Daily Cannes film festival for 16/05/2025
COMPÉTITION (SÉLECTION OFFICIELLE)
DOSSIER 137 (CASE 137) by DOMINIK MOLL at 9:00 (runtime 1h55)
Stéphanie, a police officer working for Internal Affairs, is assigned to a case involving a young man severely wounded during a tense and chaotic demonstration in Paris. While she finds no evidence of illegitimate police violence, the case takes a personal turn when she discovers the victim is from her hometown.
SIRÂT by OLIVER LAXE at 12:00 (runtime 2h)
A father (Sergi López) and his son arrive at a rave deep in the mountains of southern Morocco. They’re searching for Mar — daughter and sister — who vanished months ago at one of these endless, sleepless parties. Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert. As they venture deeper into the burning wilderness, the journey forces them to confront their own limits.
LA PETITE DERNIÈRE by HAFSIA HERZI at 15:00 (runtime 1h46)
Fatima, 17, the youngest of three daughters, treads carefully as she searches for her own path, grappling with emerging desires, her attraction to women, and her loyalty to her caring French-Algerian family. Starting university in Paris, she dates, makes friends, and explores a whole new world, all while confronting a timeless and heartrending dilemma: How can one stay true to oneself when reconciling different parts of one’s identity feels impossible?
EDDINGTON de / by ARI ASTER at 18:45 (runtime 2h25)
In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.
UN CERTAIN REGARD (SÉLECTION OFFICIELLE)
THE PLAGUE by CHARLIE POLINGER at 11:00 (runtime 1h35)
At an all-boys water polo camp, a socially anxious twelve-year-old is pulled into a cruel tradition targeting an outcast with an illness they call “The Plague.” But as the lines between game and reality blur, he fears the joke might be hiding something real.
L’INCONNU DE LA GRANDE ARCHE (THE GREAT ARCH) by STÉPHANE DEMOUSTIER at 14:00 (runtime 1h45)
1982. French President François Mitterrand decides to launch an international architectural competition for the flagship project of his mandate: the Great Arch of La Défense, aligned with the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe.
Against all odds, Otto von Spreckelsen, a Danish architect, wins the competition.
Overnight, this 53-year-old man, unknown in France, arrives in Paris where he is propelled at the helm of this pharaonic project.
While the architect intends to build the Great Arch exactly as he envisioned, his ideas quickly clash with realistic constraints and the vicissitudes of politics.
THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER by KRISTEN STEWART at 22:30 (runtime 1h30)
Brought up in an environment torn apart by violence and alcohol, Lidia Yuknavitch seemed destined for self-destruction and failure until words offered her unexpected freedom in the form of literature. The Chronology of Water, adapted from Yuknavitch’s autobiographical bestseller, follows Lidia’s journey to find her own voice in an exploration of how trauma can be transformed into art through re-possessing our own bloody histories, particularly those uniquely experienced by the bodies of women and girls.
CANNES CLASSICS (SÉLECTION OFFICIELLE)
STERNE (STARS) by KONRAD WOLF at 14:30 (runtime 1h33)
A Jewish teacher and a German officer fall in love in a Bulgarian camp where Greek Jews await their deportation to Auschwitz in 1943. Their love is crushed by fascism, hate and discrimination in one of the first films to confront Germany’s role in the Holocaust. Based on the experiences of the Bulgarian writer Angel Wagenstein (1922-2023).
HARD BOILED (À TOUTE ÉPREUVE) by JOHN WOO at 16:00 (runtime 2h08)
A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who’s working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.
SUNSHINE de / by ISTVÁN SZABÓ at 20:00 (runtime 3h01)
SUNSHINE follows three generations of a Hungarian-Jewish family as they navigate anti-Semitism, assimilation, fascism, war, communism and revolution — with Ralph Fiennes playing his own son and grandson across all three eras.
