Screen staff preview each of the titles in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section, which this year includes films from Kristen Stewart, Scarlett Johansson, Akinola Davies Jr and Harris Dickinson. The festival runs May 13-24.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away (Egy-Fr-Ger-Tun-Saudi-Qat-Sud)
Dir. Morad Mostafa
The debut feature of 2023 Screen International Arab Star of Tomorrow Mostafa has already been on an impressive journey, winning awards at Venice’s Final Cut, Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Lodge and Marrakech’s Atlas Workshop, with further backing from the Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund and Qatar’s Doha Film Institute. Egypt’s first Un Certain Regard film in nine years, this thriller follows a young woman whose precarious job as a caretaker forces her to rely on a local gang leader for protection. Buliana Simon leads the cast, with Egyptian rapper Ziad Zaza making his feature film debut.
Contact: MAD World
Caravan (Cze-Slovakia-It)
Dir. Zuzana Kirchnerova
This road movie about a woman who steals an old caravan and takes her intellectually disabled son on a journey through Italy marks the first time in more than 30 years that a majority Czech feature has played in official selection. Kirchnerova’s short Baba won the Cinéfondation prize for best short film at Cannes in 2009. Caravan, which participated in TorinoFilmLab’s 2020 FeatureLab programme, is produced by Dagmar Sedlackova of Prague-based MasterFilm, with Slovakia’s Nutprodukcia and Italy’s Tempesta as co-producers.
Contact: Alpha Violet
The Chronology Of Water (US-Fr-Lat)
Dir. Kristen Stewart
The US actress moves behind the camera with an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch’s bestselling memoir. Co-written with Andy Mingo, the film stars Imogen Poots as a swimmer turned artist who finds refuge in literature while navigating a traumatic childhood. The cast also features Thora Birch, Earl Cave, Michael Epp, Susannah Flood, Kim Gordon and Jim Belushi. The film is produced by France’s CG Cinéma International, Forma Pro Films and Scott Free, with Stewart also producing through her Nevermind Pictures. Stewart’s short Come Swim played in Special Screenings in 2017.
Contact: Alice Lesort, Les Films du Losange (international); WME Independent (North America)
Eleanor The Great (US)
Dir. Scarlett Johansson
Busy A-lister Johansson, who is among the cast on Competition entry The Phoenician Scheme, makes her feature directing debut with a drama starring June Squibb, the lead in last year’s Thelma. It follows Eleanor, a straight-talking nonagenarian who relocates from Florida after a devastating loss to live with family in New York, and must reckon with the consequences when she tells a story about her past. Sony Pictures Classics holds US rights to the drama from Maven Pictures, Wayfarer Studios and Pinky Promise.
Contact: Sony Pictures Releasing International
The Great Arch (Fr-Den)
Dir. Stéphane Demoustier
This 1980s-set saga is about an unknown Danish architect thrust into the spotlight when he is tasked with building France’s famed La Defense structure, as the political and economic stakes mount. The international cast includes Claes Bang, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Xavier Dolan and Swann Arlaud. Paris-based Agat Films — Ex Nihilo produces with Denmark’s Zentropa Entertainment. This is Demoustier’s fifth feature and his Cannes debut.
Contact: Romain Rancurel, Le Pacte
Heads Or Tails? (It)
Dirs. Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis
Italian American directors de Righi and Zoppis appear in Cannes’ official selection after premiering documentary-drama hybrid The Tale Of The King Crab in Directors’ Fortnight in 2021. Set against the backdrop of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show tour of Italy in the early 20th century, the story turns on two young lovers on the run in the Italian wilderness after a murder. John C Reilly stars as Buffalo Bill, alongside France’s Nadia Tereszkiewicz (Forever Young) and Italy’s Alessandro Borghi (The Eight Mountains).
Contact: Fulvio Firrito, Rai Cinema International Distribution
Homebound (India)
Dir. Neeraj Ghaywan
Ten years after his debut Masaan played in Un Certain Regard and won the Fipresci prize, Ghaywan returns with his second feature. The story follows two friends whose bond is tested when they both chase a job with the police force. The cast is led by Bollywood stars Ishaan Khatter (seen opposite Nicole Kidman in Netflix series The Perfect Couple), Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor. Producers are Karan Johar, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta & Somen Mishra for Dharma Productions, with co-producers Marijke deSouza and Melita Toscan Du Plantier. Martin Scorsese has boarded the film as exec producer.
