Cannes Film Festival 2023; Harrison Ford, Leonardo Di Caprio and Wes Anderson set for debuts this week

Once a year a sleepy town on the French Riviera rolls out the red carpet and braces itself for the arrival of the motion picture industry. As excitement around Cannes Film Festival begins, celebrating the world of celluloid and negotiating distribution deals for some of this year’s biggest features, it also offers a glimpse into what we can expect from major studios through to the more avant-garde filmmakers. 

The Cannes Film Festival started in 1946, and its first edition was held from September 20 to October 5 of that year. The festival was created as a response to the Venice Film Festival, which had become heavily politicized during World War II. Itl quickly became one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world and has since become an important annual event in the film industry.

Many a name has used the festival as a launching point for their career - Quentin Tarantino, who would later become a Cannes Film Festival jury president in 2004, would become a popular name at the festival due to his amalgamation of art-house ideas with a Hollywood budget (after Reservoir Dogs at least) and Kevin Smith first got his start when a certain Miramax executive discovered his debut feature film at the festival. 

Those films that are shown “In Competition,” such as Wes Anderson once again this year (see below), all will compete for the festival’s top prize; the Palme d’Or, which has been the launching pad for many future Oscar-nominated directors, while even picking up the Grand Prix (runner up) or the Jury Prize (third place with distinction) have also helped make future careers, or demonstrate a pivot from performer to director. 

There is a rather large list of films to go through, but PeopleWorld has cast our eyes over the official festival programme to pick out some of our favourites that will be screened at the festival, along with those big blockbuster features we know will already be showing at Cannes 2023 which kicks off on Tuesday May 16.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Perhaps we should thank/blame Tom Cruise for bringing Top Gun: Maverick to Cannes in 2022 which had led to more blockbuster pictures to appear at what was at one stage a traditionally more “art-house”/independent studios affair. Nonetheless, when the offer of Harrison Ford attending a premiere is afforded, we don’t blame Cannes for having it be the platform for the long-awaited Indiana Jones premiere.

Will it do better than The Crystal Skull, which was derided as being unrealistic (for an Indiana Jones film, might we add) and gave us the phrase “fridging?” Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who not only stars in the film but has also assisted penning the story, knows better than to mess with what is more than likely Harrison Ford’s last ride in the fedora

Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese’s much-discussed film has brought together some of his usual suspects; Leonardo Di Caprio (with or without Gigi Hadid in Cannes is yet to be confirmed), Robert De Niro and Jesse Pemons… but the talk of this film happens to be a first-time Scorsese collaborator, Oscar 2023 winner Brendan Fraser.

Based on the best-selling book by David Grann, widely praised by critics, the movie 'Killers of the Flower Moon' takes place in 1920s Oklahoma and tells the story of a series of murders of members of the Osage tribe, who had become wealthy from oil; a string of violent crimes dubbed 'the reign of terror'.

Asteroid City

While Scorsese and James Mangold’s films are being shown out of competition, Wes Anderson might have a chance to pick up his first Palme d’Or after near misses previously with  "Moonrise Kingdom" in 2012, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" in 2014, and "Isle of Dogs" in 2018

It’s such an impressive cast that the official Cannes website doesn’t have a synopsis for the film, but given the cast includes Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Steve Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, and Jeff Goldblum - is a synopsis still necessary?

Yes it is still, Cannes. Yes it is.

The Idol

The artist currently known as The Weeknd teamed up with Euphoria writer Sam Levinson to create this HBO series featuring the musician as a cult leader. It’s been embroiled in controversy before even being screened with some of the scenes viewed as “indecent, “wanton,” and “graphic.” 

All words you expect from an A24 production and perhaps, premiering at Cannes 2023, will have that offbeat, art-house aesthetic and story structure that could have placed it in the Un Certain Regard category. Definitely a highlight for art-house fans of Cannes Film Festival who yearn for the years of Man Bites Dog and early Tarantino features. 

Club Zero

We love to see Australian actress Mia Wasikowska in films, especially in ones that, much like herself, eschew the conventions set forward by Hollywood to differing degrees of success. She teamed up with Austrian director Jessica Hausner, who has been a Cannes Film Festival darling previously, earning the Best Screenplay at the festival for her film "Amour Fou" in 2014.

