar with Cannes (“Drive,” “Only God Forgives”), Ryan Gosling might make his way
back to in a different capacity this time around. Principal
photography on his directorial debut “How to Catch a Monster” wrapped
last year, so it’s not wild to assume that Warner Bros. might
choose to debut the film on the Croisette. Written by Gosling, the film
stars his “Drive” co-star Christina Hendricks alongside Ben Mendelsohn, Eva
Mendes, Saoirse Ronan and “Doctor Who” star Matt Smith in a fantasy
centered on a single mother who is swept into a dark fantasy
underworld.
“The Imitation Game”
Directed by Morten Tyldum
After directing Norwegian films “Buddy” and “Headhunters,” the latter being the highest-grossing Norwegian film of all time, Tyldum has a lot to prove with “The Imitation Game.” With a bigger budget, the backing of Harvey Weinstein, and a cast boasting the unstoppable Benedict Cumberbatch, the film is about the British mathematician Alan Turing (Cumberbatch) who was a successful cryptographer during World II and was later prosecuted for his homosexuality. The film also stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode, and seems like the kind of thing made for awards season. Whether Harvey and company choose to debut it here or Toronto is the question.
“Inherent Vice“
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
This might be a bit of wishful thinking, but Paul Thomas Anderson’s epicly anticipated follow-up to “The Master” would clearly be at the top of almost anyone’s Cannes to-see list if it makes the cut. The director has been in post-production on the film since the fall, though he tends to take his time and the film’s release date isn’t until December. So maybe he’ll wait until Venice (like he did with “The Master”) or maybe he’ll avoid the festival circuit altogether (which he basically did with “There Will Be Blood”). But either way, we’ll be first in line when his adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel makes its debut. Following a P.I. who investigates the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend, the film’s remarkable ensemble includes Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom and Benicio del Toro.
“Jimmy’s Hall”
Directed by Ken Loach
Ken Loach has been a fixture at Cannes since the late 1970s, winning a wide variety of prizes before finally nabbing the Palme D’Or for his 2006 film “The Wind that Shakes the Barley.: He’s already been back three times since then, and will surely be back again with “Jimmy’s Hall,” a drama depicting political activist Jimmy Galtron’s deportation from Ireland during the country’s 1930s ‘Red Scare.’ We hope Loach brings the same strength and astuteness to “Jimmy’s Hall” as he has with his past films set in the country.
“Knights of Cup” and “Untitled”
Directed by Terrence Malick
Not much is ever known about Terrence Malick, so whether his two films, shot back to back, will make it at this years Cannes—well, we can’t say (they were on this last year too, and could very well be again a year from now). But if the two-time best director Oscar nominee and winner of the Palme d’Or for “The Tree of Life” is set to return, it would be with either “Knights of Cup” or an untitled film set around the Austin music scene (or both). The films notably have collective casts that include the insanely talented likes of Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett, but who knows if they’ll appear in the final cuts of the films.
“Leviafan”
Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev captivated audiences with his 2003 family drama “The Return,” which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. His last film, “Elena”, won raves (and a Special Jury Prize) in Cannes back in 2011 (in Un Certain Regard). So perhaps Zvyagintsev’s latest, “Leviafan,” will push him back into official competition (where he was with “The Banishment” years earlier). Said to be a complex drama centered around a mechanic and the corrupt local mayor, we’d certainly be surprised if that wasn’t the case.
“Magic in the Moonlight”
Directed by Woody Allen
Even Woody Allen’s detractors can’t deny that he’s been on something of a
roll lately: “Midnight in Paris” (which went to Cannes) and “Blue Jasmine” (which did not) were both Oscar-winning box
office hits and critically acclaimed testimonies to the vitality of his
filmmaking voice as he barrels through his late seventies. With “Magic
in the Moonlight,” Allen returns to France for a romantic comedy
featuring the usual parade of old and young talent eager to work with
the director: Emma Stone, Colin Firth, Hamish Linklater, Jacki Weaver
and Erica Leerhsen. As usual, plot details are vague, though early
reports suggest the story unfolds over two decades. Allen’s last few
projects have been especially introspective, so we’re excited to see if
he continues that trend. Whether it goes to Cannes first remains to be seen, but its France-setting can’t hurt that suggestion.
“Maps to the Stars“
Director: David Cronenberg
A near certainty for Cannes 2014, David Cronenberg’s follow up to his
divisive “Cosmopolis” once again teams the director with Robert
Pattinson, this time alongside a dreamy ensemble including Julianne
Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Olivia Williams and Carrie Fisher (as herself!).
