Exciting lineup announced for 2012 Cannes Film Festival

Officials from the Cannes Film Festival have announced the official lineup for the 2012 festival that will take place next month in France, and it’s filled to the brim with directorial talent that has emerged in the past decade. As previously announced, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom will kick things off on opening night. After that will be an In Competition selection that features more American films than usual, but with just one look at the films collected here, you can’t place any blame on the officials for going after unproven work.

For me, leading the way for films vying for the top prize is Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone. Starring Marion Cotillard, this is Audiard’s follow-up to A Prophet, which won the Jury Grand Prize three years ago. There are some big name actors showing off their talents her as well. Brad Pitt is teaming up with Andrew Dominik once again for Killing Them Softly (formerly Cogan’s Trade), previously giving us The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, in which this time around Pitt plays a mob enforcer. Robert Pattinson and Juliette Binoche are two of the bigger names in a pretty stacked ensemble cast for David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, which had another trailer debut today.

Pattinson’s Twilight partner-in-disgusting-and-dangerous-for-your-eyes-romance Kristen Stewart is heading to Cannes as well, starring in the adaptation of On the Road. Meanwhile Tom Hardy, Shia LeBeouf, Gary Oldman, and Jessica Chastain among others star in John Hillcoat’s Lawless, which was previously titled The Wettest County. Hillcoat’s previous two films have been The Road and The Proposition, so this is definitely one to keep an eye out for. Zach Efron’s The Paperboy, helmed by Precious director Lee Daniels, is also making its debut. The list of actors here might cause hesitation for some, but they are all being lead by established directors that have promising futures.

Of all the titles, the biggest and most welcome surprise is Cristian Mungiu’s newest film, Beyond the Hills. Mungiu wrote and directed the outstanding 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 days (won the Palme d’Or five years ago), so I’m trilled what he brings to the table next. The story once again focuses on the friendship of two young women, but it sounds like the viewpoint will be from a completely different angle. Three other big international names of note are in the competition section as well. Michael Haneke follows up The White Ribbon (another top prize winner, three years ago) with Love (Amour) and Abbas Kiarostami follows up Certified Copy with Like Someone in Love. Gomorrah took the festival by storm four years ago, and director Matteo Garrone returns with Reality.

As for the movies not competing for the Palme d’Or, this is where we find more international fare and will likely uncover the festival’s biggest surprises. One film that does stick out, however, is Sundance favorite Beasts of the Southern Wild. I highly question whether the movie will ever catch on with mainstream America, but should fit right in at Cannes. Notably missing from the festival is anything by Terrence Malick, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, and Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines, which teams him up again with Blue Valentine star Ryan Gosling.

Cannes will run from May 16 to the 27th.

Opening Film

• Moonrise Kingdom (dir. Wes Anderson) [Also In Competition]

In Competition

• Rust and Bone (dir. Jacques Audiard)
• Holy Motors (dir. Leos Carax)
• Cosmopolis (dir. David Cronenberg)
• The Paperboy (dir. Lee Daniels)
• Killing Them Softly (dir. Andrew Dominik)
• Reality (dir. Matteo Garrone)
• Love (Amour) (dir. Michael Haneke)
• Lawless (dir. John Hillcoat)
• In Another Country (Da-Reun Na-Ra-E-Suh) (dir. Sangsoo Hong)
• Taste of Money (dir. Sangsoo Im)
• Like Someone In Love (dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
• The Angels’ Share (dir. Ken Loach)
• Beyond the Hills (dir. Cristian Mungiu)
• Baad el Mawkeaa (Apres la Bataille) (dir. Yousry Nasrallah)
• Mud (dir. Jeff Nichols)
• You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet (Vous n’avez encore rien vu) (dir. Alain Resnais)
• Post Tenebras Lux (dir. Carlos Reygadas)
• On the Road (dir. Walter Salles)
• Paradies: Liebe (dir. Ulrich Seidl)
• The Hunt (Jagten) (dir. Thomas Vinterberg)

