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Cannes 2016 - Competition: From Veterans to Newbies

Here are the 20 films in Competition for the Palme d'Or!


The Unknown Girl

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​director/writer: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne (Belgium)
Cannes history: Rosetta (1999) - Palme d'Or, Best Actress
The Son (2002) - Best Actor (Olivier Gourmet)
The Child (2005) - Palme d'Or
Lorna's Silence (2008) - Best Screenplay
The Kid with a Bike (2011) - Grand Prix
Two Days, One Night (2014) - Competition
starring: Adèle Haenel (Love at First Fight, The Forbidden Room)
release: October 16 (France).

A doctor attempts to uncover the identity of a patient who died after she refused her treatment.  


​I, Daniel Blake

​​director: Ken Loach (UK)
Cannes history: Looks and Smiles (1981) - Competition
Hidden Agenda (1990) - Jury Prize
Riff-Raff (1991) - Competition
Raining Stones (1993) - Jury Prize
Land and Freedom (1995) - Competition
My Name is Joe (1998) - Best Actor (Peter Mullan)
Bread and Roses (2000) - Competition
Sweet Sixteen (2002) - Best Screenplay
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) - Palme d'Or
Looking for Eric (2009) - Competition
The Angels' Share (2012) - Jury Prize
Jimmy's Hall​ (2014) - Competition
starring: Hayley Squires, Natalie Ann Jamieson, Dave Johns
release: unknown.

Daniel Blake is a 59-year-old joiner in the North-East of England who falls ill and requires state assistance. While he endeavours to ovecome the red tape involved in getting this assistance, he meets single mother Katie, who, in order to escape a homeless persons' hostel, must take up residence in a flat 300 miles away.


​Graduation

​director/writer: Cristian Mungiu (Romania)
Cannes history: 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (2007) - Palme d'Or
Beyond the Hills (2012) - Best Actress, Best Screenplay
starring: Vlad Ivanov, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Ioachim Ciobanu
trivia: Co-produced by the Dardenne brothers.
release: May 20 (Romania).

"Bacalaureat" is a film about compromises and the implications of the parent's role.   


Slack Bay

​director/writer: Bruno Dumont (France)
Cannes history: Humanity (1999) - Grand Prix
Flandres (2006) - Grand Prix
starring: Fabrice Luchini, Juliette Binoche, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi
release: May 11 (France).

Summer 1910. Several tourists have vanished while relaxing on the beautiful beaches of the Channel Coast. Infamous inspectors Machin and Malfoy soon gather that the epicenter of these mysterious disappearances must be Slack Bay, a unique site where the Slack river and the sea join only at high tide. There lives a small community of fishermen and other oyster farmers. Among them evolves a curious family, the Bréfort, lead by the father nick-named "The Eternal", who rules as best as he can on his prankster bunch of sons, especially the impetuous "Ma Loute", aged 18.


​The Handmaiden

​​director/writer: Park Chan-Wook (South Korea) based on the novel by Sarah Waters
Cannes history: Oldboy (2004) - Grand Prix
Thirst (2009) - Jury Prize
starring: Jung-woo Ha, Min-hee Kim, Jin-woong Jo 
trivia: After Stoker, Park is back to Korean productions.
release: June (South Korea).

An heiress falls in love with a petty thief. A modernized Korean version of Sarah Waters's novel, Fingersmith.


​Julieta

​director/writer: Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)
Cannes history: All About My Mother (1999) - Best Director
Volver (2006) - Best Actress (Penélope Cruz & cast), Best Screenplay
Broken Embraces (2009) - Competition
The Skin I Live In (2011) - Competition
starring: Adriana Ugarte, Michelle Jenner, Rossy de Palma
trivia: As a producer, Pedro was in Competition with Wild Tales (2014).
release: May 18 (France), August 26 (UK).

Julieta lives in Madrid and has just lost her husband Xoan. Her daughter, Antía, has just turned 18 and decides to run away without any explanation. Julieta searches by all means to find her, but the only thing she discovers is how little she knows her daughter.      


​American Honey

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​director/writer: Andrea Arnold (UK)
Cannes history: Red Road (2006) - Jury Prize
Fish Tank (2009) - Jury Prize
starring: Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, McCaul Lombardi
trivia: After winning 2 jury prizes with her first 2 features, Arnold premiered Wuthering Heights in Venice and directed 2 episodes of Transparent.
release: unknown.

A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.


Paterson

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​director/writer: Jim Jarmusch (USA)
Cannes history: Down by Law (1986) - Competition
Mystery Train (1989) - Competition
Coffee and Cigarettes III (1993) - Palme d'Or for Short Film
Dead Man (1995) - Competition
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) - Competition
Broken Flowers (2005) - Grand Prix
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) - Competition
starring: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani, Kara Hayward
release: unknown.
​
Set in the present in Paterson, New Jersey, this is a tale about a bus driver and poet.


​It's Only the End of the World

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​director/writer: Xavier Dolan (Canada) based on the play "Juste la fin du monde" by Jean-Luc Lagarce
Cannes history: Mommy (2004) - Jury Prize
starring: Gaspard Ulliel, Léa Seydoux, Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel, Nathalie Baye
trivia: All Dolan films premiered in Cannes, except Tom at the Farm who also was based on a play.
release: September 21 (Canada, France).

Louis, a terminally ill writer, returns home after a long absence to tell his family that he is dying.


​The Neon Demon

​​director/writer: Nicolas Winding Refn (Denmark)
Cannes history: Drive (2011) - Best Director
Only God Forgives (2013) - Competition
starring: Elle Fanning, Keanu Reeves, Jena Malone, Christina Hendricks
release: June 8 (France, USA), July 8 (UK), August 18 (Brazil).