The synopsis the festival has provided for Club Zero reads: “Miss Novak joins a private high school where she initiates a nutrition course with an innovative concept, shaking up eating habits. Without arousing suspicion from teachers and parents, some students fall under her influence and become part of the tightly-knit circle of the mysterious Club Zero”

The complete list of films featuring at Cannes Film Festival 2023

In Competition

• Anatomie D’une Chute
• About Dry Grasses (Nuri Bilge Ceylan) - Turkey
• Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet) - France
• Asteroid City (Wes Anderson) - United States
• Banel & Adama (CdO) (Ramata-Toulaye Sy) - Senegal
• Black Flies (Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire) - United States
• A Brighter Tomorrow (Nanni Moretti) - Italy, France
• La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher) - Italy, France, Switzerland
• Club Zero (Jessica Hausner) - Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, United Kingdom
• Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismäki) - Finland
• Firebrand (Karim Aïnouz) - United Kingdom
• Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania) - Tunisia
• Homecoming (Catherine Corsini) - France
• Kidnapped (Marco Bellocchio) - Italy
• Last Summer (Catherine Breillat) - France
• May December (Todd Haynes) - United States
• Monster (Hirokazu Kore-eda) - Japan
• The Old Oak (Ken Loach) - United Kingdom, France, Belgium
• Perfect Days (Wim Wenders) - Japan, Germany
• The Pot-au-Feu (Tran Anh Hung) - France
• Youth (Spring) (Wang Bing) - China
• The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer) - United Kingdom, Poland, United States

Un Certain Regard

• The Breaking Ice (燃冬) (Anthony Chen)
• The Buriti Flower (Crowrã) (Joao Salaviza, Renée Nader Messora)
• The Delinquents (Los Delincuentes) (Rodrigo Moreno)
• Goodbye Julia (Mohamed Kordofani) (Sudan, Egypt, Germany, France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia)
• Hopeless (Hwaran (화란)) (Kim Chang-hoon)
• How to Have Sex (Molly Manning Walker) (United Kingdom)
• If Only I Could Hibernate (Zoljargal Purevdash) (Mongolia)
• Les Meutes (Kamal Lazraq) (Morocco)
• The Mother of All Lies (Kadib Abyad) (Asmae El Moudir)
• The Nature of Love (Simple Comme Sylvain) (Monia Chokri)
• The New Boy (Warwick Thornton) (Australia)
• Une Nuit (Alex Lutz) (France)
• Omen (Augure) (Baloji Tshiani) (Belgium, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Only the River Flows (河边的错误) (Wei Shujun) (China)
• Le Règne animal (Thomas Cailley) (France)
• Rien à Perdre (Delphine Deloget) (France)
• Rosalie (Stéphanie Di Giusto) (France)
• Salem (Jean-Bernard Marlin) (France)
• The Settlers (Los Colonos) (Felipe Gálvez) (Chile, Argentina)
• Terrestrial Verses (آیه‌های زمینی) (Ali Asgari, Alireza Khatami) (Iran)

Out of competition

• L'Abbé Pierre – Une Vie de Combats (Frédéric Tellier)
• Cobweb (Geomijib 거미집) (Kim Jee-woon)
• Elemental (closing film) (Peter Sohn)
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (James Mangold)
• Jeanne du Barry (opening film) (Maïwenn)
• Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
• The Idol (Sam Levinson)
• Acide (Just Philippot)
• Hypnotic (Robert Rodriguez)
• Kennedy (Anurag Kashyap)
• Omar La Fraise (Elias Belkeddar)
• Project Silence (Kim Tae-gon)

Special screenings

• Anselm (Das Rauschen Der Zeit) - Wim Wenders (Germany)
• Bread and Roses - Sahra Mani (Afghanistan)
• The Daughters of Fire (As Filhas do Fogo) - Pedro Costa (Portugal)
• Le Théorème de Marguerite - Anna Novion (France)
• Little Girl Blue - Mona Achache (France, Belgium)
• Man in Black - Wang Bing (China)
• Occupied City - Steve McQueen (United States, United Kingdom)
• Pictures of Ghosts (Retratos Fantasmas) - Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brazil)
• Robot Dreams - Pablo Berger (Spain, France)
• Strange Way of Life - Extrana Forma de Vida - Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)