The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has announced the lineup of films for this year’s edition, with a range of films from around the world, including a small percentage from African filmmakers.
These include Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away, a co-production between Tunisia, Qatar, and Egypt. The festival will also screen Tunisian production Promised Sky, directed by Erige Sehiri. Both films will be showcased in the Un Certain Regard section. My Father’s Shadow, a Nigerian and UK co-production directed by Akinola Davies Jnr, will also appear in that section.
South African director Oliver Hermanus will be helming a project not credited to his home country, as he directs Paul Mescal in UK-US coproduction titled The History of Sound.
Other directors leading some of the films announced so far for the 2025 edition of the popular French festival are the well-known Hollywood filmmakers Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, and Ari Aster. The Mastermind by Kelly Reichardt, Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier, Mission: Impossible by Christopher McQuarrie, Partir Un Jour by Amélie Bonnin, The Richest Woman In The World by Thierry Klifa, Vie Privée by Rebecca Zlotowski, and A Simple Accident by Jafar Panahi were also announced by the festival.
Away from the screenings, the festival has said it will honour Robert De Niro with an honorary Palme d’Or for lifetime achievement.
“I’m looking forward to sharing these life experiences with the members of the Jury and the public,” Juliette Binoche, head of the Cannes jury said. “In 1985, I walked up the Steps for the first time with the enthusiasm and uncertainty of a young actress; I never imagined I’d return 40 years later in the honorary role of President of the Jury. I appreciate the privilege, the responsibility and the absolute need for humility.”
Here’s a full list of the films selected for the 2025 Cannes Film Festival:
In Competition
- Alpha, by Julia Ducournau
- Dossier 137, by Dominik Moll
- Eddington, by Ari Aster
- Eagles Of The Republic, by Tarik Saleh
- Fuori, by Mario Martone
- The History Of Sound, by Oliver Hermanus
- The Mastermind, by Kelly Reichardt
- Nouvelle Vague, by Richard Linklater
- La Petite Derniere, by Hafsia Herzi
- The Phoenician Scheme, by Wes Anderson
- Renoir, by Chie Hayakawa
- Romeria, by Carla Simon
- The Secret Agent, by Kleber Mendonca Filho
- Sentimental Value, by Joachim Trier
- A Simple Accident, by Jafar Panahi
- Sirat, by Oliver Laxe
- Sound Of Falling, by Mascha Schilinski
- Two Prosecutors, by Sergei Loznitsa
- The Young Mother’s Home, by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
Out of competition
- Colours Of Time, by Cedric Klapisch
- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, by Christopher McQuarrie
- Partir Un Jour, by Amélie Bonnin
- The Richest Woman In The World, by Thierry Klifa
- Vie Privée, by Rebecca Zlotowski
Midnight Screenings
- Dalloway, by Yann Gozlan
- Exit 8, by Genki Kawamura
- Sons Of The Neon Night, by Juno Mak
Cannes Premiere
- Amrum, by Fatih Akin
- Connemara, by Alex Lutz
- The Disappearance Of Josef Mengele, by Kirill Serebrennikov
- Orwell: 2+2=5, by Raoul Peck
- Splitsville, by Mike Corvino
- The Wave, by Sebestian Lelio
Special Screenings
- Bono: Stories Of Surrender, by Andrew Dominik
- A Magnificent Life, by Sylvain Chomet
- Tell Her That I Love Her, by Romane Bohringer
Un Certain Regard
- Aisha Can’t Fly Away, by Morad Mostafa
- Caravan, by Zuzana Kirchnerová
- Eleanor The Great, by Scarlett Johansson
- Heads Or Tails?, by Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis
- Homebound, by Neeraj Ghaywan
- The Last One For The Road, by Francesco Sossai
- L’inconnu de la Grande Arche, by Stéphane Demoustier
- Meteors, by Hubert Charuel
- The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo, by Diego Céspedes
- My Father’s Shadow, by Akinola Davies Jr.
- Once Upon A Time In Gaza, by Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser
- A Pale View Of The Hills, by Kei Ishikawa
- Pillion, by Harry Lighton
- Promised Sky – by Erige Sehiri
- The Plague, by Charlie Polinger
- Urchin, by Harris Dickinson
