The monumental film “Megalopolis” by US filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola is in the running for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Festival. “It's a crazy project,” said festival director Thierry Frémaux on Thursday when presenting this year's program about the science fiction film with Adam Driver and Forest Whitaker. Coppola worked for several decades on the film about an architect who wants to rebuild New York as a utopia after a devastating catastrophe.
German films are not represented in the competition this year. In a side series, however, the Canadian-German co-production “Rumours” will be shown, in which the US-Australian actress Cate Blanchett plays the role of EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
The film “The Apprentice” by director Ali Abbasi about the rise of former US President Donald Trump also has a strong connection to current politics. In the competition, French filmmaker Jacques Audiard is showing “Emilia Perez”, a film about a Mexican drug trafficker who decides to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Selena Gomez plays one of the main roles.
The film “Marcello mio” by the French director Christophe Honoré, which is dedicated to the life of the Italian master Marcello Mastroianni, is likely to receive a lot of attention. His daughter Chiara and her mother Catherine Deneuve both play.
The Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov is showing his film “Limonov” in the competition, the story of a Soviet poet who returns to Russia after the end of the Soviet Union and became a political anti-hero there. In a special screening, the Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa is showing “Invasion”, which is about the consequences of the Russian war of aggression.
So far, 19 films are in the running for the Palme d'Or, of which only four are by female filmmakers: the British Andrea Arnold is showing “Bird” with the German actor Franz Rogowski, the French Coralie Fargeat is showing the film “The Substance”. The French filmmaker Agathe Riedinger is represented with “Diamant Brut”, a debut work. The Indian director Payal Kapadia shows “All we imagine as light”. Festival director Frémaux announced that more films could be added to the list in the coming days.
The 77th Cannes Film Festival takes place on the French Mediterranean coast from May 14th to 25th. “Star Wars” inventor George Lucas is to receive the Golden Palm of Honor for his life’s work.
