World cinema heavyweights including China’s Jia Zhangke, Italy’s Paolo Sorrentino and the United States’ Gus Van Sant will compete for prizes at next month’s Cannes Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday.
Stars including Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz, Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender and Benicio del Toro will be on the red carpet — but selfie sticks won’t, if festival bosses have their way.
Cannes director Thierry Fremaux called selfies “ridiculous and grotesque” and said the festival strongly discouraged them.
Fremaux announced 17 films that will be competing at the May 13-24 festival. They include Jia’s “Mountains May Depart,” Sorrentino’s “Youth” — a film about age starring Michael Caine — and Van Sant’s “The Sea of Trees.”
Also in the lineup are films by Italy’s Nanni Moretti, France’s Jacques Audiard, Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien and American Todd Haynes, whose entry “Carol” is a 1950s-set love story between two women starring Blanchett and Rooney Mara.
Cannes organizers have faced criticism for not selecting more films by female directors. For the first time in more than 25 years, this year’s festival will be opened by a film by a woman, French director Emmanuelle Bercot’s drama “La Tete Haute.”
Two more female filmmakers are in competition: Valerie Donzelli with “Marguerite and Julien” and Maiwenn with “Mon Roi” (“My King”). Both directors are French.
Geographically, the entries range from Europe to China, Taiwan, South Korea, the U.S. and Mexico, setting of Denis Villeneuve’s narco-crime drama “Sicario.”
Genres range from drama to martial-arts thriller to science fiction rom-com — in the form of “The Lobster,” a film by Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos that Fremaux called incomprehensible, in a good way.
Fremaux said several more films will be added to the competition before the festival opens.
Films screening out-of-competition include George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” Woody Allen’s “Irrational Man” and Asif Kapadia’s documentary about the late singer Amy Winehouse.
Winners of the Palme d’Or and other prizes will be chosen by a jury led by directors Joel and Ethan Coen.
Here’s a rundown of the Cannes Film Festival lineup:
In Competition
Opening Film
Emmanuelle BERCOT
LA TÊTE HAUTE (STANDING TALL) Out of Competition
Jacques AUDIARD
DHEEPAN (TEMPORARY TITLE)
Stéphane BRIZÉ
LA LOI DU MARCHÉ (A SIMPLE MAN)
Valérie DONZELLI
MARGUERITE ET JULIEN (MARGUERITE AND JULIEN)
Matteo GARRONE
IL RACCONTO DEI RACCONTI (THE TALE OF TALES)
Todd HAYNES
CAROL
HOU Hsiao Hsien
NIE YINNIANG (THE ASSASSIN)
JIA Zhang-Ke
SHAN HE GU REN (MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART)
KORE-EDA Hirokazu
UMIMACHI DIARY (OUR LITTLE SISTER)
Justin KURZEL
MACBETH
Yorgos LANTHIMOS
THE LOBSTER
MAÏWENN
MON ROI
Nanni MORETTI
MIA MADRE
László NEMES
SAUL FIA (SON OF SAUL)
1st film
Paolo SORRENTINO
YOUTH
Joachim TRIER
LOUDER THAN BOMBS
Gus VAN SANT
THE SEA OF TREES
Denis VILLENEUVE
SICARIO
Un Certain Regard
Neeraj GHAYWAN
MASAAN
1st film
Grímur HÁKONARSON
HRÚTAR (RAMS)
KUROSAWA Kiyoshi
KISHIBE NO TABI (JOURNEY TO THE SHORE)
Laurent LARIVIÈRE
JE SUIS UN SOLDAT (I AM A SOLDIER)
1st film
Dalibor MATANIC
ZVIZDAN (THE HIGH SUN)
Roberto MINERVINI
THE OTHER SIDE
Radu MUNTEAN
UN ETAJ MAI JOS (ONE FLOOR BELOW)
OH Seung-Uk
MU-ROE-HAN (THE SHAMELESS)
David PABLOS
LAS ELEGIDAS (THE CHOSEN ONES)
Ida PANAHANDEH
NAHID
1st film
Corneliu PORUMBOIU
COMOARA (THE TREASURE)
Gurvinder SINGH
CHAUTHI KOOT (THE FOURTH DIRECTION)
SHIN Suwon
MADONNA
Alice WINOCOUR
MARYLAND
Out of Competition
Woody ALLEN
IRRATIONAL MAN
Pete DOCTER, Ronaldo DEL CARMEN
INSIDE OUT
George MILLER
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Mark OSBORNE
THE LITTLE PRINCE
Midnight Screenings
HONG Won-Chan
O PISEU (OFFICE)
1st film
Asif KAPADIA
AMY
Special Screenings
Samuel BENCHETRIT
ASPHALTE
Souleymane CISSE
OKA
Elad KEIDAN
HAYORED LEMA’ALA
1st film
Natalie PORTMAN
SIPUR AL AHAVA VE CHOSHECH (A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS)
1st film
Barbet SCHROEDER
AMNESIA
Pavle VUCKOVIC
PANAMA
1st film
