"Los abrazos rotos", de Pedro AlmodóvarAs Berlin draws to a close, selectors at the Cannes Film Festival are facing such a deluge of films from the world's greatest auteurs that many will no doubt be rejected from official selection.
The lineup of titles ready for the May 13-24 festival is daunting, and many of the film-makers involved are accustomed to competition slots.
Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces opens in Spain on March 18 and is expected to land on the Croisette for its international premiere as is customary with the Spanish master's past few films.
Lars Von Trier's psychological horror movie Antichrist which features Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg has been getting strong advance word and should secure a competition slot for the 2002 Palme d'Or winner.
Similarly Michael Haneke is primed to return to competition with The White Ribbon featuring his Funny Games star Susanne Lothar. And Quentin Tarantino is working to ready his World War II epic Inglourious Basterds starring Brad Pitt and told in a host of different languages. It opens in the US on August 21.
Two years after The Edge Of Heaven, Fatih Akin is back with Soul Kitchen, Jane Campion, 1993 Palme d'Or winner for The Piano, is back with her Keats romance Bright Star.
And Ang Lee, who hasn't played in competition since 1996, could find a berth with his comic period piece Taking Woodstock which opens in the US on Aug 1.
Other US titles likely to unveil in May include Jim Jarmusch's latest The Limits Of Control featuring Isaach de Bonkole and Todd Solonz's Forgiveness, a follow up of sorts to his Quinzaine 1998 hit Happiness, will be ready with a cast led by Charlotte Rampling and Paul Reubens.
Cannes favourites and Palme d'Or winners the Coen Brothers have a new movie A Serious Man featuring a cast of little known character actors.
Palme d'Or winners Michael Moore (Untitled documentary) and Steven Soderbergh both have new films – Soderbergh actually has two in The Girlfriend Experience and The Informant, while studio tentpoles which could attend include Ron Howard's Angels And Demons which might follow its predecessor The Da Vinci Code to the Croisette in advance of its May 15 worldwide opening.
Other English language titles ready in time include Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus which features Heath Ledger's final performance, Philip Ridley's return to the screen Heartless, Jaco Van Dormael's $50m fantasy Mr Nobody with Jared Leto, Neil Jordan's Ondine with Colin Farrell who could also be Cannes-bound for Danis Tanovic's Triage, and Alejandro Amenabar's ancient Egypt epic Agora.
From the UK comes Cannes favourite Ken Loach with his Looking For Eric starring soccer star Eric Cantona and Andrea Arnold's second feature Fish Tank with Michael Fassbender.
As always, the French contingent is a powerful one. Jacques Audiard should be ready with Un Prophete, Sylvain Chomet with his animated L'Illusioniste, the Larrieu brothers with This Is The End, Bruno Dumont with Hadewijch, Jan Kounen with Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, Claire Denis with White Material (although the fact that it stars jury president Isabelle Huppert could preclude it from competition), Marina de Van with Ne Te Retourne Pas and, if he can complete the special effects in time, Gaspar Noe could return for the first time since he shocked the Croisette with Irreversible in 2002 with Enter The Void.
From Romania, Palme d'Or winner Cristian Mungiu is back with Tales From the Golden Age, a personal history of the late communist period in Romania in six separate stories, two of which he will direct.
From Germany Margarethe Von Trotta returns with Vision – Hildegard Von Bingen which reteams her with Barbara Sukowa. From Australia, Sarah Watt (Look Both Ways) has a new film, My Year Without Sex.
2009 offers a particularly strong lineup of films from Asia led by Park Chan-wook's vampire drama Thirst (Korea), Tsai Ming-Liang's France-set Face (Taiwan), Hirokazu Kore-eda's Air Doll (Japan), Johnnie To's Vengeance (Hong Kong/France) starring French legend Johnny Hallyday, Tian Zhuangzhuang's The Warrior And The Wolf (China), Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's supernatural drama Nymph (Thailand), Bong Joon Ho's Mother (Korea) and Hong Sang-Soo's latest (Korea) which has yet to be titled in English.
The Cannes lineup is announced at a press conference in Paris on April 23.
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A wealth of films are in line for a Riviera visit
BERLIN -- As the industry prepares to say "auf wiedersehen" to Berlin, attention turns to who will be hearing the words: "Bienvenue a Cannes!"
Festival de Cannes reps would never confirm titles before they have been officially announced, but already a long list of near-certainties and strong hopefuls is emerging.
And on the face of it, Cannes selection chief Thierry Fremaux and his counterparts at the various sidebars have a rich choice for the upcoming edition, which bows May 13.
