A Woman’s Life by Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
Official Selection – In Competition
In Anaïs in Love (Critics’ Week 2021), the director filmed Anaïs Demoustier, a volatile and hedonistic PhD student as she experiences romantic awakenings. Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet, now makes her Competition debut, with the portrayal of another female character. In A Woman’s Life, Léa Drucker plays Gabrielle, a hospital surgeon so devoted to her work that she neglects her private life. Her daily life goes off the rails the day that a novelist (Mélanie Thierry) becomes involved in her department for the purposes of a book… Heroines grappling with conflicting expectations, torn between freedom and convention, the film has everything to win us over. Scheduled for release on 9th September.
La Bola Negra by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo
Official Selection – In Competition
In late 2024, Arte broadcast a Spanish series of called La Mesías. This bold series tells the story of a mother and her children’s descent into an ultra-Catholic sect, from the 1980s to the 2010s. A show that evokes gloom, madness and flamboyancy all at once. Behind the camera is a Madrid-based duo unknown to French audiences, nicknamed ‘Los Javis’ in their home country. Masters in the art of blending kitsch and sacred, the filmmakers make a striking debut in the Competition with this film starring Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close. Three eras (1932, 1937 and 2017) are revisited in La Bola Negra, through the destinies of three men, linked by ‘an invisible thread’.
Coward by Lukas Dhont
Official Selection – In Competition
Three films and three selections at Cannes. That is the record set by the young Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont. In 2018, Girl, his debut feature, was selected for Un Certain Regard and walked away with the Golden Camera. In 2022, Close shared the Grand Prize in the Official Competition. This bodes well for Coward, which is in the running for the Palme d’Or this year. Here, the filmmaker tells the story of two Belgian soldiers during the First World War. In an attempt to boost the morale of the troops’, they stage a play. Two unknown actors, Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne, take the lead in this feature film, which we imagine to be a reflection on art as a form of resistance.
All of a Sudden by Ryūsuke Hamaguchi
Official Selection – In Competition
We first came across this Japanese director in 2018 (his film Asako I & II featured on our cover, and was his first to be selected at Cannes). In 2021, his brilliant Drive My Car won Best Screenplay at Cannes. In 2023, his equally outstanding Evil Does Not Exist was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Venice. We can’t wait for his new feature, titled simply All of a Sudden, his first in French. Being a fan of Éric Rohmer, one can imagine what an achievement this must be. Virginie Efira plays the director of a care home in the Paris suburbs. Her life is thrown into turmoil when she meets a terminally ill Japanese playwright (Tao Okamoto). Scheduled for release on 12th August.
The Unknown by Arthur Harari
Official Selection – In Competition
The vibrant and distinctive films Dark Inclusion (2016) and Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (2021) by the same director, had already left a lasting impression on us. Arthur Harari confirmed his talent by co-writing the screenplay for Justine Triet’s highly acclaimed Palme d’Or-winning film Anatomy of a Fall. Three years later, here he is, competing for the first time with a film he has directed. Co-written with his brother Lucas Harari (Sarbacane, 2024), it is an adaptation of the graphic novel The Case of David Zimmerman. It tells the story of a lonely 40-year-old photographer, who dragged to a party by his friends, becomes fascinated by a woman he meets. The next day, he wakes up in the body of this stranger. The cast (Léa Seydoux and Niels Schneider) completes the picture.
Another Day by Jeanne Herry
Official Selection – In Competition
In her previous three feature films, Jeanne Herry has built an impressive career, with films featuring tightly crafted screenplays that tackle social issues with great insight: parasocial relationships in Number One Fan (2014), adoption in In Safe Hands (2018) and restorative justice in All Your Faces (2023). Another Day marks her first selection at Cannes and reunites her with Adèle Exarchopoulos (winner of a César in 2024 for All Your Faces). Spanning over eight years, this epic story examines the struggles of a young actress grappling with her alcohol addiction. Scheduled for release on 23rd September.
