Once again this year, French films will be strongly represented in the various sections at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

As we all know, French cinema is often acclaimed: it is a key point of reference in the world of auteur filmmaking. The Cannes Film Festival—as a gathering of the big names in French cinema and because of the important role it plays in international co-productions—is the ideal place to gauge the international presence of French films, which are currently more vibrant and broad-ranging than ever. The six French films (including majority-French co-productions) that have been selected in this year's Official Competition demonstrate this once again.

The same can be said of all of the festival's parallel sections, in which French films (including co-productions) dominate the selections. Cannes epitomizes the best of auteur filmmaking each year, so it's not surprising that this year's programs feature established names (Garrel, Ozon, Haneke, Doillon, Cantet, Depardon, Varda, Claire Denis, Dumont), but we also have the chance to discover the work of up-and-coming directors, for whom there are no limits to what the future holds.

All French productions (and co-productions) presented in the four Cannes programs:

Official Selection

Opening Film (Out-of-Competition):

• Les Fantômes d'Ismaël by Arnaud Desplechin

Feature Film Competition:

• L'Amant double by François Ozon (photo)
• Redoubtable by Michel Hazanavicius
• Rodin by Jacques Doillon
• BPM (Beats Per Minute) by Robin Campillo
• Happy End by Michael Haneke
• Une femme douce by Sergei Loznitsa
• Loveless by Andreï Zviaguintsev (minority co-production)
• Vers la lumière by Naomi Kawase (minority co-production)
• In the Fade by Fatih Akin (minority co-production)

Out of Competition:

• Visages, villages by Agnès Varda & JR
• Based on a True Story, de Roman Polanski

Un Certain Regard:

• Barbara by Mathieu Amalric
• Until the Birds Return by Karim Moussaoui
• Jeune Femme by Léonor Serraille
• The Workshop by Laurent Cantet
• After the War by Annarita Zambrano (minority co-production)
• Out by György Kristóf (minority co-production)
• La Belle et la meute by Kaouther Ben Hania (minority co-production)
• La Cordillera, de Santiago Mitre (minority co-production)

Special Screenings:

• Napalm by Claude Lanzmann
• 12 Days by Raymond Depardon
• Demons in Paradise by Jude Ratnam
• The Venerable W., de Barbet Schroeder
• Plot 35, de Éric Caravaca

70th Anniversary Program:

• 24 Frames by Abbas Kiarostami
• Djam, de Tony Gatlif
• Golden Days, de André Téchiné

Midnight Screenings:

• Prayer Before Dawn by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (minority co-production)

Children Screenings :

• Zombillenium, de Arthur de Pins & Alexis Ducord

Short Films - Official Selection:

• Grandpa Walrus by Lucrèce Andreae

Short Films - Cinéfondation:

• À perdre haleine by Didier D. Daarwin
• Deux égarés sont morts de Tommaso Usberti

Directors' Fortnight

Opening Film:

• Let The Sunshine In by Claire Denis

Selection:

• Jeannette: the Childhood of Joan of Arc by Bruno Dumont
• Lover For A Day by Philippe Garrel
• Nottingwood by Sonia Kronlund
• West of the Jordan River by Amos Gitaï
• Just to be sure by Carine Tardieu
• Alive in France by Abel Ferrara
• I Am not a Witch by Rungano Nyoni (minority co-production)
• A Ciambra by Jonas Carpignano (minority co-production)
• Frost by Sharunas Bartas (minority co-production)
• L'Intruse by Leonardo Di Costanzo (minority co-production)
• Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts by Surya Mouly
• Mobile Homes by Vladimir de Fontenay (minority co-production)

Short Film Section:

• Retour à Genoa City by Benoît Grimalt
• Tijuana Tales by Jean-Charles Hue
• La Bouche by Camilo Restrepo

Critics' Week

Opening Film:

• Sicilian Ghost Story by Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza (minority co-production)

Official Competition:

• Makala by Emmanuel Gras
• Ava by Léa Mysius
• Los Perros by Marcela Said (minority co-production)
• Gabriel and the Mountain by Fellipe Barbosa (minority co-production)

Special Screenings:

• A Violent Life by Thierry de Peretti
• Bloody Milk by Hubert Charuel

Short Film Section:

• Le Visage by Salvatore Lista
• The Children Leave at Dawn by Manon Coubia

Short Films (Special Screenings):

• Islands by Yann Gonzalez
• Bad Bunny by Carlos Conceição
• After School Knife Fight by Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel

ACID

Selection:

• Sans adieu by Christophe Agou
• Kiss and Cry by Chloé Mahieu, Lila Pinell
• L'Assemblée by Mariana Otéro
• Before Summer Ends by Maryam Goormaghtigh
• The Starry Sky Above My Head by Ilan Klipper
• Belinda by Marie Dumora
• Last Laugh by Zhang Tao (minority co-production)

Special Screenings:

• Pour le réconfort by Vincent Macaigne

Acid Trip - Serbia:

• Requiem pour Madame J. by Bojan Vuletić (minority co-production)
  
  

Original article on UniFrance.org