The films tipped as potential openers include Belgian Jaco van Dormael's sci-fi fantasy "Mr. Nobody" starring Jared Leto, Diane Kruger, Sarah Polley and Rhys Ifans, and the documentary about global consumption and its effects on the planet "The Titanic Syndrome," directed by French environmental campaigner and broadcaster Nicolas Hulot.
Fremaux also has a choice of two very distinct movies about fashion icon Coco Chanel: "Coco and Igor," directed by Jan Kounen and starring Anna Mouglalis, which deals with the designer's tempestuous relationship with composer Stravinsky, and which Cannes is said to be "tracking closely"; and "Coco Before Chanel" which stars Audrey Tautou, assuming French distributor Warner Bros. revises its April 22 release date for the film.
Few titles are considered locked at this stage, but one that is said to be assured a place is Johnnie To's thriller "Vengeance," which stars veteran Gallic rocker Johnny Hallyday as a hit man in Hong Kong.
As ever, the Croisette event could offer berths to a raft of familiar faces and previous award winners. The highest profile of these is Cannes' favorite son Quentin Tarantino, who will have to fast track post on his World War II drama "Inglourious Basterds," which recently wrapped shooting here in Germany. But the smart money says he can finish in time.
Among other Palme d'Or winners, Lars Von Trier seems all but certain to present his latest, "Antichrist" starring Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Jane Campion may return, this time with "Bright Star," about the poet John Keats played by Ben Whishaw. Another Palme winner is Ken Loach, whose "Looking for Eric," about French soccer legend Eric Cantona, is a very strong contender given Fremaux's love of the game.
Pedro Almodovar 1950s noir "Abrazos Rotos" (Broken Embraces) starring Penelope Cruz is thought a good bet, following its upcoming release in Spain. Also from Spain, Alejandro Amenabar's historical drama about Egyptian philosopher Hypatia starring Rachel Weisz is considered credible.
Jim Jarmusch, whose Spain-set road movie "The Limits of Control" stars Isaach De Bankole and a slew of star cameos, would no doubt find a competition slot but doubts remain if it will be finished by May.
A major U.S. studio picture may be a harder task, with scant films ready in the right time slot. Forerunner for a Riviera bow seems to be McG's "Terminator: Salvation," which Sony is releasing internationally, though fest organizers might wonder whether star Christian Bale will be able to keep his cool in the pressure of Cannes.
In the absence of a DreamWorks animation this summer, an alternative could be "The Illusionist," directed by Sylvain Chomet ("Belleville Rendezvous"), who adapted the screenplay from an unmade Jacques Tati script. "We're pushing hard for post to be finished in time," a source close to the production said. Another possible animation is Tarik Saleh's "Metropia," a science fiction tale that features the voice talent of Stellan Skarsgard and Juliette Lewis.
Elsewhere, one intriguing selection would be Francis Ford Coppola's drama "Tetro," about an Italian immigrant family, since it would mark a return to the Croisette for Vincent Gallo, this time as an actor, after his ill-starred directorial effort, "The Brown Bunny."
Cannes selectors have a wide choice of Gallic pictures to chose from, with the most tipped being the latest from Xavier Giannoli, Christophe Honore, Bruno Dumont, Marina de Van, Gaspar Noe and Alain Corneau. Seasoned French helmer Claude Miller has two pictures completed, one a drama, the other a documentary about Barack Obama's election campaign, no doubt temptingly topical for Cannes. Claire Denis' drama "White Material" also could find its way in, but not in Competition since it stars Isabelle Huppert, who heads the Cannes jury this year. Also in the running is "Farewell," a KGB thriller from Frenchman Christian Carion starring Guillaume Canet, David Soul and Emir Kusturica.
German offerings include Matthias Glasner's "This Is Love," a hard-hitting look at child prostitution in Thailand from the director of "The Free Will," though it might not be ready in time, and Fatih Akin's "Soul Kitchen" starring Moritz Bleibtreu and Birol Unel ("Head On") looks almost certain, though its status as comedy might push it out of a Competition slot. Among possible Italian inclusions are "Io Sono Amore" (I Am Love) starring Flavio Parenti and Tilda Swinton, and "Il Grande Sogno" (The Great Dream) directed by Michele Placido about the student revolt in Rome in 1968.
From further afield, possibles include Elia Suleiman's drama about the creation of Israel, "The Time That Remains;" and "The Vintner's Luck," a Burgundy-set fantasy drama from New Zealander Niki Caro starring Vera Farmiga and Gaspard Ulliel, if it is finished on time.
British director Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank," a contemporary relationship drama, could be heading for the Certain Regard sidebar. Another possibility is the portmanteau film "New York, I Love You," following the success of its predecessor "Paris, je t'aime" in 2006.
Scott Roxborough and Stuart Kemp contributed to this report.
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