Nagi Notes by Kōji Fukada
Official Selection – In Competition
Yoriko, an artist living in Nagi, a remote village in the mountains of western Japan, is reunited with Yuri, her brother’s ex-wife, an architect who has come to model for a sculpture. At the same time, we follow two young boys from Nagi, Keita and Haruki, one of whom is about to leave town… We can’t wait to see how Kōji Fukada, who often portrays communities impacted by the arrival of mysterious individuals (Harmonium, 2017; Hospitality, 2021), will revisit this theme. Nagi being a military base, we predict a deep reflection on art and the disruptive effect of war.
A Man of His Time by Emmanuel Marre
Official Selection – In Competition
In his very first short and medium-length films (Le Film de l’été, 2018, and Castle to Castle, 2019), Emmanuel Marre had already revealed his naturalistic style and insight. He transitioned brilliantly to feature-length with Zero Fucks Given (2022), co-directed with Julie Lecoustre (in which Adèle Exarchopoulos is totally spot-on as a low-cost airline stewardess). Set in September 1940, A Man of His Time isa complete change of scenery. It follows Henri Marre (Swann Arlaud), the author of a manuscript, who arrives in Vichy in the hope of catching the attention of the collaborationist regime. The filmmaker has us thoroughly intrigued with this character who carries a dark past and bears the director’s name.
Fjord by Cristian Mungiu
Official Selection – In Competition
This filmmaker, who won an award in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, makes his debut outside Romania. We adore his blend of simmering tension, mystery and sequence shots. Set in the Norwegian fjords, it tells the story of two neighbouring families, whose relationship turns sour when teachers discover bruises on one of the children. The cast brings together Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve, winner of Best Actress at Cannes for The Worst Person in the World in 2021, and Romanian-American actor Sebastian Stan, known for his roles in the Marvel movies and as Donald Trump in The Apprentice, bald for the part. How exciting! Scheduled for release on 19th August.
The Birthday Party by Léa Mysius
Official Selection – In Competition
Following two acclaimed feature films (Ava at the 2017 Critics’ Week and The Five Devils at the 2022 Directors’ Fortnight), Léa Mysius enters the Competition with this adaptation of Laurent Mauvignier’s novel of the same name. In a rural village, a couple and their daughter prepare to celebrate a birthday. But the mother’s troubled past resurfaces as night falls… A fan of genre cinema, Léa Mysius is likely to give this social thriller an imaginative edge. It features a stellar cast of Hafsia Herzi, Bastien Bouillon, Benoît Magimel and Monica Bellucci. Scheduled for release on 16th September.
The Man I Love by Ira Sachs
Official Selection – In Competition
Our beloved Ira Sachs finally makes it in the Cannes Competition with a musical set in 1980s New York, during the AIDS era. Rami Malek, who won an Oscar for his role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, and Rebecca Hall, share the lead roles. The story centres on Jimmy George, an artist torn between love and his dark side, haunted by illness and death. We can draw clear parallels with Sachs’s previous film, Peter Hujar’s Day starring Rebecca Hall– not yet released in France – and which focuses on a day in the life of New York photographer Peter Hujar, who died of AIDS in 1987.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma by Jane Schoenbrun
Official Selection – Un Certain Regard
Coming to prominence in 2024 with their second thrilling and haunting feature I Saw the TV Glow, non-binary filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun arrives in Cannes in the Official Selection with theexciting Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. Hannah Einbinder (brilliant in the series Hacks), plays the part of a queer director tasked with directing the latest instalment of a slasher franchise. They obsess with casting the actress who played the final girl in the original film and now lives as a recluse (played by Gillian Andersorfn, the heroine of the seriesthat Schoenbrun adored as a teenager). And, to top it all off, Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby) is in the cast.
