The Cannes Film Festival serves as the prime setting to showcase the world's best film making. Running from May 11 to 22 in 2005, the list of films to be screened both in and out of competition range from the world premier of the sure-to-be-a-blockbuster, "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," to the gothic, "Sin City," to Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut with, "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada."
Most of the attention turns to the films in competition, which are:
- "Lemming," directed by Dominik MOLL, which is the opening film.
- "A History of Violence," by David CRONENBERG
- "L'Enfant," (French for, "The Child"), by Jean-Pierre and Luc DARDENNE
- "Where the Truth Lies," by Atom EGOYAN
- "Free Zone," by Amos GITAÏ
- "Caché," by Michael HANEKE
- "Best of Our Times," by Hsiao-Hsien HOU
- "Broken Flowers," by Jim JARMUSCH
- "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," by Tommy Lee JONES
- "Bashing," by Masahiro KOBAYASHI
- "Peindre ou Faire l'Amour," (French for, "To Paint or Make Love"), by Arnaud and Jean-Marie LARRIEU
- "Sin City," by Frank MILLER and Robert RODRIGUEZ
- "Batalla en el Cielo," (Spanish for, "Battle in the Sky," by Carlos REYGADAS
- "Kilomètré Zéro," by Hiner SALEEM
- "Election," by Johnnie TO
- "Quando Sei Nato non Puoi Piu Nasconderti," (or, "When You Were Born"), by Giordana Marco TULLIO
- "Last Days," by Gus VAN SANT
- "Manderlay," by Lars VON TRIER
- "Shanghai Dreams," by Xiaoshuai WANG
- "Don't Come Knocking," by Wim WENDERS
Some of the biggest stars of Cannes can be the films out of competition (or "hors competition" in French), which can often times include some of the most renowned directors and most popular titles (think Quentin Tarantino and, "Kill Bill, Vol. 2," from the 2004 festival). The 2005 showings are no exception, highlighted by a Woody Allen flick and the much-anticipated final installment (but third chapter) of the Star Wars saga. The films out of competition are:
- "Match Point," directed by Woody ALLEN
- "Joyeux Noel," (or, "Merry Christmas"), by Christian CARION
- "Star Wars Episide III: Revenge of the Sith," by George LUCAS
- "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang," by Shane BLACK (first film)
- "Dal Kom Han In-Saeng," ("A Bittersweet Life," by Jee-woon KIM
- "Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream," by Stuart SAMUELS (first film)
- "Crossing the Bridge," by Fatih AKIN
- "The Power of Nightmares," by Adam CURTIS
- "Nekam Achat Mishtey Aynay," ("Only for One of My Two Eyes,") by Avi MOGRABI
- "Les Artistes du Theatre Brule," ("Artists of the Burning Theater," by Rithy PANH
- "C'est pas tout a Fait la Vie dont J'Avais Reve," ("It's Not Totally the Life that I Dreamed," by Michel PICCOLI
- "Cindy," by Bertrand BONELLO
- "Operetta Tanukigoten," ("Princess Raccoon"), by Seijun SUZUKI
The Courts Métrages (in competition) features films from around the globe:
- "Nothing Special," directed by Helena BROOKS (New Zealand)
- "Schijn van de Maan," ("Under the Gleam of the Moon," by Peter GHESQUIERE (Belgium)
- "Litost," by Anne HOVAD FISCHER (Denmark)
- "Missing," by Kit HUI (USA)
- "Before Dawn," by Bálint KENYERES (Hungary)
- "Clara," by Van SOWERWINE (Australia)
- "Poorozhnid," ("Wayfarers"), by Igor STREMBITSKYY (Ukraine)
- "Bébé Requin," ("Baby Shark"), by Pascal-Alex VINCENT (France)
- "Kitchen," by Alice WINOCOUR (France)
The elite home for artsy foreign films by young directors is the Un Certain Regard competition. It features:
- "Hwal," ("The Bow"), by Ki-duk KIM
- "Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachthani," by Shinji AOYAMA
- "Le Filmeur," by Alain CAVALIER
- "Sangre," by Amat ESCALANTE
- "Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus," ("Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures"), by Marcelo GOMES (first film)
- "Schlafer," by Benjamín HEISENBERG (first film)
- "Falscher Bekenner," ("Low Profile"), by Christoph HOCHHÄUSLER
- "Down in the Valley," by David JACOBSON (first film)
- "Sulanga enu Pinisa," ("Abandoned Earth"), by Vimukthi JAYASUNDARA
- "Zim and Co." by Pierre JOLIVET
- "Voksne Mennesker," ("Dark Horse"), by Dagur KÁRI
- "Yek Shab," ("One Night"), by Niki KARIMI (first film)
- "Jewbot," by Tony KRAWITZ
- "Cidade Baixa," ("Lower City"), by Sergio MACHADO (first film)
- "The King," by James MARSH (first film)
- "Johanna," by Kornél MUNDRUCZÓ
- "Le Temps qui Reste," ("The Time that Remains"), by François OZON
- "Moartea Domnului Lazarescu," ("The Death of Mr. Lazarescu"), by Cristi PUIU
- "Yellow Fellow," by Ivan SEN
- "Nordeste," by Juan SOLANAS (first film)
- "Delwende," ("Get Up and Leave"), by S. Pierre YAMEOGO
- "Habana Blues," by Benito ZAMBRANO
The ceremonies will close with the world premier of, "Chromophobia," by Martha Fiennes (out of competition). See page two for the Cinéfondation selections.