2023 Cannes Lineup Revealed: Wes Anderson, ‘The Idol,’ Glazer, Rohrwacher, McQueen, and More
Christian Blauvelt
Get your tux out of the mothballs and brush up on your French phrasebook: After feverish speculation about what might premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the lineup has finally been announced.
Thierry Frémaux’s annual press conference, which you can watch below, has wrapped and we now know what will debut on the Croisette when Cannes takes place May 16-27. We already knew there’d be a spot for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” that Harrison Ford and James Mangold would be bringing fedora couture with “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (filling this year’s blockbuster spot reserved by “Top Gun: Maverick” last year), and that, controversially, the Johnny Depp-starring film “Jeanne du Barry” by Maïwenn would open the festival.
Among the titles now confirmed to appear at Cannes are Wes Anderson‘s “Asteroid City,” Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” Todd Haynes’ “May/December,” starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” and Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera,” all competing for the Palme d’Or in Competition. There’s also new work from Jessica Hausner, Aki Kaurismaki, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Catherine Breillat, Ken Loach, and Wim Wenders competing for the top prize, as well as Wang Bing’s “Jeunesse,” the first documentary to screen in Competition since 2008. Bing has a second film in Special Screenings, “Man in Black.”
Another major title announced for the Special Screenings is a new documentary by Steve McQueen, “Occupied City,” which turns his lens on the city where he’s long lived: Amsterdam. And, as the title would suggest, it’s about the city’s occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II.
As expected, Sam Levinson’s HBO series “The Idol” will debut at Cannes, as well, Out of Competition.
This means several anticipated titles will not premiere at the festival: It was thought Kitty Green’s re-team with Julia Garner “The Royal Hotel” and Yorgos Lanthimos’s Emma Stone reunion “Poor Things” might bow at Cannes, as might Richard Linklater’s “Hitman” and Michel Gondry’s “The Book of Solutions.” However, it’s likely more titles will be added closer to the festival.
And, of course, already announced in the shorts section is the 30-minute gay Western from Pedro Almodóvar starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke, which the director told IndieWire’s Eric Kohn is his answer to “Brokeback Mountain.”
The importance of Cannes can’t be understated even with a slowing acquisitions market. Last year’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness,” a Neon pickup, got a Best Picture nomination from the Oscars, along with two other nods (Best Director for Ruben Östlund and Östlund again for Best Original Screenplay). That was the third straight Palme d’Or winner to be distributed by Neon, following “Titane” in 2021 and “Parasite” in 2019, which of course went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, the first non-English language film to do so.
Cannes is also an end unto itself, the Palme d’Or conferring a level of status and built-in box-office interest that no other prize but the Oscar can.
Watch the replay of the press conference and read the full list of titles from the 2023 Cannes Film Festival lineup announcement below.
Opening Night
“Jeanne du Barry,” Maïwenn (Out of Competition)
In Competition
“Club Zero,” Jessica Hausner
“The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer
“Fallen Leaves,” Aki Kaurismaki
“Four Daughters,” Kaouther Ben Hania
“Asteroid City,” Wes Anderson
“Anatomie d’Une Chute,” Justine Triet
“Monster,” Hirokazu Kore-eda
“The Sun of the Future,” Nanni Moretti
“La Chimera,” Alice Rohrwacher
“About Dry Grasses,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan
“L’Ete Dernier,” Catherine Breillat
“The Passion of Dodin Bouffant,” Tran Anh Hung
“Rapito,” Marco Bellocchio
“May/December,” Todd Haynes
“Firebrand,” Karim Ainouz
“The Old Oak,” Ken Loach
“Banel et Adama,” Ramata-Toulaye Sy
“Perfect Days,” Wim Wenders
“Jeunesse,” Wang Bing
“Black Flies,” Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (added April 24)
“Le Retour,” Catherine Corsini (added April 24)
Un Certain Regard
“The Delinquents,” Rodrigo Moreno
“How to Have Sex,” Molly Manning Walker
“Goodbye Julia,” Mohamed Kordofani
“The Buriti Flower,” Joao Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora
“Simple Comme Sylvain,” Monia Chokri
“Kadib Abyad (The Mother of All Lies),” Asmae El Moudir
“The Settlers,” Felipe Galvez
“Omen,” Baloji Tshiani
“The Breaking Ice,” Anthony Chen
“Rosalie,” Stephanie di Giusto
“The New Boy,” Warwick Thornton
“If Only I Could Hibernate,” Zoljargal Purevdash
“Hopeless,” Kim Chang-hoon
“Terrestrial Verses,” Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami
“Rien a Perdre,” Delphine Deloget
“Les Meutes,” Kamal Lazraq
“La Regne Animal,” Thomas Cailley
“Only the River Flows,” Wei Shujun (added April 24)
“Une Nuit,” Alex Lutz (added April 24)
Special Screenings
“Pictures of Ghosts,” Kleber Mendonca Filho
“Anselm,” Wim Wenders
“Occupied City,” Steve McQueen
“Man in Black,” Wang Bing
“Little Girl Blue,” Mona Achache (added April 24)
“Bread and Roses,” Sahra Mani (added April 24)
“La Théorème de Marguerite,” Anna Novion (added April 24)
Cannes Premieres
“Le Temps D’Aimer,” Katell Quillevere
“Cerrar Los Ojos,” Victor Erice
“Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe,” Martin Provost
“Kubi,” Takeshi Kitano
“Eureka,” Lisandro Alonso (added April 24)
“Perdidos en la Noche,” Amat Escalante (added April 24)
Midnight Screenings
“Omar la Fraise,” Elias Belkeddar
“Kennedy,” Anurag Kashyap
“Acide,” Just Philippot
“Hypnotic,” Robert Rodriguez (added April 24)
“Project Silence,” Kim Tae-gon (added April 24)
Out of Competition
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese
“The Idol,” Sam Levinson
“Cobweb,” Kim Jee-woon
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” James Mangold
“L’Abbé Pierre – Une Vie de Combats,” Frédéric Tellier (added April 24)
