After a sumptuous 2019 vintage, whose notes lasted right up until the recent Oscar Awards with the triumph of the Palme d’Or picture Parasite by South Korea’s Bong Joon Ho, the Cannes Film Festival is soon to decant the programme of its 73rd edition, scheduled to unspool between 12 – 23 May 2020. Only two things are known for sure so far: American filmmaker Spike Lee will preside over the Official Competition jury (read our news) and Cannes selector Thierry Frémaux will have a very wide range of films and talented applicants to choose from (which isn’t to say we won’t enjoy a few surprises). An overview of these contenders seems fitting, before they officially enter into the swirling mass of films that will be battling it out in the selection process for their place in the sun, atop the Mount Olympus of world auteur cinema that is the Cannes Film Festival.

At the forefront of these contenders are three filmmakers already in possession of a Palme d’Or: Italy’s Nanni Moretti, who’ll be staking his bets on Tre piani [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] and France’s Laurent Cantet brandishing Arthur Rambo [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Laurent Cantet
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Standing tall amongst the filmmakers having already triumphed in Cannes, we find Japan’s Naomi Kawase with her title True Mothers, Denmark’s Thomas Vinterberg with offering Another Round [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Acho…
scheda film], and France’s Bruno Dumont with On a Half Clear Morning [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bruno Dumont
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intervista: Xavier Beauvois
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scheda film]  respectively. For the record, the potential inclusion of American director Sofia Coppola in the competition, with On The Rocks, is contingent on her film being released in French cinemas (a precondition for all works in contention for the Palme d’Or) since the film is produced by the Apple platform.

In terms of filmmakers having already participated in the competition on the Croisette, notable names include American director Wes Anderson with The French Dispatch [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (and the coupling of two stars, Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver), alongside his compatriots François Ozon with Summer of 85 [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Nicole Garcia
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intervista: Stéphane Brizé
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intervista: Xavier Giannoli
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scheda film]. There’s also Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov with Petrov’s Flu [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kornél Mundruczó e Kata Wé…
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intervista: Ulrich Seidl
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intervista: Daniele Luchetti
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The most serious contenders for a first possible outing to the French festival’s competition notably include Hungary’s Ildikó Enyedi with The Story of My Wife [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ildikó Enyedi
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intervista: Mia Hansen-Løve
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intervista: Danielle Arbid
scheda film], and even Israeli director Nadav Lapid with Ahed’s Knee [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Nadav Lapid
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There’s no shortage of talent in terms of European productions hoping for a Cannes premiere, as proven by the three Italian titles Il buco [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Michelangelo Frammartino
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intervista: Susanna Nicchiarelli
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intervista: Tomasz Wasilewski
scheda film] by Poland’s Tomasz Wasilewski, The Girl and the Spider [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ramon Zürcher e Silvan Zür…
scheda film] by Swiss director Ramön Zurcher, The Last Ones [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Veiko Õunpuu
scheda film] by Estonia’s Veiko Õunpuu, The Innocents [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Eskil Vogt
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intervista: Anders Ølholm e Frederik L…
scheda film] by Danish directors Danois Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Ølholm, The Europeans by Spanish filmmaker Víctor García León and the English-language feature Nobody Has to Know [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bouli Lanners
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Likewise impossible to ignore are Amira by Egyptian director Mohamed Diab, Memory Box [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil …
scheda film] by Lebanese filmmakers Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, The Man Who Sold His Skin [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Kaouther Ben Hania
scheda film] by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania (news), A Story of Love and Desire [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by her compatriot Leyla Bouzid, Casablanca Beats [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by the Israeli Nir Bergman, Shake Your Cares Away by his fellow countryman Tom Shoval and Mainstream by American director Gia Coppola.

On the French side of the starting blocks, over and above the names already mentioned, we find Onoda – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Arthur Harari
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intervista: Quentin Dupieux
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intervista: Emmanuel Mouret
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intervista: Emmanuel Carrère
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Other stand-out productions of French origin include Madame Claude [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Florence Gastaud
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intervista: Rachel Lang
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intervista: Elie Wajeman
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intervista: Antoine Barraud
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In terms of the ever-highly disputed category of first feature films, we find, amongst others, The Drover’s Wife by Australian director Leah Purcell, Skies of Lebanon [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Vincent Le Port
scheda film] by her compatriot Vincent Le Port, The Third War [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Giovanni Aloi
scheda film] by Italy’s Giovanni Aloï, Natural Light [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dénes Nagy
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intervista: Just Philippot
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intervista: Rana Kazkaz e Anas Khalaf
scheda film] by the duo of Syrian origin Rana Kazkaz and Anas Khalaf, Hatching [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Hanna Bergholm
scheda film] by Finnish filmmaker Hanna Bergholm, Beginning [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Dea Kulumbegashvili
scheda film] by Georgia’s Dea Kulumbegashvili, Unclenching The Fists [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Fanny Liatard e Jérémy Tro…
scheda film] by the duo composed of Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, Rascal [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Peter Dourountzis
scheda film] by Peter Dourountzis, The Heroics [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Maxime Roy
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intervista: Nicolas Maury
intervista: Nicolas Maury
scheda film] by Nicolas Maury. Alongside them are The Hill Where Lionesses Roar [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Luana Bajrami
scheda film] by the French-Kosovan Luàna Bajrami, Apples [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Christos Nikou
scheda film] by Greece’s Christos Nikou, Libertad [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Clara Roquet
scheda film] by Spanish director Clara Roquet, Bootlegger by Canada’s Caroline Monnet, Sans Soleil by Belgian filmmaker Banu Akseki and Moneyboys [+leggi anche:
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intervista: C.B. Yi
scheda film] by China’s C.B Yi.

Last but not least, bumping up against others on the documentary side are The Brain [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Swiss director Jean-Stéphane Bron, and French titles A Story of One's Own [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Amandine Gay and Bigger Than Us [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Flore Vasseur, while animations include Where is Anne Frank? [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ari Folman
scheda film] by Israel’s Ari Folman and The Crossing [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Florence Miailhe.

Possible films? Probable films? Amongst these many indications (which films will be ready in the spring? Who made them? Who is selling them?), and the suppositions that are cranked out by prognosticators-come-bar-room-philosophisers in the field of world cinema before the sword of selection finally falls, we also find, among various other hopes and dreams, that of discovering Tenet [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by American director Christopher Nolan.