The marathon of film exhibitions, which will begin with the screening of the French film 'The Electric Kiss', will feature 22 films from three continents competing for the Palme d'Or award, including films by five female directors.

The 12-day festival of the Cannes Film Festival, considered prestigious in the world of world cinema, is starting in Cannes, France from Tuesday. The marathon of the film exhibition, which will start with the screening of the French film 'The Electric Kiss', will feature 22 films from three continents competing for the Palme d'Or Award. This includes films by five female directors.

2,541 films were registered from around the world for the 79th edition of Cannes. The film 'Elephants in the Fog' (Them), directed by Avinash Bikram Shah from Nepal, is also competing in it. Shah's film is competing with 17 other films for the 'On Certain Regard' title. The films in this category will be screened in parallel with the screening of the festival's main competing films.

At the Cannes Festival, which is also seen as a reflection of the Oscars, last year, the Norwegian film 'Sentimental Value', the Portuguese political thriller film 'The Secret Agent' or the Iranian political thriller film 'It Was Just an Accident' made a strong presence at the Oscars. 'It Was Just an Accident', which had its world premiere at Cannes, not only won the festival's main award, the Palme d'Or, but was also nominated for the Oscars for foreign language film and screenplay. 'The Secret Agent', which won the most awards at Cannes last year, was also nominated in four categories at the Oscars, including Best Film. Similarly, 'Sentimental Value', which won the 'Grand Prix' at Cannes, was nominated in nine categories at the Oscars and won the title of Best International Feature Film last year.

In recent years, films like ‘Parasite’ and ‘Enora’ have made a pleasant journey from Cannes to the Oscars. These 10 films that are having their world premieres at Cannes this year are expected to garner praise all the way to the Oscars.

Hope

Na Hong-jin may not be a world-famous director like some of his fellow Korean filmmakers, but he is making a strong ‘entry’ into the world of cinema this year with the science fiction thriller film ‘Hope’. Cannes’ artistic director Thierry Fremaux has commented on the film, which is having its world premiere on May 17, saying that it ‘could change the existing film genre’.

‘Hope’, which took almost three years to film, is reported to the local police chief Bum-seok after suspicions of a tiger appearing in the remote village of Hope Harbor, a highly secure and military area. As the village goes through a great panic, the events unfold with more and more terrifying revelations over time, and the villagers are forced to confront an unknown force. The film stars Korean and Hollywood actors.

Paper Tiger

Although it was not initially in the competition section of Cannes, James Gray's film 'Paper Tiger', which was later included in the main competition of the Palme d'Or, is currently in the spotlight. Gray, who is competing for the Palme d'Or for the sixth time, has previously made successful films such as 'Armageddon Time' and 'The Immigrant'. 'Paper Tiger' tells the story of how two brothers chasing the American dream end up getting mixed up with a Russian mafia gang.

Fjord

This film is famous for some reason, and that is because of its director, producer and writer Christian Mungui. Having previously won the Palme d'Or for 'Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days' in 2007 Cannes, and the Best Director for 'Beyond the Hills' in 2012 and 'Graduation' in 2016, he is competing for the Palme d'Or for 'Fjord' for the fifth time after 'RMN' in 2022.  

film The Gheorghe family, consisting of a Romanian father and a Norwegian mother, moves to their mother's birthplace (a remote village in Norway). There, they grow close to the neighboring Hallberg family.  But when the Gheorghe family members are accused of mistreating their children by the Hallberg family, events take a new turn and they become the center of criticism in the village. 

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Directed by Jane Schoenbrunn, competing in the ‘On Certain Regard’ section alongside Nepal’s Avinash’s ‘Elephants in the Fog’, the film tells the story of two women falling into psychosexual frenzy while working together. Schoenbrunn has previously established herself as an important filmmaker in contemporary American film with 2024’s ‘I See the TV Glow’ and 2021’s ‘We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.’

Fatherland

Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski had already won an Oscar for ‘Ida’ in 2013 and Cannes for Best Director in 2018 for ‘Cold War’ before bringing ‘Fatherland’ to Cannes this time. The biopic ‘Fatherland’ tells the story of a German novelist who embarks on a road trip with his daughter from Frankfurt, West Germany, to Weimar, East Germany, during the Cold War.

All of a Sudden

The 2021 film ‘Drive My Car’ introduced Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi to the world stage of film. Hamaguchi won three awards at Cannes, including Best Foreign Language Film, for ‘Drive My Car’, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Hamaguchi, who also won the Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival for ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ in 2023, attempts to tell the story of a nursing home director and a seriously ill Japanese playwright in ‘All of a Sudden’.

Ship in the Box

Hirokazu Corrida, the director of ‘Ship in the Box’, which is set to have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, rose to world fame with the 2013 film ‘Like Father, Like Son’. The film won Hirokazu the Jury Award at Cannes. Later, in 2018, he made a leap in filmmaking with ‘Suppliers’. The film not only won the Palme d’Or at Cannes but also the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

Hirokazu’s sci-fi film ‘Ship in the Box’, which has been a strong advocate for weak humanism through its films, tells the story of a couple grieving the death of their son, who later adopts a human-made robot as their son.

The Man I Love

This musical fantasy film directed by Ira Sachs tells the story of Jimmy George, a terminally ill New York actor who is on the verge of death in the late 1980s. The actor, suffering from a terminal illness, is preparing for his final but important role in life. Rami Malek plays the role of Jimmy.