78th Cannes Film Festival Lineup - In Progress

Join what many are saying: This year Cannes is Rose! The color suggest so many things but let's choose "mellow" so perhaps there will be no controversies in this edition (I doubt it, lol). In 4 minutes the press conference will be begin, will be back soon after is over.  Actually 2025 signatures have pastel colors rose is one along with light purple, darkish aqua, and light yellow.

Can't say I'm shock with the selection as most movies are by-now familiar to me, is the omissions what is driving me crazy as there are films I was hoping will make it but unfortunately were not mention today. I know that more titles could be added in the following days but usually they add to the Competition, Special Screenings and no perhaps to Premiere but not to UCR; still will not panic until ALL movies are announced and there is at least 3 more weeks where surprises could pop.

Among the more visible omissions we find Father, Mother, Sister, Brother by Jim Harmusch with a stellar cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, and Vicki Krieps; and Silent Friend by Ildiko Enyedi with a superb cast Tony Leung and Léa Seydoux.  Been trying to learn if Kristen Stewart directorial debut is ready or not but couldn't find much info; still if is finished then probably will go to la Semaine due to film kind of experimental style and daring content.

According to Fremaux the selection committee watched 2,909 feature films submissions from some 156 countries and it is a record.  As the number of films in the Official Selection usually do not reach above 70 films means there are a plethora of films to be chosen by the parallel sections; next Monday we will learn la Semaine selection and hopefully on Tuesday, the Quizaine selection. I'm hoping to find there some terrible omissions but then perhaps producers will wait to go to Venice, sigh.

Many cinema pundits were surprised organizers didn't announce opening film before the press conference and I believe the reason why (its not official, it's me using my crystal marketing ball) is a bold move to have in the opening night a first feature from a French director and Fremaux went out of his way to show how relevant is to be this bold. Yes, it is the first time a directorial debut has opened Cannes. The film is Partir un jour by Amélie Bonnin and is a musical, a very French musical with similar style to Jacques Demy's films.

Up-to-today, April 10th, there are 19 films in the Competition and according to Unifrance, thirteen (13) are majority or minority French productions. That's a lot of French movies in the competition.

After director posted on Instagram that his film was accepted in the Out of Competition section, organizers officially announced that film was in the Official Selection; so, since April 10th afternoon, Highest 2 Lowest by Spike Lee is in the official list at the festival's web site. Fremaux claims that they were cautious and wanted to confirm the presence of Denzel Washington for the premiere and now is official Denzel Washington will be in Cannes for the first time ever! That's really unbelievable as the actor has had so many outstanding performances in so many great films. By the way this movie as well as others in the official selection are from Apple and yes, none is competition.

On the lighter note, the selection will allow to have many cinema A-Listers in the red carpet like Emma Mackey, Tahar Rahim, Golshifteh Farahani, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, Valeria Golino, Zoey Deutch, Wagner Moura, Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard, Elle Fanning, Paul Mescal, Josh O'Connor (he is in 2 in competition movies), and there is Wes Anderson movie with many A-listers like Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, Benedict Cumberbach, etc but there is no clue who will be in Cannes.  All these come from the films in competition and yes, there are some really great actors in here BUT most greatness is in films not in Competition.

Perhaps not all walking the main red carpet but surely generating a lot of press coverage are Isabelle Huppert, Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Cécile de France (has 2 films), Tom Cruise, Virginie Efira, Daniel Auteuil, Mathieu Amalric, Diane Kruger, Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Claes Bang, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Xavier Dolan, Alexander Skarsgard, and the biggest of all (according to me) as she is the President of the Jury, Juliette Binoche.

This post will be updated constantly as soon as organizers release new info and will in progress until one day before the festival begins. The festival will run from Tuesday May 13 to Saturday May 24, 2025.