Said to be a “vicious look at a twisted Hollywood dynasty” and a
takedown of the industry altogether, “Maps” sure sounds juicy. It’s
already been rated by the MPAA (and given an “R,” which is clearly no
surprise given Cronenberg’s history), so it should be just a matter of
waiting for Cannes to announce the lineup at this point.
“Mommy”
Director: Xavier Dolan
Another year, another Xavier Dolan film. The
nearly 25 year old is offering us his 5th feature film in just six
years, and it sounds like a doozy: With a title that winks at his debut
“I Killed My Mother,” Dolan’s latest re-teams him with Anne Dorval and
Suzanne Clement (who gave remarkable performances in “Mother” and
“Laurence Anyways,” respectively), though instead of Dolan himself
joining them on screen, its newcomer Antoine-Olivier Pilon, who plays
Dorval’s troubled teenage son. Word is the film’s in the midst of post-production, suggesting
“Mommy” may or may not be ready to bring Dolan back to the Southern French festival
where he first broke out, perhaps this time finally in official
competition.
“A Most Violent Year”
Directed by JC Chandor
After garnering a screenplay nomination for the vastly underrated 2011 Wall Street drama “Margin Call”, Chandor returned this past year with a subtler, but nonetheless acclaimed film, “All is Lost,” starring a relatively silent Robert Redford. Once again proving that he’s a versatile director to contend with, Chandor will be releasing his latest film, crime drama “A Most Violent Year,” later this year. The film will star Oscar Isaac of “Inside Llewyn Davis” and Jessica Chastain and focuses on 1981—one of the most violent years in New York’s history.
“Mr. Turner”
Directed by Mike Leigh
Four years after “Another Year,” Mike Leigh — who in our eyes has pretty
much never failed — returns with this biopic about the life of
controversial 19th century British painter and printmaker J.M. Turner
(frequent Leigh collaborator Timothy Spall). Almost certain to head to Cannes (like “Another Year” did), if the film is anywhere near as good
as Leigh’s last film set in the 1800s — 1999’s magical “Topsy-Turvy”
(which also featured Spall), then it will be more than worth our time.
“The Normal Heart”
Directed by Ryan Murphy
Based on Larry Kramer’s groundbreaking 1985 play, “The Normal Heart” sounds primed to — like “Behind The Candelabra” last year — continue HBO’s presence at the Cannes Film Festival. Based on a screenplay by Kramer itself, it follows New York-based writer and gay activist Ned Weeks as he struggles to pull together an organization focused on raising awareness about AIDS. Mark Ruffalo plays Weeks in the film, and he leads a pretty dreamy cast that includes Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, Alfred Molina, Joe Mantello, Taylor Kitsch, Denis O’Hare and Corey Stoll. It’s been a long while since we’ve seen an unflinching narrative take on the onset of AIDS, and HBO has a pretty stellar track record (see “Angels in America,” please), so we’re extremely excited to see how “The Normal Heart” turns out. And if not at Cannes, it debuts on HBO May 25th (just as the festival comes to a close — making us even more certain its debuting there first).
“Nymphomaniac, Volume 2” (Directors Cut)
Directed by Lars von Trier
The director’s cut of the second part of Lars von Trier’s provocative and much-talked about “Nymphomaniac” has been heavily rumored to mark the director’s first trip to Cannes after the “persona non grata” he received back in 2011 (it was basically confirmed when the first part’s director’s cut premiered in Berlin). Despite von Trier’s bitter personal history with Cannes, no one can deny that if there’s one director who has constantly proven to be Cannes Film Festival gold, it’s the man who brought us “Melancholia,” “Antichrist,” “Dogville,” “Breaking the Waves” and “Dancer in the Dark” (which won the Palme d’Or in 2000). And one thing is for sure: he’ll likely make for some news-worthy controversy.
“A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence”
Directed by Roy Andersson
Swedish director Roy Andersson has only made four feature films over the span of his forty-five year career, so it’s safe to say a new one will be the kind of event Cannes will want to host. From his 1970 romance film “A Swedish Love Story” to his 2000 feature “Songs from the Second Floor” (which won him a Jury Prize at Cannes), Andersson is world cinema royalty, and he will finally be making his way back to the screen with “A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.” Focused on two men, a salesman and a guy who’s not-exactly-with-it, the film’s premise is relatively vague. Still, based on Andersson’s track record it’s undeniably something to look forward to.
