What’s in store for the Cannes Film Festival in 2023?

Festival de Cannes is Cannes, France’s international film festival, and it’s a pretty big deal. Described as “the world’s most prestigious film gathering,” the official fest dates back to around 1946.

In the 30s, the first ever international film festival took place in Italy, the Venice Mostra. Upset by the sway that rising Axis powers of Europe had over the outcome of the festival’s awards, French diplomat and jury member Philippe Erlanger decided to create his own film festival in France. The festival itself got put on hold because of World War II, but when Cannes finally kicked off, it quickly became a major occasion.

This year is the 76th edition of the festival. On Thursday, the lineup was released, and there are some pretty exciting movies being shown in and out of competition. Legendary auteur filmmakers the likes of Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Catherine Breillat, Wim Wenders, Kore-eda Hirokazu and Todd Haynes are debuting pieces at the festival, which will start on May 16. The event will feature over 50 films.

The Palm d’Or is Cannes’ biggest award. Last year, it was won by “Triangle of Sadness,” directed by Ruben Östlund. In competition for the award are movies with tons of anticipation, like Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak,” Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Monster,” Todd Haynes’ “May December,” Catherine Breillat’s “L’été Dernier” and more. With five of 19 movies competing being directed by women, this year’s festival has a record number of female filmmakers featured. Another exciting movie being shown out of competition is Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

For the past couple of years, Cannes has been smaller than in years past to keep things pandemic-friendly, but now the festival is back to its old grand scale.

“The films are back in theaters and the public is back in theaters,” said Cannes president Iris Knobloch. “The moviemakers, the artists, the professionals are all in agreement. Nothing can replace the cultural event represented by a release in a theater for a movie.”