Contact: Abraham Bengio, WME Independent (North America); Alexandre Moreau, Paradise City Sales (rest of world)
I Only Rest In The Storm (Por-Fr-Bra-Rom)
Dir. Pedro Pinho
Portuguese director, cinematographer and editor Pinho was last on the Croisette with his 2017 feature debut The Nothing Factory, which played in Directors’ Fortnight and took the Fipresci prize. He follows that up with I Only Rest In The Storm, the story of a Portuguese man working for an NGO in west Africa who becomes embroiled with two local residents. The film is produced by Portuguese outfits Terratreme Filmes and Uma Pedra No Sapato in co-production with France’s Still Moving, Romania’s deFilm and Brazil’s Bubbles Project.
Contact: Jeanne Loriotti, Paradise City Sales
The Last One For The Road (It-Ger)
Dir. Francesco Sossai
Italian director Sossai’s debut Other Cannibals won the first feature competition at Tallinn Black Nights in 2021 and he was in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes with 2023 short The Birthday Party. Filippo Scotti, who starred in The Hand Of God, Sergio Romano and Pierpaolo Capovilla play the leads in this road movie that turns on two broke fifty-somethings, driving from bar to bar, who become unlikely mentors to a shy architecture student. Italy’s Vivo Film and Germany’s Maze Pictures produce.
Contact: Lucky Number
Love Me Tender (Fr)
Dir. Anna Cazenave Cambet
Cambet follows her debut feature Gold For Dogs, which premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes in 2020, with this literary adaptation starring Vicky Krieps as a woman whose life is shaken up when her ex-husband files for custody of their son after she admits to relationships with women. The film chronicles her years-long struggle to defend her right to be a mother and to make her own choices. The cast also features Antoine Reinartz, Monia Chokri, Ji-min Park and Jean-Baptiste Durand.
Contact: Pamela Leu, Be For Films
Meteors (Fr)
Dir. Hubert Charuel
Meteors is Charuel’s second feature after Bloody Milk premiered as a special screening at Critics’ Week in 2017, ahead of a trio of Cesar awards including best first film. The director reteams with that picture’s co-writer Claude Le Pape on the story about three childhood friends, one of whom is just out of psychiatric hospital and convinced that France is about to be struck by a meteor. Paul Kircher, Idir Azougli and Salif Cissé star.
Contact: Agathe Mauruc, Pyramide International
My Father’s Shadow (UK-Nigeria)
Dir. Akinola Davies Jr
Davies Jr’s debut feature follows two brothers on a voyage to Lagos, Nigeria to connect with their estranged father. Sope Dirisu stars, while Element Pictures produces with Fatherland Productions, and backing from BFI and BBC Film. Mubi has rights for North America, UK and Ireland, and Turkey. It is based on a script by UK Nigerian Davies Jr and his brother Wale Davies, whose previous collaboration, short Lizard, won the grand jury prize at Sundance 2021.
Contact: The Match Factory
The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo (Chile-Fr-Ger-Belg-Sp)
Dir. Diego Céspedes
Despite making his feature debut, the Chilean filmmaker is no stranger to Cannes. His 2018 short The Summer Of The Electric Lion won the Cinéfondation award while 2022 short The Melting Creatures premiered in Critics’ Week. The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo centres around an unknown illness said to be transmitted through a man’s loving gaze. Chile’s Quijote Films and France’s Les Valseurs produce; BTeam Pictures will distribute in Spain.
Contact: Charades
Once Upon A Time In Gaza (Fr-Ger-Port-Pal)
Dirs. Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser
Set in Gaza in 2007, the Nasser brothers’ third feature is a thriller depicting the friendship between a student and a charismatic drug dealer that comes under threat from a corrupt cop with a big ego. The film’s producers include the Made In Palestine Project, an independent arts initiative from the war-torn enclave. The Gaza-born twins explore the social and political realities of their homeland through their work, which includes 2015 Critics’ Week title Dégradé and 2020 Venice Horizons entry Gaza Mon Amour.