“Le Rancon de La Gloire”
Directed by Xavier Beauvois
While many of the films on this list have A-list American stars to give them an extra push in the right direction, some of them rely entirely on their offbeat storytelling. One such film in particular is Xavier Beauvois’ “Le Rancon de la Gloire” (most aptly translated to “The Price of Fame”), a comedy about a cash-struck man in 1970s Europe who has been recently released from prison and gets the brilliant idea to kidnap the corpse of revered comedic actor Charlie Chaplin in order to sell it back to his family for a hefty ransom. It would mark Beavois’s first trip back to Cannes after winning the Grand Prix for “Of Gods and Men” in 2010, and we’d be happy to see what he has in store.
“Retour a Ithaque”
Directed by Laurent Cantet
After winning the Palme d’Or and snagging a foreign film Oscar nomination for his 2008 classroom drama “The Class,” French director Laurent Cantet went rather unnoticed with “Foxfire” in 2012. Hopefully he’ll make a strong return this year with “Retour a Ithaque,” which follows a man who returns to Havana after being exiled to Cuba 16 years earlier.
“Rosewater”
Directed by Jon Stewart
“The Daily Show” might arrive in Cannes should
host Jon Stewart make his way to the festival with his directorial debut, “Rosewater.” The comic took a leave of absence from his day job back in
July to shoot the project alongside Shohreh Aghdashloo and Gael García
Bernal. Written by Stewart, Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molly, and based on
Maziar Bahari’s 2011 memoir “Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story of
Love, Captivity, and Survival,” the film centers on an Iranian-Canadian
journalist (Bernal) detained in Tehran for over 100 days during the 2009
presidential election in Iran. Stewart covered Bahari’s imprisonment
extensively on his show. Footage from the film was screened for buyers
in Toronto back in September, so chances are it’s ready to screen in its
entirety at Cannes (if they’ll have him, that is).
“The Rover”
Directed by David Michod
Best known for “Animal Kingdom” — the Australian crime drama that secured Jacki Weaver her first Oscar nomination — David Michod once again uses his Australian background for “The Rover,” a futuristic crime drama with Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson (the latter of whom is quickly becoming the unexpected Prince of Cannes as of late). Pearce stars as Eric, a man who teams up with Rey (Pattinson), an injured criminal, to hunt down the gang that stole from him. A24 is releasing the film in America in June, and we’re sure they’d love the profile Cannes would give them beforehand.
“Saint Laurent”
Directed by Bertrand Bonello
After her breakthrough role in last year’s Palme D’Or winner “Blue Is the Warmest Color,” Lea Seydoux gained both fame and notoriety from the film when she denounced her director for the sexually explicit scenes in the movie. Hopefully, her collaboration with director Bertrand Bonello in his latest Cannes prospect “Saint Laurent,” a biopic of the famous designer Yves Saint Laurent (no, not the one that just screened at Berlin), will ultimately have a happier ending for both the actress and her director should it make the festival’s cut.
“St. Vincent De Van Nuys”
Directed by Theodore Melfi
From his own Blacklisted script,
filmmaker Theodore Melfi makes his directorial debut with “St. Vincent
De Van Nuys,” which finds none other than Bill Murray playing the the
title character, a misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic war veteran who
becomes an unlikely mentor to the boy who lives next door. Melissa
McCarthy plays the boy’s mother, while Naomi Watts turns up as a Russian
prostitute who develops a close relationship with St. Vincent. The
script was compared to the likes of “As Good As It Gets” and “Silver
Linings Playbook,” so they might wait for the more Oscar-appropriate
Toronto to launch the film (it sounds much more like a Toronto film anyway). But the sooner the better, as far as we’re concerned.
“The Search”
Directed by Michel Hazavanicius
The only person on this list to have won the Academy Award for Best Director (it’s true!), Michel Hazavinicius remains one of the few French filmmakers to make a big splash stateside. He was nominated at Cannes a few years ago for his Oscar-winning “The Artist,” and may now return with another film. His latest, however, entitled “The Search” and starring Berenice Bejo and Annette Bening, is much darker and heavier than the lighthearted fare for which he got nominated the first time, taking us through war-town Chechnya where a woman working for a non-governmental organization forms a bond with a young boy.
