Looks like the Cannes Film Festival 2024 will be as glamorous and star-studded as ever. Once again, La Croisette will be crawling with A-list Hollywood and international talent—Cate Blanchett! Juliette Binoche! Nicolas Cage!—and a dazzling array of films destined for awards and glory. Barbie director Greta Gerwig will oversee the festival as the first-ever American female director to be named the Cannes jury president, and Call My Agent star Camille Cotton will dazzle as the opening and closing night master of ceremonies. With buzzy movies like Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis (his first film in ten years!) starring Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza; George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, with Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth; and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness, which reunites the Poor Things director with leads Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, audiences will be treated to the dizzying star power they expect from Cannes.
When is the Cannes Film Festival 2024?
The 77th International Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 14, 2024, to May 25, 2024 in Cannes, a small city on the French Riviera which transforms every year from charming beach resort town to the most glamorous place on earth. The population swells from about 74,000 to 200,000, as esteemed filmmakers and actors swoop in to watch, promote, and celebrate their movies, and those of their famous friends. On their tails, like bees to honey, a buzzing swarm of industry professionals, journalists (5000 of them!), cinephiles, and gawking fans descend, hoping to catch a glimpse of that most dazzling breed of celebrity—those who weave dreams into reality on the silver screen.
Where is the Cannes Film Festival in 2024?
The primary venue for the festival, which was originally conceived in 1938 and officially opened in 1946, is the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès (Palace of Festivals and Conferences). This convention center takes pride of place on the famous seaside boardwalk, la Promenade de La Croisette, which is also home to the legendary red carpet and the Allée des Étoiles, Cannes’ equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which boasts handprints of international stars as wide-ranging as Catherine Deneuve, Serge Gainsbourg, Wim Wenders, Angelina Jolie, Sylvester Stallone, and Sophia Loren. But the fest takes over the entire town, spilling out along the length of the Croisette, with wall-to-wall spectators filling Cannes’ many movie theaters, palatial hotels, and famed restaurants and night spots, as well as its perfect beaches and the Mediterranean Sea itself, where the well-heeled anchor their yachts to host A-list soirées.
How can one attend the Cannes Film Festival?
The festival is officially reserved for film industry professionals, and accreditation is required to attend. Film professionals and press can apply for different types of accreditation. There are also cinephile passes available for film students and cinema club members, and “3 Days in Cannes” passes for film lovers aged 18 to 28. The Cannes Marché du Film, or Film Market, where more than 14,000 industry professionals from 140 countries buy and sell films, is held in conjunction with the festival every year. Like the festival, accreditation and registration is required. Passes range from 429-600€. There is also a non-competitive independent sidebar at the festival, the Directors’ Fortnight (Quinzaine des Cinéastes), which is the only section at Cannes that offers screenings to the public. Tickets can be purchased on their website or in person, at their ticket office.
How much are Cannes Film Festival tickets?
While tickets for the Festival de Cannes are available only to accredited badge holders, free screenings of beloved movie classics are offered to the public on the beach every night at 9:30pm as part of the Cinéma de la Plage program. Keep an eye out for this year’s program on the festival website.
What are the best days to attend the festival?
Most industry attendees don’t show up until the third or fourth day of the festival, so the first two days—Tuesday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 15—can be a great time to get settled and figure out the lay of the land. The first weekend is the busiest time, when attendees arrive en masse. This might be your chance to bump into Kevin Costner or Catherine Deneuve on a random street corner. The buzz dims slightly during the second week, although most competition film directors and actors will stick around for the awards ceremony on May 25.
What to wear at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes doesn’t mess around when it comes to fashion. The event is as renowned for its red carpet looks as it is for the films in competition. As one of the “Big Three” major film festivals, along with the Venice International Film Festival (Biennale) in Italy, and the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in Germany, Cannes is serious about its dress code. For premieres at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, at least, attendees are expected to be in black tie. The rules state that men must wear a tuxedo, or a black or midnight blue suit, bow tie non-negotiable. Women can wear “an evening dress, a cocktail dress, a dark trouser suit, a dressy top with black trousers [or] a little black dress.” Fancy shoes are a yes, sneakers a no. Totes and other large bags are forbidden at the Lumière. For most evening events, cocktail attire is appropriate. Daytime events are more casual.