The Official Selection

Competition (Status: April 10, 19 films)

Alpha, Julia Ducournau, France and Belgium
Deux procureurs (Two Prosecutors), Sergei Loznitsa, France, Germany, Romania, Netherlands, Latvia and Lithuania
Dossier 137 (Case 137), Dominik Moll, France
Eddington, Ari Aster, USA and Finland
Fuori, Mario Martone, Italy and France
In die Sonne schauen (Sound of Falling - aka The Doctor Says, I’ll Be Alright But I’m Feelin’ Blue), Mascha Schilinski, Germany
Jeunes mères (The Young Mother's Home), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, France and Belgium
La Petite Dernière (The Last One), Hafsia Herzi, Germany and France
Les Aigles de la République (Eagles of the Republic), Tarik Saleh, Sweden, France and Denmark
Nouvelle Vague (New Vague), Richard Linklater, France
O Secreto Agente (The Secret Agent), Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
ルノワール Renoir, Chie Hayakawa, Singapore and Japan
Romería, Carla Simón,  Spain
Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier, Norway, France, Denmark, and Germany
Sirat, Olver Laxe, France and Spain
The History of Sound, Olver Hermanus, USA
The Mastermind, Kelly Reichardt, USA
The Phoenician Scheme, Wes Anderson, Germany and USA
Un Simple Accident, Jafar Panahi, France and Iran

Out of Competition

Opening Film: Partir un jour (Bye Bye), Amélie Bonnin, France 1st film
Highest 2 Lowest, Spike Lee, USA and Japan
La femme la plus riche du monde (The Richest Woman in the World), Thierry Klifa, France and Belgium
La venue de l'avenir (Colours Of Time), Cédric Klapisch, France
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, Christopher McQuarrie, USA and UK
Vie privée, Rebecca Zlotowski, France

Cannes Premiere

Amrum, Fatih Akin, Germany
Connemara, Alez Lutz, France
Das Verschwinden des Josef Mengele (The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele), Kirill Serebrennikov, France and Germany
La Ola (The Wave), Sebastian Lelio, USA and Chile (musical)
Orwell: 2+2=5, Raoul Peck, USA and France (documentary
Slipsville, Michael Angelo Covino, USA

Special Screenings

Dites-lui que je l'aime, Romane Bohringer, France
Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol (The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol), Sylvain Chomet, Luxembourg, Belgium and France (animation)
Bono: Stories of Surrender, Andrew Dominik, USA (documentary)

Midnight Screenings

Dalloway, Yann Gozlan, France
風林火山 Feng Lin Huo Shan (Sons of the Neon Night), Juno Mak
8番出口 8ban Deguchi (Exit 8), Genki Kawamura, Japan

Un Certain Regard

عائشة لا تستطيع الطيران بعد الآن Aisha Can't Fly Away, Morad Mostafa, France, Germany, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, Tunisia and Egypt 1st film
Eleanor the Great, Scarlett Johansson, USA 1st film
होमबाउंड Homebound, Neeraj Ghaywan, India 1st film
Karavan (Caravan), Zuzana Kirchnerová, Italy, Slovenia and Czech Repuglic  1st film
La Misteriosa Mirada del Flamenco (The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo), Diego Céspedes, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Chile 1st film
Le città di Pianura (The Last One for the Road), Francesco Sossai, Germany and Italy 
L'inconnu de la Grande Arche (The Great Arch), Stéphane Demoustier, France
Météors (Meteors), Hubert Charuel, France
My Father's Shadow, Akinola Davies Jr. UK, Ireland and Nigeria 1st film
حدث ذات مرة في غزة Once Upon a Time in Gaza, Arab and Tarzan Nasser, Palestine, France and Germany 
Pillion, Harry Lighton, Ireland and UK 1st film
سماء بلا أرض Promis le ciel (Promised Sky), Erige Sehiri, France, Tunisia and Qatar
Testa o croce? (Heads or Tails?) Matteo Zoppis and Alessio Rigo de Righi, USA and Italy
The Plague, Charlie Polinger, USA 1st film
遠い山なみの光 Toi Yamanami no Hikari (A Pale View of Hills), Kei Ishikawa, Japan
Urchin, Harris Dickinson, UK 1st film

1st film - Competing for Camera d'Or

As soon as info, trailers, and film stills appear will post them and get the links in this post. If you wish to check the list at the festival official site go here, their list will be constantly updated too.