After the official announcement of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival last week and Cannes Critics Week yesterday, early this morning, the lineup for the parallel Cannes Directors Fortnight was announced. For its 55th edition, this is the first lineup under the leadership of Julien Rejl as artistic director featuring new films from Hong Sangsoo and Michel Gondry.
“”The Directors’ Fortnight was born when a community of directors came together with the desire to create an independent space that would encourage the emergence of free filmmaking regardless of geographical provenance or any other limiting criteria,” said Julien Rejl, Artistic Director of the Directors’ Fortnight. “At the heart of the creation of the Directors’ Fortnight was the singular quality of a work of art and the impossibility of pigeonholing it. We have chosen to present 30 films to you which, through their own unique language, embody a spirit of resistance to any form of ideology and to dominant narratives.”
Opening Film
“The Goldman’s Case,” Cedric Kahn
Closing Film
“In Our Day,” Hong Sang-soo
Selection
“In Flames,” Zarrar Kahn
“Legua,” Filipa Reis & Joao Miller Guerra
“The Book of Solutions,” Michel Gondry
“Mambar Pierrette,” Rosine Mbakam
“Riddle of Fire,” Weston Razooli
“The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed,” Joanna Arnow
“The Sweet East,” Sean Price Williams
“A Prince,” Pierre Creton
“A Song Sung Blue,” Zihan Geng
“Abraham’s Valley,” Manoel de Oliveira
“Agra,” Kanu Behl
“The Other Laurens,” Claude Schmitz
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” Thien An Pham
“Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” Elene Naveriani
“Grace,” IIya Povolotosky
“She is Conann,” Bertrand Mandico
“Creatura,” Elena Martin Gimeno
“Deserts,” Faouzi Bensaidi
Which films are you looking forward to the most? How do you feel about the way the 2023 Cannes Film Festival is shaping up so far? Are you planning to attend the festival this year? You can check out my reactions to the lineup here. Please let us know in the comments section below or on our Twitter account.