Where to stay when attending the Cannes Film Festival
Besides waiting all day for a glimpse of the red carpet, your best bet for spotting Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, and other film world icons in Cannes is booking a room at the fabulous Hôtel Martinez by Hyatt, Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic, or another of the dreamy hotels on La Croisette. But finding a room, especially at these hot spots, can be tricky. Uma Thurman reportedly once spent a night in a $30 a night hostel for lack of a better option, and Robert Redford once crashed on the beach. You can book an Airbnb, but again pickings will be slim during the festival. You might have better luck and less expensive options in nearby towns like Le Cannet, Antibes, or Vallauris. You could also make like Kim Kardashian and charter a yacht.
Can anyone take a photo on the red carpet at Cannes?
Anyone can walk the red carpet, as long as they have a ticket to a premiere at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, a designer gown, and impressive bling. No ticket—no such luck. So you can’t step onto the red carpet, but if you can find a spot with a view, you have every right to watch the celebs pose for the paparazzi. One caveat: Only accredited photographers are permitted to shoot photos on the red carpet. To make matters worse, in 2018, Artistic Director Thierry Frémaux banned what he called the “ridiculous and grotesque act” of “trivial” red-carpet selfies, in the name of elegance and discretion, and said they “tarnish the quality” of the red carpet. Try to take one and, apparently, you’ll have security on you in a flash. If you choose to defy regulations because you can’t help but sneak a shot of Vincent Cassel or Barry Keoghan, we won’t tell.
Is there free seating at the Cannes Film Festival?
While you need accreditation to attend festival screenings for films in competition, anyone is able to attend free screenings of classic films in the evenings, as part of the Cinéma de la Plage program.
Where to spot celebrities in Cannes
If you’re dying to catch sight of celebs, your best bet is to find a perch with a clear view near the red-carpet entrance at the Palais des Festivals. Fans get there early in the day to secure a spot, so be punctual and prepared. You’ll have competition. You can also find Hollywood insiders promenading along La Croisette, at the glitziest hotels and hottest restaurants, like Fouquet’s and La Guérite. Jay-Z, Jude Law, and Prince Albert of Monaco have been spotted sipping cocktails and nibbling on yellowtail sashimi and caviar at the swanky hotspot bâoli, a buzzy restaurant with a popular rooftop bar and nightclub. Some star seekers become experts at “yacht tracking,” using the Marine Traffic website to find out where their favorite celebrity’s boat is docked. Bring binoculars, and you might just catch Marion Cotillard sipping a martini on deck, or François Civil staring out pensively at the seagulls.
What films will be screening at the festival?
After much anticipation, the 2024 lineup was revealed by festival director Thierry Frémaux and president Iris Knobloch on Thursday, April 11. Kicking off the party is French director Quentin Dupieux’s surreal comedy Second Act, starring darlings du cinema français Léa Seydoux and Louis Garrel. High-profile movies competing for the coveted Palme d’Or award, Cannes’ top prize, include Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez, which will bring Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez to the Grand Théâtre Lumière for some high-powered red carpet action; David Cronenberg’s trippy-looking The Shrouds, starring Vincent Cassel and Diane Kruger; and Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, with the Marvelverse’s Sebastian Stan playing a young Donald Trump. Also attracting attention are Paul Schrader’s Oh Canada, starring Richard Gere; Kevin Costner’s Horizon, an American Saga, in which he also acts alongside Sienna Miller and Sam Worthington; and French director Coralie Fargeat’s horror film The Substance, starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley.
Rounding out the French films in competition are Gilles Lellouche’s romantic comedy L’Amour Ouf (Beating Hearts), starring the superhot Adèle Exarchopoulos and Francois Civil, and Agathe Riedinger’s debut feature, the coming-of-age story Wild Diamond. There’s also Christophe Honoré’s Marcello Mio, which has Chiara Mastroianni playing a version of herself living in the shadow of her father, the late actor Marcello Mastroianni, and her real-life mom, the legendary Catherine Deneuve, playing a version of herself. Celebrated Portrait of a Lady on Fire actor-turned-director Noémie Merlant’s second feature, The Balconettes (co-written with Céline Sciamma), will screen in the Midnight section, while French actor Laetitia Dosch’s (Jeune Femme) directorial debut Who Let the Dog Bite? and Louise Courvoisier’s Vingt Dieux! will premiere in the Un Certain Regard category.
