One of the most important events of the summer for cinema, the Cannes Film Festival returns for its 76th edition taking place May 16-17 2023 in France. This year’s confirmed selection so far features plenty of long-awaited features. From Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City to Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, we can’t overstate how the wait for some of these huge titles has been excruciatingly long. This, of course, also includes the festival premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny directed by James Mangold and starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Mads Mikkelsen. The final Indiana Jones adventure and Killers of the Flower Moon will be screening out of competition though. According to Cannes, Apple and Paramount Pictures requested that Martin Scorsese’s latest film not compete for the Palme d’Or.
The last three films to win the Palme d’Or, otherwise known as the festival’s highest prize, were Triangle of Sadness, Titane, and Parasite. Each of those films would go on to achieve landmark success, albeit some in more subtle ways than winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards as filmmaker Bong Joon-ho did. The films competing for the Palme d’Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in 2023 include May/December directed by Todd Haynes (Carol), The Zone of Interest directed by Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin), Monster directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda (Broker), La Chimera directed by Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro), and Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City. Triangle of Sadness director and previous Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund will lead this year’s Cannes competition jury.
Another confirmed premiere that has been stirring up much excitement is Pedro Almodóvar’s new short film Strange Way of Life starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke. The 30-minute queer Western love story is said to be Almodóvar’s answer to the monumental Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain. Meanwhile, the festival’s opening film Jeanne du Barry is somewhat of a controversial choice with it being propped up as Johnny Depp’s “comeback film” following his topical court trial last year. The actor will play King Louis XV with director/co-star Maïwenn playing his mistress Jeanne du Barry, also known as the Comtesse du Barry. Over 2,000 films were screened to get into the final lineup for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
With more line-up announcements expected in the incoming weeks, read on to see the full list of films that have been so far officially selected for the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
Cannes 2023 Official Selections
Opening Night Film
“Jeanne du Barry,” Maïwenn (Out of Competition)
In Competition
“Club Zero,” Jessica Hausner
“The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer
“Fallen Leaves,” Aki Kaurismaki
“Les Filles D’Olfa (Four Daughters),” Kaouther Ben Hania
“Asteroid City,” Wes Anderson
“Anatomie d’Une Chute,” Justine Triet
“Monster,” Hirokazu Kore-eda
“Il Sol dell’Avvenire (The Sun of the Future),” Nanni Moretti
“La Chimera,” Alice Rohrwacher
“About Dry Grasses,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan
“L’Ete Dernier,” Catherine Breillat
“La Passion De Dodin Bouffant (The Passion of Dodin Bouffant),” Tran Anh Hung
“Rapito,” Marco Bellocchio
“May/December,” Todd Haynes
“Firebrand,” Karim Ainouz
“The Old Oak,” Ken Loach
“Banel et Adama,” Ramata-Toulaye Sy
“Perfect Days,” Wim Wenders
“Jeunesse,” Wang Bing
Out of Competition
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese
“The Idol,” Sam Levinson
“Cobweb,” Kim Jee-woon
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” James Mangold
Un Certain Regard
The Delinquents,” Rodrigo Moreno
“How to Have Sex,” Molly Manning Walker
“Goodbye Julia,” Mohamed Kordofani
“The Buriti Flower,” Joao Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora
“Simple Comme Sylvain,” Monia Chokri
“Kadib Abyad (The Mother of All Lies),” Asmae El Moudir
“The Settlers,” Felipe Galvez
“Omen,” Baloji Tshiani
“The Breaking Ice,” Anthony Chen
“Rosalie,” Stephanie di Giusto
“The New Boy,” Warwick Thornton
“If Only I Could Hibernate,” Zoljargal Purevdash
“Hopeless,” Kim Chang-hoon
“Terrestrial Verses,” Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami
“Rien a Perdre,” Delphine Deloget
“Les Meutes,” Kamal Lazraq
“La Regne Animal,” Thomas Cailley
Cannes Premieres
“Le Temps D’Aimer,” Katell Quillevere
“Cerrar Los Ojos,” Victor Erice
“Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe,” Martin Provost
“Kubi,” Takeshi Kitano
Midnight Screenings
“Omar la Fraise,” Elias Belkeddar
“Kennedy,” Anurag Kashyap
“Acide,” Just Philippot
Special Screenings
“Pictures of Ghosts,” Kleber Mendonca Filho
“Anselm,” Wim Wenders
“Occupied City,” Steve McQueen
“Man in Black,” Wang Bing