When we think of the Cannes Film Festival the icon that comes to mind is the red carpet. It probably captures more attention than the films themselves. Who doesn’t enjoy a parade of celebrities! HelloMonaco will be there to bring you the news.

And we have to admit after the Red Carpet parade of stars and their stunning outfits we like to settle on the shortest of shortlists of high-profile films that will be released with a bang on the back of their notoriety and publicity at Cannes … those that sweep up the awards or just miss in the process.

In Monaco Grand Prix terms, even though there are many talented and famous racing drivers our eyes are mostly transfixed on Charles Leclerc and Ferrari, Max Verstappen and Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.

But right at the start we do get a chance to see the rich diversity of films and the several categories into which they are grouped to compete.

HelloMonaco will introduce you here as to how it is all organised before everything reduces down to the highlighted winners of the awards. It can be bewildering so let’s get a grasp of how they talk about it:

First there is the “OFFICIAL SELECTION”. It encompasses nearly everything. It serves to highlight the diversity of films through its different sections. The films are screened in world preview showings, meaning it’s often the first time they come under the watchful gaze of a demanding audience made up of professionals and film lovers.

Some sections grant awards, such as the Competition where high-level “mainstream film” works are presented. Then there is “Un Certain Regard” which is a section that recently shifted its focus to return to more experimental up-and-coming directors, and CINEF film school graduate offerings.

But the Official Selection also centers on Out of Competition, Special Screenings, Midnight Screenings, and Cannes Première films, as well as heritage works.

The Out of Competition films are often films that have a big impact on the cinematic calendar, and the Special Screenings and Midnight Screenings represent a special opportunity to view more personal works.

So now you have grasped the essence you will be able to make sense of the large list of films – all important – in the Official Selection below.

The Poster for the Festival

The poster for the Cannes Film Festival has in itself become a magical icon. Huge creative thought goes into it … not as much as designing a Ferrari, of course, but close.

And this year the diva and muse Catherine Deneuve is the chosen model for the poster.

For more than 60 years, the greatest French star has never stopped shooting, reinventing herself, experimenting, daring to do counterintuitive work or first films. An icon who has never stood still and has kept her art alive. Deneuve embodies in her very own way the richness of the cinema that the Festival wants to defend.

Joyful, bold-faced and romantic, a young woman with long blond hair smiles, confidently, at her future. It is a certain form of magic that Catherine Deneuve embodies – pure, incandescent and sometimes transgressive. It is this unspeakable magic that the 76th International Film Festival conveys with this timeless poster. To reiterate the glorious present of cinema and to envisage its future full of promise. Catherine Deneuve stands for what cinema should never stop being: elusive, daring, irreverent. Something self-evident: a necessity.

So now without more ado is the Official Selection:

In Competition

Jeanne Du Barry By Maïwenn – Opening Film Out Of Competition

Club Zero By Jessica Hausner

The Zone Of Interest By Jonathan Glazer

Fallen Leaves By Aki Kaurismaki

Les Filles D’olfa By Kaouther Ben Hania
(Four Daughters)

Asteroid City By Wes Anderson

Anatomie D’une Chute By Justine Triet

Monster By Kore-Eda Hirokazu

Il Sol Dell’ Avvenire By Nanni Moretti

L’été Dernier By Catherine Breillat

Kuru Otlar Ustune By Nuri Bilge Ceylan
(About Dry Grasses)

La Chimera By Alice Rohrwacher

La Passion De Dodin Bouffant By Tran Anh Hùng

Rapito By Marco Bellocchio

May December By Todd Haynes

Jeunesse By Wang Bing

The Old Oak By Ken Loach

Banel E Adama By Ramata-Toulaye Sy | 1st Film

Perfect Days By Wim Wenders

Firebrand By Karim Aïnouz

Black Flies By Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire

Le Retour By Catherine Corsini

Elemental By Peter Sohn – Closing Film Out Of Competition

Un Certain Regard

Le Règne Animal By Thomas Cailley – Opening Film

Los Delincuentes By Rodrigo Moreno (The Delinquents)

How To Have Sex By Molly Manning Walker | 1st Film

Goodbye Julia By Mohamed Kordofani | 1st Film

Kadib Abyad By Asmae El Moudir (The Mother Of All Lies)

Simple Comme Sylvain By Monia Chokri

Crowrã By João Salaviza, Renée Nader Messora (The Buriti Flower)

Los Colonos By Felipe Gálvez | 1st Film (The Settlers)

Omen By Baloji | 1st Film

The Breaking Ice By Anthony Chen

Rosalie By Stéphanie Di Giusto

The New Boy By Warwick Thornton

If Only I Could Hibernate By Zoljargal Purevdash | 1st Film

Hopeless By Kim Chang-Hoon | 1st Film

Terrestrial Verses By Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami

Rien À Perdre By Delphine Deloget | 1st Film

Les Meutes By Kamal Lazraq | 1st Film

Only The River Flows By Wei Shujun

Une Nuit By Alex Lutz – Closing Film Out Of Competition

Out Of Competition

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny By James Mangold

Cobweb By Kim Jee-Woon

The Idol By Sam Levinson

Killers Of The Flower Moon By Martin Scorsese

L’abbé Pierre – Une Vie De Combats By Frédéric Tellier

Midnight Screenings

Kennedy By Anurag Kashyap

Omar La Fraise By Elias Belkeddar | 1st Film

Acide By Just Philippot

Hypnotic By Robert Rodriguez

Project Silence By Kim Tae-Gon

Cannes Premiere

Kubi By Takeshi Kitano

Bonnard, Pierre Et Marthe By Martin Provost

Cerrar Los Ojos By Victor Erice

Le Temps D’aimer By Katell Quillévéré

Perdidos En La Noche By Amat Escalante

L’amour Et Les Forêts By Valérie Donzelli

Eureka By Lisandro Alonso

Special Screenings

Man In Black By Wang Bing

Occupied City By Steve Mcqueen

Anselm By Wim Wenders

Retratos Fantasmas By Kleber Mendonça Filho
(Pictures Of Ghosts)

Little Girl Blue By Mona Achache

Bread And Roses By Sahra Mani

Le Théorème De Marguerite By Anna Novion

As Filhas Do Fogo By Pedro Costa | Short Movie

Strange Way Of Life By Pedro Almodóvar | Short Movie

And If That Were Not Enough There Are Last Minute Additions To The List:

Competition