It is notable that last year the festival set a new record, with seven female directors premiering films in competition. Justine Triet was ultimately awarded the Palme d’Or for Anatomy of a Fall (only the third time a woman has taken the top prize), and went on to win the Oscar for Best Screenplay for this lauded film. So far this year, only four women are presenting films in competition: English director Andrea Arnold’s Bird, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, documentarian Payal Kapadia’s narrative feature debut All We Imagine as Light, and Agathe Riedinger’s Wild Diamond.
Who is nominated at the Cannes Film Festival 2024?
All feature films in competition are eligible to win the esteemed grand prize, the Palme d’Or, the second-place Grand Prix, the Jury Prize, awards for best director, best actor, best actress, and best screenplay. The Un Certain Regard section, which focuses on new talents and innovative works by young directors, offers a host of prizes awarded by a jury, headed this year by French director Xavier Dolan. The crown jewel is the Prix Un Certain Regard, which includes a 30,000€ reward.
As for who will win the big prize, it’s too soon to call, given how little we know about the films. But let’s start some early buzz. What do we know? Cannes loves its seasoned international directors. Mike Leigh, Emir Kusturica, Wim Wenders, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Akira Kurosawa, Ken Loach, and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne all have Palmes on their mantels—the “Notable Nine,” which includes Coppola, each have two. (Also, notably, they are all men.) In this camp this year, we are talking about: Coppola’s Megalopolis, a passion project he funded with $120 million of his own money. Schrader’s Oh Canada, based on a novel by Russell Banks, who died last year, and whose novel Affliction Schrader also adapted. And Cronenberg’s The Shrouds, reportedly inspired by his wife’s death.
But recent selections suggest a pivot: Parasite, Triangle of Sadness, Titane, and Anatomy of a Fall were bold, surprising—in the case of Titane, some might say baffling—choices. Handing this revered 85-year-old award to a new generation of directors making darker, edgier films could be perceived as a move away from the old guard and toward fresh new voices. That 2021’s Titane and 2023’s Anatomy of a Fall are both directed by women confirms this trend. So when considering this year’s nominees, maybe we should take a harder look at exciting younger directors. Yorgos Lanthimos, whose film Kinds of Kindness is in competition, is having a moment, coming off the high of the runaway success of Poor Things and The Favourite. While we know little about Sean Baker’s Anora, his earlier work—Tangerine, The Florida Project, Red Rocket—rightfully made a lot of noise. Andrea Arnold’s Bird stars HOT with a capital H-O-T actors Barry Keoghan (Saltburn, Oscar winner for Banshees of Inisherin) and Franz Rogowski (Passages). The Cannes regular’s previous work—Red Road, Fish Tank, American Honey—is stunning. This year, she is receiving the honorary Directors’ Fortnight Golden Coach (Carrosse d’Or) Award, which has previously been awarded to such mavericks and geniuses as Nanni Moretti, Jane Campion, Martin Scorsese, John Carpenter, Ousmane Sembene, David Cronenberg and Agnès Varda.
In less charted territory, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light is the director’s first narrative feature, but her 2021 A Night of Not Knowing Nothing won the Director’s Fortnight Golden Eye for Best Documentary. It’s also the first Indian film to premiere in competition in 30 years. With few films by women directors in competition, Greta Gerwig’s jury might take a close look. Another female director, Agathe Riedinger, is coming in as a bit of a dark horse. Little seems to be known about her, and yet her debut film Wild Diamond is one of only 19 films selected to compete for the Palme d’Or in the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Like Kapadia’s film, it must be something special. Who doesn’t love an underdog?