Le Vertige and Full Phil by Quentin Dupieux
Directors’ Fortnight and Official Selection – Midnight Screenings
Surprise! Quentin Dupieux has two films selected this year. In Full Phil, on at the midnight screenings, he directs a wealthy American industrialist (Woody Harrelson) seeking to reconnect with his daughter, Madeleine (Kristen Stewart), in Paris, against a backdrop of French gastronomy. With Le Vertige, in the Directors’ Fortnight, he ventures into animation, using 3D and motion capture. Alain Chabat, Jonathan Cohen and Anaïs Demoustier have lent their voices and faces to the characters. They learn an unsettling truth: humanity is living in a simulated reality. Fans of The Sims will get their money’s worth.
Species by Marion Le Corroller
Official Selection – Midnight Screenings
Previously, this French director has directed short films that will undoubtfully appeal to fans of body horror, such as Poupée fondue, about a reality TV star addicted to cosmetic surgery who sets out to rediscover her true self, and Dieu n’est plus médecin, about a young trainee doctor who starts sweating blood. Her first feature film, follows once more, a trainee doctor in A&E, faced with unexplained symptoms. Could this be the new Coralie Fargeat, whose film The Substance caused a real stir in Cannes in 2024? Both films share the same special effects make-up artist, the brilliant Pierre-Olivier Persin, who’d created the utterly disgusting prosthetics for the creature Monstro Elisasue. Scheduled for release on 28th October.
Roma Elastica by Bertrand Mandico
Official Selection – Midnight Screenings
Marion Cotillard and Noémie Merlant star in a film by the director of the baroque, dreamlike and operatic The Wild Boys and Apocalypse After? And that’s enough to whet our appetite! The story transports us to Rome in the 80s, where an actress is shooting her very last film. We trust Mandico will unearth some obscure cinematic references and breathe new life into them, as well as discussing the current status held by actresses today, a theme he had already explored in his previous film, She Is Conann. Following Lucile Hadžihalilović’s strange The Ice Tower (2025), Marion Cotillard is making increasingly adventurous choices, and we love it!
Jim Queen by Nicolas Athané and Marco Nguyen
Official Selection – Midnight Screenings
By imagining the sudden threat of a dangerous STI called heterosis, Jim Queen paints a picture of the different facets of the gay community (gym queens, twinks, bears, fetishists…). Jim Queen (played by Alex Ramirès), influencer and king of the gym, is totally appalled to discover he has symptoms. Lucien (played by Jérémy Gillet, one of our ‘25 Under 25’ this year), is a twink who’s just joined the community and is his biggest follower. Fortunately, he will help him find a cure… Known for the series The Wakos, this is animation studio Bobbypills’s debut feature film. With its trashy humour and total campness, wepredict it’ll blow Cannes’ selection away in the Midnight Screenings.
Dora by July Jung
Directors’ Fortnight
We are particularly drawn to the melancholic and delicate style of South Korean filmmaker July Jung. She has already given us two unique coming-of-age stories, both starring the excellent Bae Doo-na: A Girl at My Door (2014) and Next Sohee (2023). We were blown away by the modernity of her female characters and have high hopes for this film. Dora tells the story of a young girl suffering from an illness that causes her both mental and physical pain. When she falls in love, she starts to see the glimmer of a hope of recovery. Previously seen in films by Hirokazu Kore-eda and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, the film stars Japanese actress Sakura Andō.
Thanks for Coming by Alain Cavalier
Directors’ Fortnight
‘The final episode of Alain Cavalier’s filmed diary’, bluntly states the synopsis of this intriguing documentary. For over fifty years, the French filmmaker and brilliant diarist, has captivated us with his first-person narratives. One remembers Ce répondeur ne prend pas de messages (1979), in which he covered the walls of his flat in black, creating a tomb effect to help him cope with the loss of his wife. Or his latest documentary L’Amitié (2023), which pays tribute to three of his great friends: Boris Bergman, Maurice Bernart and Thierry Labelle. With its mischievous and provocative title, Thanks for Coming promises to be a (pretend) farewell to cinema.
