Cannes Film Festival: Palme d'Or race heats up with stellar film lineup

Workers hang the official poster of the 77th Cannes Film Festival on the facade of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, south-eastern France, on May 12, 2024 (Photo by Valery HACHE/AFP)

It's that time of the year when filmmakers and actors across the world will travel to Cannes for a discourse on craft and cinema. The Cannes 2024 Film Festival will commence on May 14 and will end on May 25.

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine as Light' has scripted history by becoming the first Indian title in 30 years since 'Swaham' (1994) to feature in the prestigious competition section of the Cannes Film Festival, where it will vie for the top prize Palme d'Or.

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The movie is an Indo-France co-production about two Kerala nurses working in a Mumbai nursing home. The film stars Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha. Kapadia's project will be presented alongside 19 anticipated titles, including films from master directors, Francis Ford Coppola and Yorgos Lanthimos.

Movies competing for Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival 2024:

'Megalopolis' (Francis Ford Coppola)
This self-funded epic -- a Roman drama transplanted to modern-day New York starring Adam Driver -- has been in the works for more than 40 years. Coppola has twice won the Palme d'Or -- for "The Conversation" (1974) and "Apocalypse Now" (1979).

'The Apprentice' (Ali Abbasi)
A biopic about Donald Trump's formative years from an award-winning Iranian director is bound to grab attention. It stars Sebastian Stan, best known as the Winter Soldier in Marvel films and rocker Tommy Lee in the series "Pam and Tommy", alongside Jeremy Strong of "Succession" fame as Trump's lawyer.

'Kinds of Kindness' (Yorgos Lanthimos)
Three short stories in one, this is the latest team-up between the Greek director and Emma Stone, just weeks after she won an Oscar for "Poor Things", also starring Willem Defoe and Margaret Qualley.

'The Shrouds' (David Cronenberg)
The horror maestro's latest supernatural drama is about a man who builds a device to connect with his dead wife -- a deeply personal project for the Canadian director who lost his wife in 2017. It stars Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger.

'Oh, Canada' (Paul Schrader)
The iconic writer-director has been on a roll lately with a string of dramas about obsessive and dangerous men. He reunites with his "American Gigolo" star Richard Gere for the story of a dying man reflecting on his past mistakes.

'Emilia Perez' (Jacques Audiard)
Quite the synopsis -- a musical about a Mexican cartel boss undergoing a sex change to escape the authorities, with pop superstar Selena Gomez in a supporting role. The unpredictable French director has tried many genres, from "The Prophet" and "Rust and Bone" to his Palme d'Or-winning "Dheepan".

'The Substance' (Coralie Fargeat)
An unlikely comeback vehicle for Demi Moore -- an ultra-violent horror film from the French director of 2017's "Revenge" that will "leave a lot of blood on the screen", according to festival director Thierry Fremaux.

'The Most Precious of Cargoes' (Michel Hazanavicius)
The first animation in competition since 2008's "Waltz With Bashir" is the tale of a twin thrown to safety from a death train transporting his Jewish parents to Auschwitz, from the director of the Oscar-winning "The Artist".

'Limonov' (Kirill Serebrennikov)
The exiled Russian director tackles the bizarre true life of dissident poet Eduard Limonov, who fled the Soviet Union but returned to found a new Bolshevik Party after the Cold War.

'Parthenope' (Paolo Sorrentino)
Another love letter to his native Naples from the Oscar-winning director of "The Great Beauty" and Netflix series "The Young Pope".

'Bird' (Andrea Arnold)
The celebrated British auteur returns with a coming-of-age tale set in an English suburb, starring Barry Keoghan ("Saltburn"). Arnold won an Oscar for a short film "Wasp" and made acclaimed features "Red Road" and "Fish Tank".

'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' (Mohammad Rasoulof)
Imprisoned for criticising Iran's government and barred from leaving the country, Rasoulof has already faced pressure to pull his latest film from the Cannes line-up. Its plot remains under wraps.

'Anora' (Sean Baker)
A darling of the US indie scene for his portraits of marginalised characters in "The Florida Project" and "Red Rocket", Baker returns with a "romantic adventure" starring "Scream" actress Mikey Madison.

'The Girl with the Needle' (Magnus von Horn)
Loosely based on the story of a Danish serial killer who helped poor women kill their unwanted children in the early 20th century.

'Motel Destino' (Karim Ainouz)
An erotic comedy-thriller from the Brazilian director of Henry VIII drama "Firebrand", which competed in Cannes last year.

'Grand Tour' (Miguel Gomes)
The story of a British colonial officer in Burma who flees his wedding but is pursued by his bride.

'Marcello Mio' (Christophe Honore)
The fictional tale of a woman who starts impersonating her father, the late Italian screen icon Marcello Mastroianni. It features French icon Catherine Deneuve.

'Caught by the Tides' (Jia Zhang-Ke)
One of China's most celebrated auteurs offers a view of the country "we are not necessarily used to seeing", according to Fremaux.

'All We Imagine As Light' (Payal Kapadia)
The first Indian entry in 30 years tells the intimate stories of a Mumbai nurse and her roommate.

'Beating Hearts (Gilles Lellouche)
The French actor-director adapts an Irish novel, "Jackie Loves Johnser OK?", with Francois Civil and Adele Exarchopoulos.

'Wild Diamond' (Agathe Riedinger)
A debut film about a young French girl seeking fame on reality TV.

'Three Kilometres to the End of the World' (Emanuel Parvu)
A surprise last-minute entry about a gay teenager ostracised by his village community in Romania.

(With inputs from AFP)

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