It looks like it's going to be two exciting weeks on the Riviera during the 78th festival in a row.
From a Swedish perspective, the most interesting thing is that Tarik Saleh's film "Eagles of the Republic" is participating in the competition and fighting against Joachim Trier's film "Sentimental value". Although it's Norwegian, one of the leading roles is played by Stellan Skarsgård. Both Trier and Saleh have previously won prizes in Cannes.
Skarsgård and Gudnason
It's also worth mentioning that Alexander Skarsgård plays a motorcycle gang member with a submissive lover in "Pillion" and that Sverrir Gudnason has a major role in the Icelandic "The love that remains". It's being shown in the sidebar Un certain regard.
The festival has often been criticized for having an overweight of older male directors (symbolized by Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg last year). This year, there are a striking number of female directors. Among others, we find Julia Ducournau with "Alpha", Kelly Reichardt with "Mastermind", and Lynne Ramsey with "Die, my love". Even the opening film, "Partir un jour", is directed by a female director: Amélie Bonnin.
Triple in female debutants
But it's in the sidebar sections that it gets really interesting. Kristen Stewart is debuting as a feature film director with the reality-based "The chronology of water", Scarlett Johansson is doing the same with the drama "Eleanor the great", and Eva Victor, who had one of the leading roles in the TV series "Billions", has directed the drama "Sorry, baby" with herself in the leading role.
The biggest stir will likely be around Tom Cruise and the premiere of "Mission impossible: The final reckoning". The festival organizers like to roll out the red carpet for Hollywood's most famous actors, and from a stir perspective, there's probably nothing bigger than Tom Cruise being here in Cannes.
This year's film festival in Cannes is number 78 in a row. Over 20 films are competing for the Golden Palm, one of the film world's most prestigious prizes. Additionally, a number of new films are being shown in the sidebar sections Un certain regard, Critics' Week, and Director's fortnight.
The chairman of the competition jury is this year the French megastar Juliette Binoche. Other jury members are Halle Berry, Jeremy Strong, Payal Kapadia, and Alba Rohrwacher.
Films to look forward to, apart from those mentioned in the article: Ari Aster's "Eddington", Wes Anderson's "The Phoenician scheme", the Dardenne brothers' "Young mothers", Oliver Hermanus' "The history of sound", as well as the Swedish documentary film "In the head of Bo" by Jon Asp and Mattias Nohrborg, which is being shown in the category Cannes Classics.