The Full Cannes Film Selection List for 2024
OPENER
Second Act, Quentin Dupieux
COMPETITION
All We Imagine as Light, Payal Kapadia
Anora, Sean Baker
Bird, Andrea Arnold
Caught by the Tides (“Feng Liu Yi Dai”), Jia Zhang-Ke
Emilia Perez, Jacques Audiard
Grand Tour, Miguel Gomes
Kinds of Kindness, Yorgos Lanthimos
L’Amour Ouf, Gilles Lellouche
Limonov: The Ballad, Kirill Serebrennikov
Marcello Mio, Christophe Honoré
Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola
Motel Destino, Karim Ainouz
Oh Canada, Paul Schrader
Parthenope, Paolo Sorrentino
La Plus Précieuse des Marchandises, Michel Hazanavicius
The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi
The Girl with the Needle, Magnus von Horn
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Mohammad Rasoulof
The Shrouds, David Cronenberg
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat
Trei Kilometri Pana la Capatul Lumii, Emanuel Parvu
Wild Diamond (Diamant Brut), Agathe Riedinger
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Armand, Halfdan Ullman Tondel
Black Dog (Gou Zhen), Guan Hu
The Damned (Les Damnes), Roberto Minervini
Flow, Gints Zilbalodis
L’Histoire de Souleymane, Boris Lojkine
Le Royaume, Julien Colonna
My Sunshine (Boku No Ohisama), Hiroshi Okuyama
Niki, Céline Sallette
Norah, Tawfik Alzaidi
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Rungano Nyoni
Santosh, Sandhya Suri
September Says, Ariane Labed
The Shameless, Konstantin Bojanov
Viet and Nam, Truong Minh Quy
The Village Next to Paradise, Mo Harawe
Vingt Dieux!, Louise Courvoisier
When the Light Breaks, Rúnar Rúnarsson
Who Let the Dog Bite? (Le Proces du Chien), Laetitia Dosch
OUT OF COMPETITION
Le Compte de Monte Cristo, Alexandre De La Patellière et Matthieu Delaporte
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, George Miller
Horizon, an American Saga, Kevin Costner
Rumours, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, Guy Maddin
She’s Got No Name, Chan Peter Ho-Sun
CANNES PREMIERE
C’est Pas Moi, Leos Carax
En Fanfare (The Matching Bang), Emmanuel Courcol
Everybody Loves Touda, Nabil Ayouch
Le Roman de Jim, Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu
Maria, Jessica Palud
Misericorde, Alain Guiraudie
Rendez-Vous Avec Pol Pot, Rithy Panh
Vivre, Mourir, Renaitre, Gaël Morel
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
I, the Executioner, Seung Wan Ryoo
The Balconettes (Les Femmes au Balcon), Noemie Merlant
The Surfer, Lorcan Finnegan
Twilight of the Warrior Walled In, Soi Cheang
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Apprendre, Claire Simon
The Beauty of Gaza (La Belle de Gaza), Yolande Zauberman
Ernest Cole, Lost and Found, Raoul Peck
L’Invasion, Sergei Loznitsa
Le Fil, Daniel Auteuil
Lulu, Oliver Stone
Nasty, Tudor Giurgiu
Spectateurs, Arnaud Desplechin
An Unfinished Film, Lou Ye
Inaugural Virtual and Augmented Reality Lineup
IMMERSIVE COMPETITION
En Amour, Claire Bardainne, Adrien Mondot, Laurent Bardainne
Evolver, Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin, Robin McNicholas
Human Violins: Prelude (multi-user version), Ioana Mischie
Maya: The Birth of a Superhero, Poulomi Basu, CJ Clarke
Colored, Tania de Montaigne, Stéphane Foenkinos, Pierre-Alain Giraud
Telos I, Dorotea Saykaly, Emil Dam Seidel
The Roaming, Mathieu Pradat
Traversing the Mist, Tung-Yen Chou
IMMERSIVE SELECTION (NON-COMPETITIVE WORKS)
Battlescar, Martin Allais, Nico Casavecchia
Emperor, Marion Burger, Ilan J. Cohen
Gloomy Eyes, Fernando Maldonado, Jorge Tereso
Missing Pictures: Naomi Kawase, Clément Deneux
Notes on Blindness, Arnaud Colinart, Amaury La Burthe, Peter Middleton, James Spinney
Spheres, Eliza McNitt
2024 Critics’ Week Lineup
The lineup for Cannes Critics’ Week, a sidebar organized by France’s Film Critics Union that runs alongside the festival from May 15-23, was revealed on April 16. Focusing on directors’ first and second films, the event opens with psychological thriller Ghost Trail, the first feature from French short film director Jonathan Millet, and closes with Animale, a feminist horror film that takes place in the Camargue from first-time French director Emma Benestan.
