Cannes-2013-Film-Festival-PosterWith less than a month to go before the festival kicks off out in France, the official line-up has finally been unveiled for this year’s 66th Cannes Film Festival.

The festival is, of course, one of the most prominent events of the year for the industry, with a handful of films launching their status as strong awards contenders out on the Croisette.

Last year, it was Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, Michael Haneke’s Amour, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild. The year before that, it was Michael Hazanavicius’ The Artist, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, and Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris.

This year, Baz Luhrmann’s highly anticipated The Great Gatsby has been chosen as the Opening Night Film for Cannes, following its theatrical release in the US the previous weekend.  And bookending the festival on the opposite end will be Jérôme Salle’s crime-thriller, Zulu, starring Orlando Bloom and Forest Whitaker. And opening the Un Certain Regard category this year will be Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring, led by Emma Watson.

A slew of films have been tipped to be debuting out in Cannes in a month’s time, and this official line-up announcement can put all those rumours to rest.

Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives is finally confirmed to be premiering in France, with Ryan Gosling reuniting with the director once more, following their award-winning Drive, which won Winding Refn the Best Director Award at the 64th Cannes Film Festival back in 2011.

James Gray’s The Immigrant (previously titled ‘Lowlife’) will be making its anticipated debut, featuring one of the finest casts of the festival, led by Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, and Marion Cotillard.

The Coen brothers will be returning to Cannes Film Festival once more this year with their latest feature, Inside Llewyn Davis. The film stars Oscar Isaac in the leading titular role, alongside Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, and Garrett Hedlund.

Steven Soderbergh’s final film, Behind the Candelabra, will be screening in competition, with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon leading the biopic of Liberace (set to debut on HBO on May 26th), along with Roman Polanski’s latest film, La Venus a La Fourrure (a.k.a. Venus in Fur).

After winning an Oscar for co-writing The Descendants’ screenplay, Alexander Payne will be heading to France next month with his anticipated follow-up, Nebraska, which stars Bruce Dern, Will Forte, Stacy Keach, and Bob Odenkirk.

Japanese director Takeshi Miike will be bringing Wara no Tate (a.k.a. Straw Shield) to the festival, with his acclaimed fellow countryman, Hirokazu Koreeda (Still Walking, I Wish), debuting Soshite Chichi ni Naru, as expected.

Oscar-nominated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) returns behind the camera to bring to the Croisette the French film, Le Passé (‘The Past’), starring Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, and Ali Mosaffa.

Debuting Out of Competition will be J.C. Chandor’s anticipated All Is Lost, which sees Robert Redford take the sole role in a film without any dialogue; and Guillaume Canet’s Blood Ties, featuring an all-star cast led by Matthias Schoenaerts, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, Noah Emmerich, and James Caan.

The 66th Cannes Film Festival will be held from 15th to 26th May. As ever, it looks like it’s going to be another terrific year for festivalgoers heading across the Channel. Be sure to let us know what you think of this line-up in the comments below.

 

IN COMPETITION 

Opening Film: Baz Luhrmann – THE GREAT GATSBY

 

Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi – UN CHÂTEAU EN ITALIE

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Arnaud Depallières – MICHAEL KOHLHAAS

Arnaud Desplchin – JIMMY P. (PSYCHOTHERAPY OF A PLAINS INDIAN)

Amat Escalante – HELI

Asghar Farhadi – LE PASSÉ (THE PAST)

James Gray – THE IMMIGRANT

Mahamat-Saleh Haroun – GRIGRIS

Jia Zhangke – TIAN ZHU DING (A TOUCH OF SIN)

Koreeda Hirokazu – SOSHITE CHICHI NI NARU (LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON)

Abdellatif Kechiche – LA VIE D’ADÈLE

Takashi Miike – WARA NO TATE (SHIELD OF STRAW)

François Ozon – JEUNE ET JOLIE

Alexander Payne – NEBRASKA

Roman Polanski – LA VÉNUS À LA FOURRURE

Steven Soderbergh – BEHIND THE CANDELABRA

Paolo Sorrentino – LA GRANDE BELLEZZA (THE GREAT BEAUTY)

Alex Van Warmerdam – BORGMAN

Nicolas Winding Refn – ONLY GOD FORGIVES

 

Closing Film: Jérôme Salle – ZULU

 

 

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Opening Film: Sofia Coppola – THE BLING RING

 

Hany Abu-Assad – OMAR

Adolfo Alix, Jr. – DEATH MARCH

Ryan Coogler – FRUITVALE STATION  (1st Film)

Claire Denis – LES SALAUDS

Lav Diaz – NORTE, HANGGANAN NG KASAYSAYAN (NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY)

James Franco – AS I LAY DYING

Valeria Golino – MIELE  (1st Film)

Alain Guiraudie – L’INCONNU DU LAC

Flora Lau – BENDS  (1st Film)

Rithy Panh – L’IMAGE MANQUANTE

Diego Quemada-Diez – LA JAULA DE ORO  (1st Film)

Mohammad Rasoulof – ANONYMOUS

Chloé Robichaud – SARAH PRÉFÈRE LA COURSE (SARAH WOULD RATHER RUN)  [1st Film]

Rebecca Zlotowski – GRAND CENTRAL

 

 

OUT OF COMPETITION

J.C. Chandor – ALL IS LOST

Guillaume Canet – BLOOD TIES

 

 

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS

Amit Kumar – MONSOON SHOOTOUT  (1st Film)

Johnnie To – BLIND DETECTIVE

 

JERRY LEWIS TRIBUTE

Daniel Noah – MAX ROSE

 

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Stephen Frears – MUHAMMAD ALI’S GREATEST FIGHT

Roberto Minervini – STOP THE POUNDING HEART

Roman Polanski – WEEKEND OF A CHAMPION

James Toback – SEDUCED AND ABANDONED

Cinéfondation: Taisia Igumentseva – OTDAT KONCI (BITE THE DUST)  [1st Film]

 

GALA SCREENING, TRIBUTE TO INDIA

Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar – BOMBAY TALKIES