Cannes 2012 Preview

Could Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly win this year's Palme d'Or?

This month, the stars will align in southern France for the 65th annual Cannes Film Festival. It's easily the most prestigious festival in the world, featuring only the best in groundbreaking, auteur-driven international cinema.

This year's lineup (listed below) was announced just a few weeks ago, and on the surface sounds promising. It's perhaps a more commercial, star-heavy list than in years past with individuals like Kristin Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Hardy, and Marion Cotillard each appearing in at least one of the 22 titles in competition. Nonetheless, with directors like Jacques Audiard, Abbas Kiarostami, David Cronenberg, and Michael Haneke, one need not worry about the festival losing any amount of prestige.

Below is the list of competition titles. Over the next few weeks, I'll be shining a light on the directors of each of these films in the hope that I, and you, might discover someone new or something surprising about these bold artists. I'll also take a quick look at the Un Certain Regard lineup of up-and-coming filmmakers, all leading up to the kick off of Cannes 2012 on May 16.

Competition Titles:
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson
Rust and Bone, Jacques Audiard
Holy Motors, Léos Carax
Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg
The Paperboy, Lee Daniels
Killing Them Softly, Andrew Dominik
Reality, Matteo Garrone
Amour, Michael Haneke
Lawless, John Hillcoat
In Another Country, Hong Sang-soo
Taste of Money, Im Sang-soo
Like Someone in Love, Abbas Kiarostami
The Angel’s Share, Ken Loach
In the Fog, Sergei Loznitsa
Beyond the Hills, Cristian Mungiu
After the Battle, Yousry Nasrallah
Mud, Jeff Nichols
You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet, Alain Resnais
Post Tenebras Lux, Carlos Reygadas
On the Road, Walter Salles
Paradise: Love, Ulrich Seidl
The Hunt, Thomas Vinterberg