31/03/2016 - Two weeks away from the unveiling of the Cannes Official Selection, the hubbub around the predictions is getting louder than ever in Paris

Who is in, and who is out? Which movies will be setting their sights on the Palme d'Or at the 69th Cannes Film Festival (11-22 May 2016), due to be handed out by a jury chaired by George Miller (see the news)? What’s more, this is truly an eagerly awaited edition, given how firmly the list of potential candidates is rooted in the strongest foundations of current world cinema. While, ensconced in the – closely guarded – secrecy of his offices in Rue Amélie, Paris, General Delegate Thierry Frémaux works on fine-tuning a selection that is apparently already at a very advanced stage, and which he will unveil on Thursday 14 April, the film-buff world is frantically throwing itself into the great game of hypothesising, fuelled by a tumultuous flow of true/false information and by a systematic inventory of the titles likely to be ready in time to gather on the Croisette – conjecture that has been under way for several months now (read the article dated 18 February).

Given that the Americans’ big comeback has already been leaked to the media (The BFG by Steven Spielberg and Money Monster by Jodie Foster out of competition, and The Nice Guys [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Shane Black likely to get a midnight screening) or has been officially confirmed (with Café Society by Woody Allen having the honour of being the opening film – read the news), the “divinatory” conjecture is now starting to focus on the official competition, where the United States should at least be able to bank on Loving [+see also:
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film profile] by Jeff Nichols and The Last Face by Sean Penn. Similarly to what happens with all the armchair philosophising that takes place before important sports matches, let’s now sketch out the probable and possible Cannes titles.

A number of former winners feature among the most solid hopefuls, with The Unknown Girl [+see also:
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Q&A: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
film profile] by Belgian directors Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Family Photos [+see also:
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Q&A: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Cristian Mungiu
film profile] by Romania’s Cristian Mungiu. Also allegedly in the starting-blocks are Julieta [+see also:
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Q&A: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile] by Spaniard Pedro Almodovar, Sweet Dreams [+see also:
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Q&A: Marco Bellocchio
film profile] by Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio, Elle [+see also:
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film profile] by Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, American Honey [+see also:
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Q&A: Andrea Arnold
film profile] by the UK’s Andrea Arnold, Personal Shopper [+see also:
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interview: Artemio Benki
interview: Olivier Assayas
film profile] by France’s Olivier Assayas, Nocturama [+see also:
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interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile] by his fellow countryman Bertrand Bonello, It’s Only the End of the World [+see also:
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film profile] by Canadian director Xavier Dolan, the new, so-far untitled film [+see also:
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film profile] by Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, and The Handmaid by Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, not to mention the possibility of a second Romanian film (a two-fold national presence that certain Palme d'Or "experts" nevertheless believe to be improbable, despite a very persistent rumour indicating this to be the case) in the guise of Sierra-Nevada [+see also:
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Q&A: Cristi Puiu
film profile] by Cristi Puiu.

Standing out in the well-stocked aisles of possible titles are The Neon Demon by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (alternating rumours suggest that this film is in and out of competition, a pre-selection pattern that was also observed for Only God Forgives [+see also:
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making of
interview: Nicolas Winding Refn
film profile]), I, Daniel Blake [+see also:
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film profile] by British filmmaker Ken Loach, The Untamed [+see also:
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film profile] by Mexico’s Amat Escalante (provided it is ready in time), Pablo Neruda [+see also:
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film profile] by Chile’s Pablo Larrain, Apprentice [+see also:
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film profile] by Singapore’s Boo Junfeng, The Woman in the Silver Plate [+see also:
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film profile] by Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa and a film by the ever-elusive US filmmaker Terrence Malick (the fictional title Weightless or the documentary Voyage of Time [+see also:
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film profile]). As for the French hopefuls, Staying Vertical [+see also:
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interview: Alain Guiraudie
film profile] by Alain Guiraudie could well be on the right track together with a director who may end up being Rebecca Zlotowski with Planetarium [+see also:
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interview: Rebecca Zlotowski
film profile], or else outsider Katel Quillévéré with The Heart [+see also:
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interview: Katell Quillévéré
film profile], while the most vociferous predictions are tipping Slack Bay [+see also:
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Q&A: Bruno Dumont
film profile] by Bruno Dumont to open the Directors’ Fortnight.

Lying in ambush are Paterson [+see also:
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film profile] by US director Jim Jarmusch, La La Land by his young fellow countryman Damien Chazelle, After the Storm by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Al-Maa Wal Khodra Wal Wagh Al-Hassan by Egypt’s Yousry Nasrallah, Asia Sanmenkyô by Filipino director Brillante Mendoza, the enigmatic On the Milky Road [+see also:
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film profile] by Serbia’s Emir Kusturica and Oppenheimer Strategies by Israel’s Joseph Cedar. Some are even talking about a film that has apparently gone completely unnoticed by the international press and has seemingly been directed by Iran’s Samira Makhmalbaf... Also of note among the names simmering away under the surface and angling for a place in the official selection are Snowden [+see also:
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interview: Oliver Stone
film profile] by US director Oliver Stone, which could well eventually get a screening out of competition, and the animated movie The Red Turtle [+see also:
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film profile] by Dutch filmmaker Michael Dudok de Wit, which may also have a very good chance of making it to the Croisette (My Life as a Zucchini [+see also:
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interview: Claude Barras
film profile] by Switzerland’s Claude Barras is another representative of the genre also waiting in the wings). We could also mention such titles as Toni Erdmann [+see also:
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Q&A: Maren Ade
film profile] by German director Maren Ade, Free Fire [+see also:
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film profile] by British filmmaker Ben Wheatley, The Wailing (Gokseong) by Korea’s Na Hong-jin, Les mimosas [+see also:
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interview: Oliver Laxe
film profile] by Spaniard Oliver Laxe and Berlin Syndrome by Australia’s Cate Shortland.

Among a plethora of other hot predictions, L'économie du couple [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Lafosse
film profile] by Belgium’s Joachim Lafosse, Like Crazy [+see also:
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Q&A: Paolo Virzì
film profile] by Italy’s Paolo Virzi, Two Lovers and a Bear by Canada’s Kim Nguyen and The Together Project [+see also:
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film profile] by late director Solveig Anspach are apparently in possession of a ticket for the Directors’ Fortnight, and Victoria [+see also:
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interview: Justine Triet
film profile] by France’s Justine Triet may also secure a decent spot on the Croisette. And as far as young French cinema goes, some of the titles that turn up fairly regularly at this exciting time seething with rumours are L’ami (François d’Assise et ses frères) [+see also:
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film profile] by Renaud Fély and Arnaud Louvet, Mon nom à Pigalle by Hamé and Ekoué, La prunelle de mes yeux by Axelle Roppert, M [+see also:
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interview: Sara Forestier
film profile] by Sara Forestier, and Voir du pays [+see also:
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interview: Delphine and Muriel Coulin
film profile] by Delphine and Muriel Coulin. Watch this space...

(Translated from French)