COMPETITION
Baby, Marcelo Caetano
Blue Sun Palace, Constance Tsang
Julie Keeps Quiet, Leonardo Van Dijl
Locust, KEFF
Block Pass, Antoine Chevrollier
The Brink of Dreams, Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir
Simon of the Mountain, Federico Luis
SPECIAL SESSIONS
Ghost Trail, Jonathan Millet (Opening Film)
Across the Sea, Said Hamich Benlarbi
Queens of Drama, Alexis Langlois
Animal, Emma Benestan (Closing Film)
Cannes Classics
The Classics sidebar celebrates its 20th anniversary with a lineup that opens with a brand new restoration of the 1927 classic Napoléon vu par Abel Gance and features a 4K restoration of Wim Wenders’s Palme d’Or winning Paris, Texas, a 60th anniversary screening of Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and Scénarios, Jean-Luc Godard’s final film, completed the day before he died in 2022. Such artists as Faye Dunaway, Wim Wenders, Costa-Gavras, Raymond Depardon, Ron Howard and Frederick Wiseman will be present at the screenings of their work.
Scroll for the entire lineup. Click here for more information.
EVENTS
Gilda, Charles Vidor (1946)
The 40th anniversary of Paris, Texas, Wim Wenders (Palme d’or 1984)
La Vérité est Révolutionnaire, the first episode of the 10-part series, Le siècle de Costa-Gavras, Yannick Kergoat (2024)
Scénarios, Jean-Luc Godard (2024)
The 70th birthday of The Seven Samourai, Akira Kurosawa (1954)
Law and Order, Frederick Wiseman (1969)
Les Années Déclic, Raymond Depardon (1984)
Bye bye Brasil, Carlos Diegues (1970)
The 60th anniversary of Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Palme d’or 1964)
Jacques Demy, Le Rose et le Noir, Florence Platarets (2024)
DOCUMENTARIES
Faye, Laurent Bouzereau (2024)
Jim Henson Idea Man, Ron Howard (2024)
Walking in the Movies, Lyang Kim (2024)
D’une vague à l’autre, Emmanuel Barnault (2024)
Elizabeth Taylor: the Lost Tapes, Nanette Burstein (2024)
François Truffaut, Le Scénario de ma vie, David Teboul (2024)
Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand, David Hertzog Dessites
RESTORED PRINTS
Slap the Monster on Page One, Marco Bellocchio (1972)
The Sugarland Express, Steven Spielberg (1974)
Camp de Thiaroye, Ousmane Sembene and Thierno Faty Sow (1988)
Army of Shadows, Jean-Pierre Melville (1969)
Johnny Got His Gun, Dalton Trumbo (1971)
Rosaura at 10 O’Clock, Mario Soffici (1958)
Tasio, Montxo Armendáriz (1984)
The Rose of the Sea, Jacques de Baroncelli (1947)
Bona, Lino Brocka (1980)
Manthan (The Churning), Shyam Benegal (1976)
Shanghai Blues, Tsui Hark (1984)
Four Nights of a Dreamer, Robert Bresson (1971)
Andrea Meyer has written creative treatments for commercial directors, a sex & the movies column for IFC, and a horror screenplay for MGM. Her first novel, Room for Love (St. Martin’s Press) is a romantic comedy based on an article she wrote for the New York Post, for which she pretended to look for a roommate as a ploy to meet men. A long-time film and entertainment journalist and former indieWIRE editor, Andrea has interviewed more actors and directors than she can remember. Her articles and essays have appeared in such publications as Elle, Glamour, Variety, Time Out NY, and the Boston Globe.
