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Malick, Almodóvar and Loach head for Cannes

Women to the fore in official selection

by Richard Mowe

Hands up … Thierry Frémaux makes a point at today’s Cannes Film Festival press conference in Paris Photo: Richard Mowe

With a selection committee that reached 50-50 gender parity for the first time this year, the Cannes Film Festival’s artistic director Thierry Frémaux was today able to trumpet that 13 female film-makers had been included in the official selection, most of which was unveiled today (18 April) at a press conference at the UGC cinema on the Champs Elysées in Paris.

Many of the Festival’s big hitters from previous years have returned to the fold with new films by Pedro Almodóvar (Pain And Glory), The Traitor, a Mafia thriller from Marco Bellocchio, Parisite from Bong Joon-ho and Ken Loach (two time Palme d’Or winner) with Sorry We Missed You. Quebec’s enfant terrible Xavier Dolan also returns with Matthias And Maxime in which he also stars; Belgium’s Dardenne Brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc tackle religious fundamentalism in Europe in Ahmed while the elusive Terrence Malick will be present at least on screen if not in person for his Second World War drama A Hidden Life (previously titled Radegund).

Sundance favourite Ira Sachs finds a competition berth for Frankie starring Isabelle Huppert while French director Celine Sciamma fields an 18th century female drive historical drama Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. Justine Triet adds to the female quotient with her new Sibyl while first time Austrian film-maker Jessica Hausner will present an English-language sci-fi offering Little Joe. The other woman in competition is Mati Diop with Atlantique. There are nine female directors featuring in other sections of the official Festival.

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, much touted for inclusion, has not yet made the final mix although Frémaux still held out a tantalising hope that it may yet make it among the few titles he has still to confirm.

Out of competition, will be Dexter Fletcher’s keenly anticipated Rocketman, accompanied by Elton John and his entourage. Frémaux assured that a piano would be waiting in the wings should Elton feel the urge to play live.

Other titles in this section include Claude Lelouch’s The Best Years Of A Life (reprising his hit A Man And A Woman 50 years on with the same leads, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimée); Asif Kapadia’s documentary Diego Maradona and two episodes of Nicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming television series Too Old To Die Young: North Of Hollywood, West Of Hell.

As previously noted in these columns, the festival opens with a star studded lineup in Jim Jarmusch's zombie comedy The Dead Don't Die, starring Bill Murray, Chloe Sevigny, Tilda Swinton and Adam Driver.

Five-time Oscar-winning Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu will lead the main competition jury for the films that are in the running for the Palme d'Or while Lebanese director Nadine Labaki, whose Capernaum was nominated in the best foreign-language film category at the Academy Awards this year, will head the jury for Un Certain Regard.

Competition