Shana by Lila Pinell
Directors’ Fortnight
In Shana, Lila Pinell reunites with Eva Huault, having revealed her in her medium-length film Le Roi David, winner of the 2021 Jean-Vigo Prize. In this debut feature film, the actress plays a kind of struggling princess who faces many challenges: her grandmother has just died and her toxic ex has been released from prison… Fortunately, her girlfriends are there for her. With a background in documentary – with Kiss & Cry, presented at ACID in 2017 – Lila Pinell has a gift for naturalistic dialogue, absurd situations and larger-than-life characters. We can’t wait to meet Shana, who may become our new modern-day hero. Scheduled for release on 17th June.
Fuel Oil in the Arteries by Pierre Le Gall
Critics’ Week – Special Screenings
The screenwriter of the short film Les Belles Cicatrices, part of the Official Selection at Cannes 2025 and nominated for a César in 2026, makes the leap to feature-length with a pitch and a cast that immediately grabbed our attention. Actor Alexis Manenti, that we adored in Iris Kaltenbäck’s The Rapture and Frédéric Farrucci’s The Mohican, plays a lorry driver with a string of fleeting anonymous encounters, until he meets a Polish lorry driver… The director grew up opposite an A-road, and is sure to enthral us with this romantic elopement set in a rarely filmed environment.
La Gradiva by Marine Atlan
Critics’ Week – In Competition
Marine Atlan is a brilliant DOP known for her sumptuous imagery and is in high demand among young auteurs (Alexis Langlois, Iris Kaltenbäck, Louise Hémon, Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel). She is also the director of evocative short films such as Daniel (2018). She now presents her first feature film at the Critics’ Week, which focuses on a group of French high school students on a school trip to Naples visiting the ruins of Pompeii. When she received the Gan Foundation Prize in 2024, she confided in us her desire to develop the form of her narrative and “embrace melodrama” in the style of Douglas Sirk or Guy Gilles. We simply cannot wait to see it!
Tin Castle by Alexander Murphy
Critics’ Week – In Competition
We first discovered this promising Franco-Irish filmmaker with his debut documentary released last February, Goodbye Sisters, in which four close-knit Nepalese sisters set off on their own paths. He’s now been selected for his second film for the Critics’ Week, which also follows a family, in Ireland this time. The O’Reillys, a couple and their ten children, live in an old caravan in the middle of the fields and face eviction. We expect a vibrant insight into the life and traditions of these Irish Travellers.
Her Private Hell by Nicolas Winding Refn
Official Selection – Out of Competition
The Danish filmmaker, whose radical and experimental style can be as fascinating as it is irritating, makes his grand return to the big screen. This comes ten years after his dark and unsettling The Neon Demon, and following a detour in to television (with Too Old To Die Young in 2019 and Copenhagen Cowboy in 2023). In Her Private Hell, a mysterious mist descends upon a futuristic metropolis, unleashing a deadly presence. A young woman sets out in search of her father, whilst an American GI desperately tries to save his daughter from this hell. One senses that this film, starring the highly promising Charles Melton (May December) and Sophie Thatcher (Heretic), is set to make a racket.
Summer Drift by Céline Carridroit and Aline Suter
ACID
Some films we know almost nothing about, yet their pitch and first images we find captivating. We’re very keen to discover this Franco-Swiss documentary at ACID, the most pioneering of Cannes’ parallel selections. Summer Drift is about a woman who assembles watches in a factory in Geneva and decides, one summer, when she doesn’t go on holiday, to restore her old Beetle to ‘confront the world of mechanics that rejected her’. We expect a bright, feminist, experimental film, full of intimate and political twists and turns.
Rewind Barcelona by Paul Nouhet
ACID
Rewind Barcelona by Bordeaux-based Paul Nouhet, also in the ACID selection, is another synopsis with a catchy title, that has us excited. We will let you be the judge: ‘The summer they turn 18, for their first holiday together as mates, Émile, Paul, Hascoët and Léo, set off for Barcelona, the Mecca of skateboarding. Ten years later, they get in touch and reminisce.’ A film we hope will sit somewhere between Éric Rohmer’s cinema and that of Harmony Korine. Starring Billie Blain, who is part of this year’s ‘25 Under 25’ list.