Jesse, an aspiring model, moves to Los Angeles, where her vitality and youth are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will use any means to get what she has.


​Ma' Rosa

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​​director/writer: Brillante Mendoza (Philippines)
Cannes history: Serbis (2008) - Competition
Kinatay (2009) - Best Director
starring: unkown.
release: unkown.

Not much is known about this film at this point.


Personal Shopper

​director/writer: Olivier Assayas (France)
Cannes history: Les destinées sentimentales (2000) - Competition
Demonlover (2002) - Competition
Clean (2004) - Best Actress (Maggie Cheung)
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) - Competition
starring: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Nora von Waldstätten 
trivia: After winning the César, Stewart reteams with her Sils Maria director. This story reminds me of Assayas' short with Maggie Gyllenhaal in Paris je t'aime.
release: unknown.

A ghost story that takes place in the fashion underworld of Paris.


From the Land of the Moon

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​director/writer: Nicole Garcia (France), co-written with Jacques Fieschi, based on a novel by Milena Agus
Cannes history: 15 Août (1986) - Palme d'Or for Short Film
L'Adversaire (2002) - Competition
Selon Charlie (2006) - Competition
starring: Marion Cotillard, Louis Garrel
release: October 19 (France).

Set after WWII, "Mal de Pierres" ("Mal di Pietre") spans 20 years, following the destiny of a passionate, free-spirited woman who is in a loveless marriage and falls for another man.


​The Last Face

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director: Sean Penn (USA)
writer​: Erin Dignam
Cannes history: The Pledge (2001) - Competition
starring: Charlize Theron, Javier Bardem, Jean Reno, Adèle Exarchopoulos
release: unknown.

A director (Theron) of an international aid agency in Africa meets a relief aid doctor (Bardem) amidst a political/social revolution, and together face tough choices surrounding humanitarianism and life through civil unrest.            


​Elle

director: Paul Verhoeven (Netherlands)
writer​: David Birke based on a novel by Philippe Djian (Betty Blue)
Cannes history: Basic Instinct (1992) - Competition
starring: Isabelle Huppert, Charles Berling, Virginie Efira, Laurent Lafitte
release: May 25 (France).

Michèle seems indestructible. Head of a successful video game company, she brings the same ruthless attitude to her love life as to business. Being attacked in her home by an unknown assailant changes Michèle's life forever. When she resolutely tracks the man down, they are both drawn into a curious and thrilling game that may, at any moment, spiral out of control.


​Loving

​director/writer: Jeff Nichols (USA)
Cannes history: Mud (2012) - Competition
starring: Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Michael Shannon
trivia: Nichols also was in Competition in Berlin this year with Midnight Special.
release: November 4 (USA).

Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple, are sentenced to prison in Virginia in 1958 for getting married.


​Toni Erdmann

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director/writer: Maren Ade (Germany)
Cannes history: none. Berlin Grand Prix for Everyone Else (2009).
starring: Peter Simonischek, Sandra Hüller (Requiem, Amour Fou)
trivia: Germany's back in Competition after Wim Wenders' Palermo Shooting (2008). Ade also co-produced Miguel Gomes' Tabu (2012).
release: unknown.

Without any prior warning, a father pays a visit to his daughter, who's living abroad. He thinks, she might have lost her humor and hits her with a rampage of jokes.


Aquarius

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​director/writer: Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil)
Cannes history: none. Remarked with his directorial debut O Som ao Redor - Neighbouring Sounds (2012).
starring: Sonia Braga (Sex and the City), Jeff Rosick, Irandhir Santos
trivia: Brazil's back in Competition after Walter Salles' Linha de Passe who won Best Actress in 2008.
release: unknown.

Clara, a 65 year old widow and retired music critic is the last resident of the Aquarius, an original two-story building, built in the 1940s, in the upper-class, seaside Avenida Boa Viagem, Recife. All the neighboring apartments have already been acquired by a company which has other plans for that plot. Clara has pledged to only leave her place upon her death, and will engage in a cold war of sorts with the company, a confrontation which is both mysterious, frightening and nerve wracking. This tension gets her thinking about her loved ones, her past and her future.              


​Sieranevada

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​director/writer: Cristi Puiu (Romania)
Cannes history: none. Won the Un Certain Regard Award with The Death of Mr Lazarescu (2005).
starring: Andi Vasluianu, Mimi Branescu, Bogdan Dumitrache
release: unknown.
​
The screenplay focusses on Lary, who goes together with his wife to the memorial meal of commemorating his father who passed away one year before. The entire family gathered and while long waiting for the priest to come, people start talking on different topics, the atmosphere gets tense, the resentments and traumatic memories emerge to the surface.


Staying Vertical

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director/writer: Alain Guiraudie (France)
Cannes history: none. Won Best Director in the Un Certain Regard section with Stranger by the Lake (2013).
starring: Damien Bonnard, Christian Bouillette, Laure Calamy 
release: August 24 (France).

Filmmaker Leo is searching for the wolf in the south of France. During a scouting excursion he is seduced by Marie, a free-spirited and dynamic shepherdess. Nine months later she gives birth to their child. Suffering from post-natal depression and with no faith in Leo, who comes and goes without warning, Marie abandons both of them. Leo finds himself alone, with a baby to care for. It’s not easy, but deep down, he loves it. Through a series of unexpected and unusual encounters, struggling to find inspiration for his next film, Leo will do whatever it takes to stay standing.  ​
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