Contact: The Party Film Sales
A Pale View Of Hills (Japan-UK-Pol)
Dir. Kei Ishikawa
Ishikawa makes his Cannes debut, having previously played at Venice in 2022 with A Man, which went on to win eight prizes including best film at the Japan Academy Awards. His latest is based on the 1982 debut novel of Kazuo Ishiguro and stars frequent Hirokazu Kore-eda collaborator Suzu Hirose (The Third Murder) as a widow in 1980s England looking back on her youth in post-war Nagasaki. It is produced by Kore-eda’s Bunbuku alongside the UK’s Number 9 Films and Poland’s Lava Films (The Girl With The Needle) and features music from Poland’s Pawel Mykietyn (EO).
Contact: Keiko Yoshida, Gaga
Pillion (UK)
Dir. Harry Lighton
A romance heats up between a shy man and the leader of a queer motorbike club in the debut feature from UK filmmaker Lighton, based on Adam Mars-Jones’ novel Box Hill. Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgard star. Element Pictures produces alongside Lee Groombridge, a producer on Andrea Arnold’s Cannes 2024 title Bird. BBC Film and the BFI are backers, in association with Fremantle, Picturehouse Entertainment and September Film. Picturehouse releases in the UK, with A24 landing North America.
Contact: Cornerstone Film
The Plague (Australia-US)
Dir. Charlie Polinger
Joel Edgerton stars in and produces this debut about a socially anxious teen trying to survive the summer at a ruthless all-boys water polo camp. Image Nation and Spooky Pictures reunite to produce, following 2023 horror Late Night With The Devil, alongside Hellcat, The Space Program and Five Henrys Productions. Polinger’s 2023 short Fuck Me, Richard was nominated for SXSW’s grand jury prize in narrative short while his second feature The Masque Of The Red Death enters production this year for A24.
Contact: AGC International (international); UTA Independent Film Group and Jason Ishikawa, Cinetic (North America)
A Poet (Col-Ger-Swe)
Dir. Simon Mesa Soto
Colombian filmmaker Soto returns to the Croisette after screening his feature debut Amparo in Critics’ Week in 2021. He also won the festival’s Palme d’Or for best short with Leidi in 2014. A Poet, which was written by Soto, shot in Medellin, Colombia and follows an ageing man obsessed with poetry who mentors a talented teenage girl. Like Amparo, the film was selected for Berlinale Talents and is produced by Colombia’s Ocultimo and Medio de Contencion Producciones.
Contact: Luxbox
Promised Sky (Fr-Tun-Qat)
Dir. Erige Sehiri
Three women living in Tunis form an unorthodox family while sheltering a shipwreck survivor, before crises cause each to re-evaluate her place. Sehiri’s second fiction feature unites production powerhouses from France (Canal+) and the MENA region (MAD Solutions) under French producer Didar Domehri of Maneki Films. Sehiri’s fiction debut Under The Fig Trees played Directors’ Fortnight in 2022 before becoming Tunisia’s Oscar entry. Her 2018 documentary Railway Men played at Visions du Reel and IDFA.
Contact: Luxbox
Urchin (UK)
Dir. Harris Dickinson
Dickinson starred in 2022 Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness. Now, he ventures back to the Croisette with his feature directing debut, which unfurls around a rough sleeper in London, trapped in a destructive cycle. Cast includes Frank Dillane and Megan Northam. Devisio Pictures and Somesuch produce, with BBC Film, BFI and Tricky Knot as backers. Dickinson’s directing credits include BFI London Film Festival 2021 short 2003. As an actor, he will soon be playing John Lennon in Sam Mendes’s four-part feature about The Beatles for Sony Pictures.
Contact: Charades (international); Jay Cohen, Gersh and UTA Independent Film Group (North America)
Profiles by: Nikki Baughan, Ellie Calnan, Ben Dalton, Tim Dams, Jeremy Kay, Rebecca Leffler, Yasmine Medjdoub, Michael Rosser, Matt Schley, Mona Tabbara, Silvia Wong
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