And it features the latest works from Yorgos Lanthimos, Karim Aïnouz, Ali Abbasi, David Cronenberg, Paolo Sorrentino and Francis Ford Coppola, to name a few — phew!

But also documentaries by Raoul Peck and Yolande Zauberman, a reimagining of a true story by Rithy Pahn, a film about a Moroccan Sheikha, a traditional singer, by Nabil Ayouch, Leos Carax’s self portrait, Roberto Minervini’s drama set during the American Civil War, and Norah, the debut feature film from Saudi writer-director Tawfik Alzaidi.

The Official Competition in Cannes this year reads like a who’s who of world cinema. From the above to Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, Chinese director and screenwriter Jia Zhang-Ke, American screenwriter and filmmaker Paul Schrader, Portuguese helmer Miguel Gomes and American autrice Andrea Arnold, it’s chock full of cool stuff.

It was touching, as she kicked off the press conference this morning, to see Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes as of 2023, nearly break down when mentioning the importance of her first festival last year and how it will always stay with her. For everyone concerned, from a first timer, to Martin Scorsese, Knobloch admitted the Festival feels like an “eternal first time” something she attributes to the magic of Cannes.

Sitting side by side with Thierry Fremaux, delegate of the festival, who has always declared that cinema cannot be replaced by streaming platforms, Knobloch confirmed that the “magic of cinema is intact.” I think I love the fact that this powerful, beautiful woman is at once a force to be reckoned with but also a believer in the grand power of cinema.

Fremaux then took the mic and confirmed that there were around 2,000 films screened, which then yielded the 54 works that were announced this morning.

Among the films announced were Karim Aïnouz’s erotic thriller set in Brazil Motel Destino, but also Leos Carax’s It’s Not Me, a self portrait of the elusive French-American filmmaker who doesn’t like to sit down with the press. The former is in the Official Competition while Carax’s work is in the Cannes Special Screenings. In the same Special Screenings there is also the lone Gaza title, a documentary by Yolande Zauberman titled La Belle de Gaza, which follows the M (loved it in Locarno years ago!) filmmaker as she searches for a transexual Palestinian in Tel Aviv.

Previously announced were works by Francis Ford Coppola, who brings Megalopolis to the Croisette, a sci-fi futuristic thriller set in NYC screening in Competition and starring a slew of stars including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito and Dustin Hoffman. But also Kevin Costner’s first installment of his multi-episode project about the conquest of the American West titled Horizon, An American Saga in which he serves double duty as star and director and which screens Out of Competition. This year’s festival runs from May 14th to the 25th.

For the full line up, check out the list below.

OPENING FILM

LE DEUXIEME ACTE (THE SECOND ACT)
Quentin Dupieux
Out of Competition

COMPETITION

THE APPRENTICE
Ali Abbasi

MOTEL DESTINO 
Karim Aïnouz

BIRD
Andrea Arnold

EMILIA PEREZ
Jacques Audiard

ANORA 
Sean Baker

MEGALOPOLIS
Francis Ford Coppola

THE SHROUDS
David Cronenberg

THE SUBSTANCE 
Coralie Fargeat

GRAND TOUR
Miguel Gomes

MARCELLO MIO
Christophe Honoré

FENG LIU YI DAI (CAUGHT BY THE TIDES)
Jia Zhang-Ke

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT
Payal Kapadia

KINDS OF KINDNESS
Yórgos Lánthimos

L'AMOUR OUF 
Gilles Lellouche

WILD DIAMOND
Agathe Riedinger
1st film

OH CANADA
Paul Schrader

LIMONOV - THE BALLAD
Kirill Serebrennikov 

PARTHENOPE
Paolo Sorrentino

PIGEN MED NÅLEN (THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE)
Magnus von Horn

UN CERTAIN REGARD

NORAH
Tawfik Alzaidi

THE SHAMELESS 
Konstantin Bojanov

LE ROYAUME
Julien Colonna
1st film

VINGT DIEUX !
Louise Courvoisier
1st film

WHO LET THE DOG BITE? (LE PROCÈS DU CHIEN)
Laetitia Dosch
1st film

GOU ZHEN (BLACK DOG)
Guan Hu

THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE 
Mo Harawe
1st film

SEPTEMBER SAYS
Ariane Labed
1st film

L'HISTOIRE DE SOULEYMANE
Boris Lojkine

THE DAMNED
Roberto Minervini

ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL
Rungano Nyoni 

BOKU NO OHISAMA (MY SUNSHINE)
Hiroshi Okuyama

SANTOSH
Sandhya Suri

VIET AND NAM 
Truong Minh Quý      

ARMAND
Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel 
1st film

OUT OF COMPETITION

SHE'S GOT NO NAME
Chan Peter Ho-Sun 

HORIZON
Kevin Costner

RUMOURS
Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson & Guy Maddin 

FURIOSA : A MAD MAX SAGA 
George Miller

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS

TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIOR WALLED IN
Soi Cheang

THE SURFER
Lorcan Finnegan

THE BALCONETTES
Noémie Merlant

I, THE EXECUTIONER 
Ryoo Seung Wan

CANNES PREMIERE

EVERYBODY LOVES TOUDA
Nabil Ayouch

C’EST PAS MOI
Leos Carax

EN FANFARE (THE MATCHING BANG)
Emmanuel Courcol

MISÉRICORDE
Alain Guiraudie

LE ROMAN DE JIM
Arnaud Larrieu & Jean-Marie Larrieu

RENDEZ-VOUS AVEC POL POT
Rithy Panh

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

LE FIL
Daniel Auteuil

ERNEST COLE, LOST AND FOUND 
Raoul Peck

THE INVASION
Sergei Loznitsa

APPRENDRE
Claire Simon

LA BELLE DE GAZA
Yolande Zauberman