The stars always make their way to the Cannes Film Festival, and 2025 will be no different, but it appears many of the biggest names will be behind the camera. This morning, Thierry Frémaux, the director of the Festival de Cannes, revealed the official lineup for the 78th edition. Not only will filmmakers such as Joachim Trier, Kelly Reichardt, Richard Linklater, and Julia Ducournau return to la Croissette, but famous actors such as Harris Dickinson and Scarlett Johansson will make their feature directorial debuts as well.
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Beginning his remarks, Frémaux revealed a record 2,909 features from 156 nations were submitted. 78% were directed by men and 32% by women. There were 20 features announced as In Competition. There were 22 in 2024 and 21 in 2023, so it is expected that a few more titles will be confirmed in the weeks ahead.
The official selection begins with Amelie Bonin’s “Leave One Day,” which will open the festival. Other prominent picks include the latest work of The Dardenne Brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc, who will unfurl “Young Mothers,” their 12th film at the festival and their first since 2022’s “Tori et Lokita.” Little is known about their new project, but the pair have won the Palme d’Or twice for “Rosetta” in 1999 and “L’Enfant” in 2005.
Remarkably, “The Phoenician Scheme” will be just the fourth Anderson movie to premiere at Cannes. He previously debuted “Moonrise Kingdom,” “The French Dispatch,” and “Asteroid City” on la Croisette.
Reichardt was a member of the jury in 2019. After debuting “Wendy & Lucy” and “Showing Up” at the festival, she returns with “The Mastermind,” a new thriller starring frequent collaborator John Magaro as well as Josh O’Connor and Alana Haim. MUBI is expected to release the movie in the U.S. later in 2025.
Another one-time jury member, Trier returns to Cannes with his follow-up to 2021’s Best Actress-winning “The World Person in the World.” He reunites with the winner of that honor, Renate Reinsve, for “Sentimental Value.” The dramedy also stars Elle Fanning, Stellan Skarsgård, and Cory Michael Smith. NEON will distribute in the U.S. Trier also screened “Oslo, 31. August” and “Louder Than Bombs” at Cannes in 2011 and 2015, respectively.
Ducournau won the Palme d’Or in 2021 for “Titane.” Her new film, “Alpha,” starring Tahar Rahim and Emma Mackey, will be distributed by NEON in the U.S. sometime in 2025.
A rare Russian filmmaker allowed to screen at Cannes since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion, Serebrennikov returns with his sixth festival premiere, “The Disappearance of Josef Mengele.” It’s expected that much of the film will be in German. Serebrennikov was at the festival just last year with “Limonov – The Ballad.”
“Nouvelle Vaugue” (or “New Wave”) is only the third time Linklater has screened a movie at Cannes after 2006’s “Fast Food Nation” and “A Scanner Darkly.” The French-language film depicts the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s French New Wave classic “Breathless” with Guillaume Marbeck portraying the legendary filmmaker and Zoey Deutch playing American actress Jean Seberg. The movie is still looking for domestic distribution.
Brazilian director Kleber Mendonca Filho is back with his third movie at the festival, “The Secret Agent.” Set in 1977, it follows a teacher (Wagner Moura), whose return to the city of Recife does not grant him the peace he’s looking for. It also stars Udo Kier and Gabriel Leone.
French director Hafsia Herzi returns to Cannes after “Good Mother” screened in Un Certain Regard in 2021. “La Petite Dernière” is an adaptation of Fatima Daas’ 2020 novel.
Hermanus last appeared at Cannes with “Skoonheid (Beauty”) in 2011. His latest, “The History of Sound,” is a period gay romance starring the aforementioned O’Connor and Paul Mescal. MUBI will release in the U.S., while Focus Features has taken the rest of the world.
“Eddington” is Ari Aster’s first film to debut at Cannes. His fourth project with A24, the black comedy features an all-star cast including Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and Austin Butler, among others.