“Squirrel To The Nuts”
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich
It’s been well over a decade since
seminal American filmmaker (and sometime Indiewire blogger) Peter
Bogdonavich directed a narrative feature, and even as he’s remained busy
with journalistic pursuits and documentary work, it’s hard not to
wonder what sort of stories the man behind “The Last Picture Show” could
tell today. Wonder no longer: Aided by producers Wes Anderson and Noah
Baumbach, “Squirrel to the Nuts” finds Bogdonavich returning to the
screwball comedy genre that he explored so well with the likes of “Paper
Moon” and “What’s Up, Doc?” in the early seventies. With a high-profile
cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson, Will Forte and Cybill
Shepherd, in addition to a screenplay co-written by Bogdonavich and
ex-wife Louise Stratten, the project — in which Wilson plays a Broadway
director who falls in love with a prostitute — holds the potential to
realize some of Bodgdonavich’s old school charm with a fresh set of
faces.
“Still the Water”
Directed by Naomi Kawase
Kawase has been part of the Cannes scene for nearly 20 years now. Incredibly, that’s almost half of her life. In 1997, she became the youngest winner of the Camera d’Or for best director for her drama “Suzaku.” Her 2007 feature about dementia, “The Mourning Forest”, also won her the Grand Prix in 2007. Following her year as a juror at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Kawase is now working on “Still the Water,” a hopeful for this year’s Cannes. The Japanese film follows a 14-year-old boy and his girlfriend who try solve a mystery after discovering a dead body.
“Suite Francaise”
Director: Saul Dibb
Based on the powerful novel of the same name
set in 1940s France, the source material has an equally dramatic
backstory: the Jewish-Russian born author Irene Nemirovsky planned a
five-novel cycle beginning in 1940, just as forces overran northern
France. In the summer of 1942, Nemirovsky, who had converted to
Catholicism, was shipped to Auschwitz and the two completed parts of
Nemirovsky’s planned cycle were discovered only six decades later.
Though a film based on Nemirovsky’s story sounds compelling, so does the
book which Nemirovsky finished, on which the film is based. “Suite
Francaise” tells the story of a woman in 1940s France who falls for a
German officer posted in the town as she awaits her prison-of-war
husband’s return. The cast, with Michelle Williams playing the woman
opposite Matthias Schoenaerts as her lover, should bring this strong
material to life. Whether it hits Cannes remains to be seen, given it’s a Weinstein Company release and as of late they’ve tended to just “preview” their films at the fest before fall festival premieres.
“Two Days, One Night”
Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
The Dardenne brothers are certainly no strangers to Cannes, having won the Palme D’Or twice (a prestigious rarity) and forming a filmmaking collaboration that renders their talent the French equivalent of Joel and Ethan Coen. The duo now has an even better chance of getting back into the festival, with their latest film “Two Days, One Night” featuring the beautiful (and Oscar-winning) starlet Marion Cotillard, a Cannes regular herself.
“Welcome to New York”
Directed by Abel Ferrara
It’s no surprise that New York-born director Abel Ferrara often keeps his talents in the city he knows best, especially considering how his past NYC-set films have helped turn him into the acclaimed cult director he’s now become. And Cannes seems all the more likely to the setting of its premiere given the French pedigree “Welcome to New York” brings. The film, a biopic of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French economist and former head of the International Monetary Fund, features the likes of Gerard Depardieu and Jacqueline Bisset in its cast.
“While We’re Young”
Director: Noah Baumbach
A year after “Frances Ha,” Noah Baumbach
re-teams with “Greenberg” star Ben Stiller for a $10 million Scott Rudin
production about an uptight documentary filmmaker (wait, Ben Stiller
playing someone uptight?) and his wife (Naomi Watts) who try to loosen
up a bit by befriending a free spirited younger couple (Adam Driver and
Amanda Seyfried). It’s a great cast, and Baumbach is clearly on a roll
as of late. The film doesn’t have a release date yet (but is in post-production) — and Baumbach
also is working on “Untitled Public School Project” with “Frances” star
Greta Gerwig — but one way or another, we’ll get us some more Baumbach
(or double the Baumbach) by year’s end — and maybe at Cannes as well? Though Venice or Toronto seems more likely the case.
“Winter Sleep”
Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan provided his take on the crime drama genre with his haunting “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” deservedly earning him the Grand Prize of the Jury in 2011. Now it’s his latest film “Winter Sleep” that looks to bring him back to Cannes. Though details of the film are still fairly vague, one thing that’s known for certain is that Ceylan has enough of a reputation to place him high on the list of those who are likely to make the cut, and more than enough talent to distinguish him among his filmmaking peers.