Un Certain Regard

• Miss Lovely (dir. Ashim Ahluwalia)
• La Playa (dir. Juan Andres Arango)
• Les Chevaus de Dieu (dir. Nabil Ayouch)
• Trois Mondes (dir. Catherine Corsini)
• Antiviral (dir. Brandon Cronenberg)
• 7 Dias en la Habana (dir. Laurent Cantet, Benicio Del Toro, Julio Medem, Gaspar Noe, Elia Suleiman, Juan Carlos Tabio and Pablo Trapero)
• Le Grand Soir (dir. Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern)
• Laurence Anyways (dir. Xavier Dolan)
• Despues de Lucia (dir. Michel Franco)
• Aimer a Perdre la Raison (dir. Joachim Lafosse)
• Mystery (dir. Lou Ye)
• Student (dir. Darezhan Omirbayev)
• La Pirogue (dir. Moussa Toure)
• Elefante Blanco (dir. Pablo Trapero)
• Confession of a Child of the Century (dir. Sylvie Verheyde)
• 11.25 the Day He Chose His Own Fate (dir. Koji Wakamatsu)
• Beasts of the Southern Wild (dir. Benh Zeitlin)

Out of Competition

• Io e Te (dir. Bernardo Bertolucci)
• Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (dir. Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath)
• Hemingway and Gellhorn (dir. Philip Kaufman)

Midnight Screenings

• Dario Argento’s Dracula 3-D (dir. Dario Argento)
• Ai Io Makoto (dir. Takashi Miike)

Special Screenings

• Garbage in the Garden of Eden (Der mull im garten Eden) (dir. Faith Akin)
• Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir (dir. Laurent Bouzereau)
• The Central Park Five (dir. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon)
• Les Invisibles (dir. Sebastien Lifshitz)
• Journal De FranceE (dir. Claudine Nougaret and Raymond Depardon)
• A Musica Segundo Tom Jobim (dir. Nelson Pereira Dos Santos)
• Villegas (dir. Gonzalo Tobal)
• Mekong Hotel (dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

Short Films

• Mi Santa Mirada (dir. Alvaro Aponte-Centeno – Puerto Rico
• Gasp (Souffle) (dir. Eicke Bettinga – Germany
• Ce Chemin Devant Moi (dir. Mohamed Bourokba a.k.a. Hame) – France
• Waiting For P.O. Box (Falastein, Sandouk Al Intezar Lil Burtuqal) (dir. Bassam Chekhes) – Syria
• The Chair (dir. Grainger David) – US
• Night Shift (dir. Zia Mandivwalla) – New Zealand
• Chef De Meute (dir. Chloe Robichaud) – Canada
• Yardbird (dir. Michael Spiccia) – Australia
• Cockaigne (dir. Emilie Verhamme) – Belgium
• Silent (Sessiz-Be Deng) (dir. L Rezan Yesilbas) – Turkey

The Cinefondation Selection

• Behind Me Olive Trees (Derriere Moi Les Oliviers) (dir. Pascale Abou Jamra) – ALBA, Lebanon
• The Barber (Riyoushi) (dir. Shoichi Akino) – Tokyo University of The Arts, Japan
• The Raptures (Les Ravissements) (dir. Arthur Cahn) – La Femis, France
• Slug Invasion (dir. Morten Helgeland) – The Animation Workshop, Denmark
• Tambylles (dir. Michal Hogenauer) – FAMU, Czech Republic
• Matteus (dir. Leni Huyghe) – Sint-Lukas Brussels, Belgium
• The Camp in Razoare (dir. Cristi Iftime) – UNATC, Romania
• The RoadTo (Doroga Na) (dir. Taisia Igumentseva) – VGIK, Russia
• Land (Terra) (dir. Piero Messina) – CSC, Italy
• The Hosts (Los Anfitriones) (dir. MIguel Angel Moulet) – EICTV, Cuba
• The Ballad of Finn + Yeti (dir. Meryl O’Connor) – UCLA, US
• Head Over Heels (dir. Timothy Reckart) – NFTS, UK
• Abigail (dir. Matthew James Reilly) – NYU, US
• Dog Leash (Resen) (dir. Eti Tsicko) – TAU, Israel
• Could See A Puma (Pude Ver Un Puma) (dir. Eduardo Williams) – UCINE, Argentina

Closing Film

• Therese Desqueyroux (dir. Claude Miller)

Which of these titles excite you the most? What do you think of the lineup they have assembled for the festival this year? Are you disappointed something was left out?