Cannes 2019: The complete list of movies includes usual suspects like Pedro Almodovar and Ken Loach, India draws a blank

The complete list of films to be shown at Cannes Film Festival is out. It includes many of the usual suspects like Pedro Almodovar, Ken Loach, Xavier Dolan among others.

It is popularly said that the French loved loyalty and continuity. Maybe, they do, and the Cannes Film Festival is no exception to this. We have seen Gilles Jacob as the head of the festival for about 25 years, and now, Thierry Fremaux leads Cannes, and he has been at the helm of affairs for many years.

Antonio Banderas stars in Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory.

Similarly, Cannes has its pet directors, who keep returning to the French Riviera every time they have a new movie. This May – with the 12-day festival starting on the 14 – loyalty and continuity are clearly visible in the selections that were announced in Paris on Thursday.

Regulars like Marco Bellocchio will be back for the seventh time in Competition with The Traitor. Cannes’s all-time favourite, Spanish master Pedro Almodovar has his Pain and Glory vying for the Palm ‘d Ór, and so too Ken Loach’s 13th title at the festival, Sorry We Missed You.

There are the other usual suspects: Jim Jarmusch’s opening-night zombie comedy, The Dead Don’t Die, Arnaud Desplechin’s Oh Mercy and Xavier Dolan (just 30, but a member of this elite club) with his Matthias and Maxime. There is also Terrence Malik with his A Hidden Life, a World War II drama centring on religion.

If one were to take into account A Certain Regard, there are 13 movies by women helmers. A couple of years ago, Fremaux was criticised for not including enough women directors.

Unfortunately, there is no entry from India, although several films were sent up. Or, so one is told. Cannes ceased to have any special interest in India many years ago.

Here is a complete list of movies that will play at Cannes running from May 14 to 25. However some additions may happen before the Festival begins.

Competition:Pain and Glory, Pedro AlmodovarThe Traitor, Marco BellocchioWild Goose Lake, Yinan DiaoParasite, Bong Joon-hoYoung Ahmed, The Dardenne BrothersOh Mercy!, Arnaud DesplechinAtlantique, Mati DiopMatthias and Maxime, Xavier DolanLittle Joe, Jessica HausnerSorry We Missed You, Ken LoachLes Miserables, Ladj LyA Hidden Life (previously known as Radegund), Terrence MalikNighthawk, Kleber Mendonca Filho, Juliano DornellesThe Whistlers, Corneliu PorumboiuFrankie, Ira SachsThe Dead Don’t Die, Jim JarmuschPortrait of a Lady on Fire, Celine SciammaIt Must Be Heaven, Elia SuleimanSybil, Justine Triet Out of Competition:Rocketman, Dexter FletcherThe Best Years of Life, Claude LelouchMaradona, Asif KapadiaLa Belle Epoque, Nicolas BedosToo Old to Die Young, Nicolas Winding Refn (TV series screening two episodes)

Special Screenings:Share, Pippa BiancoFamily Romance LLC, Werner HerzogTommaso, Abel FerraraTo Be Alive and Know It, Alain CavalierFor Sama, Waad Al Kateab and Edward Watts

Midnight Screenings:The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, Lee Won-TaeA Certain Regard:Invisible Life, Karim AïnouzBeanpole, Kantemir BalagovThe Swallows of Kabul, Zabou Breitman & Eléa Gobé MévellecA Brother’s Love, Monia ChokriThe Climb, Michael CovinoJoan of Arc, Bruno DumontA Sun That Never Sets, Olivier LaxeChambre 212, Christophe HonoréPort Authority, Danielle LessovitzPapicha, Mounia MeddourAdam, Maryam TouzaniZhuo Ren Mi Mi, Midi ZLiberte, Albert SerraBull, Annie SilversteinSummer of Changsha, Zu FengEVGE, Nariman Aliev

(Gautaman Bhaskaran has covered Cannes for 28 years)

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