Jafar Panahi’s “In Simple Accident” will be his sixth film to screen at the festival. The Iranian filmmaker won Best Screenplay for “3 Faces” in 2018, but is best known for 2015’s “Taxi.” His last film, “No Bears,” debuted at Venice in 2022. Jailed and then released in 2023, it’s unclear if he will be allowed to leave Iran to attend the festival.
Johannson’s directorial endeavor is “Eleanor the Great,” starring June Squibb, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Jessica Hecht. Sony Pictures Classics will release “Eleanor” in the U.S.
Christopher McQuarrie’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” was confirmed as an Out of Competition world premiere earlier this week.
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival saw the Palme d’Or winner, Sean Baker’s “Anora,” take Best Picture. Two other world premieres in competition, Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” and Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” also earned Best Picture nominations. Overall, the festival earned a record-breaking 31 nominations and 9 wins at the 97th Academy Awards. Yes, awards season no longer begins in August at Venice and Telluride; it now truly kicks off in May at Cannes.
Earlier this year, Cannes revealed that Juliette Binoche would be the president of this year’s official competition jury. The rest of the jury is expected to be revealed in the weeks to come.
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The official selection is as follows:
IN COMPETITION
“In Simple Accident” – Jafar Panahi
“Sound of Falling” – Mascha Schilinski
“Sentimental Value” – Joachim Trier
“Romeria” – Carla Simone
“The Mastermind” – Kelly Reichardt
“The Eagles of the Republic” – Tarik Saleh
“Dossier 137” – Dominik Moll
“The Secret Agent” – Kleber Mendonca Filho
“Fuori” – Mario Martone
“Two Prosecutors” – Sergei Loznitsa
“New Wave” – Richard Linklater
“Sirat” – Oliver Laxe
“La Petite Dernière” – Hafsia Herzi
“The History of Sound” – Oliver Hermanus
“Renoir” – Chie Hayakawa
“Alpha” – Julia Ducournau
“Young Mothers” – The Dardenne Brothers
“Eddington” – Ari Aster
“Leave One Day” – Amelie Bonin – Opening Film
UN CERTAIN REGARD
“The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” – Diego Céspedes
“My Father’s Shadow” – Akinola Davies Jr
“Urchin” – Harris Dickinson
“L’inconnue de la Grande Arche” – Stephane Demoustier
“Eleanor the Great” – Scarlett Johansson
“Once Upon A Time In Gaza” – Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser
“Aisha Can’t Fly Away” – Morad Mostafa
“Meteors” – Hubert Charuel
“Pillion” – Harry Lighton
“Heads or Tails?” – Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis
“The Last One for the Road” – Francesco Sossai
“Homebound” – Neeraj Ghaywan
“A Pale View of the Hills” – Kei Ishikawa
“Karavan” – Zuzana Kirchnerová
“The Plague” – Charlie Polinger
“Promised Sky” – Erige Sehiri
CANNES PREMIERE
“Arum” – Fatih Akim
“Splitsville” – Michael Angelo Covino
“The Disappearance of Joseph Mengle” – Kirill Serebrennikov
“Orwell: 2+2 + 5” – Raoul Peck
“The Wave” – Sebestian Lelio
“Connemara” – Alex Lutz
OUT OF COMPETITION
“Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” – Christopher McQuarrie
“Vie Privée” – Rebecca Zlotowski
“The Richest Woman in the World” – Thierry Klifa
“Colours of Time” – Cedric Klapisch
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
“Exit 8” – Genki Kawamura
“Dolloway” Yann Gozlan
“Feng Lin Huo Shan (Sons of the Neon Night)”- Mak Juno
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
“Stories of Surrender” – Bono
“The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol” – Sylvain Chomet
“Tell Her That I Love Her” – Claude Miller

The 2025 Cannes Film Festival will run from May 13 to 24. Look for continuing coverage, including previews, interviews, and reviews on The Playlist.
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