SÉANCES DU LENDEMAIN (SÉLECTION OFFICIELLE)
LA MISTERIOSA MIRADA DEL FLAMENCO (THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO) by DIEGO CÉSPEDES at 8:30 (runtime 1h44)
1982. Eleven-year-old Lidia lives with her beloved queer family in a desert mining town in northern Chile. As an unknown and deadly disease begins to spread, legend has it that it is transmitted between two men, through a simple glance, when they fall in love. While people are accusing her family, Lidia must find out whether this myth is real or not.
SIRÂT by OLIVER LAXE at 08:30 (runtime 2h)
A father (Sergi López) and his son arrive at a rave deep in the mountains of southern Morocco. They’re searching for Mar — daughter and sister — who vanished months ago at one of these endless, sleepless parties. Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert. As they venture deeper into the burning wilderness, the journey forces them to confront their own limits.
DOSSIER 137 (CASE 137) by DOMINIK MOLL at 11.00 (runtime 1h55)
Stéphanie, a police officer working for Internal Affairs, is assigned to a case involving a young man severely wounded during a tense and chaotic demonstration in Paris. While she finds no evidence of illegitimate police violence, the case takes a personal turn when she discovers the victim is from her hometown.
AMRUM by FATIH AKIN at 14:00 (runtime 1h33)
Amrum Island, Spring 1945. In the final days of the war, 12-year-old Nanning braves the treacherous sea to hunt seals, goes fishing at night, and works the nearby farm to help his mother feed the family. Despite the hardship, life on the beautiful, windswept island almost feels like paradise. But when peace finally comes, it reveals a deeper threat: the enemy is far closer than he imagined.
A PALE VIEW OF HILLS by KEI ISHIKAWA at 20:15 (runtime 2h03)
In 1982, UK. An aspiring Japanese-British writer plans to write a book based on her mother Etsuko’s post-war experiences in Nagasaki. Etsuko, haunted by the suicide of her older daughter, begins to recount her memories from 1952 as a young mother-to-be. Her story begins with her encounter with Sachiko, who was full of hope about starting a new life abroad, and her young daughter Mariko, who constantly spoke of an eerie woman. The writer finds something at odds as she confronts the mementoes of her mother’s Nagasaki years, as well as the memories Etsuko shares with her.
Director's Fortnight
THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE (MAMLAKET AL-QASAB) by HASAN HADI at 8:45 and 17:45 (runtime 1h42)
Nine-year-old Lamia lives in Saddam's Iraq, where people struggle to survive daily. To avoid consequences such as death, Limia must forage for ingredients to bake a mandatory cake to celebrate President Saddam Hussein's birthday.
ENZO by LAURENT CANTET & ROBIN CAMPILLO at 11:30 (runtime 1h42)
Starting a masonry apprenticeship, this 16-year-old boy contests the expectations of his bourgeois family. Soon, his world will be shaken up by his mesmerizing Ukrainian colleague.
QUE MA VOLONTÉ SOIT FAITE (HER WILL BE DONE) by JULIA KOWALSKI at 11:45 and 20:30 (runtime 1h35)
Certain that she has been afflicted with a strange hereditary curse while battling a monstrous desire, Nawojka will attempt to escape these shackles with the help of her newly returned neighbor, Sandra.
BRAND NEW LANDSCAPE by YUIGA DANZUKA AR at 14:45 (runtime 1h55)
Haunted by their mother's absence two siblings navigate Tokyo and the last chance they may have at reconciliation: the return of their estranged father.
FACTORY CEARÁ BRASIL at 22:30 (runtime 1h05)
Entering the bar where her showgirl lover works tirelessly under a savage truffle-loving pig, a trans cowgirl attempts an escape for the two of them. However, this loving gesture morphs into a bloody Western showdown.
De La Critique
LEFT-HANDED GIRL by SHIH-CHING TSOU at 8:45 (runtime 1h49)
Returning to Taipei to open a stand at a vibrant night market after living in the countryside for quite some time a single mother and her two daughters must acclimate to their new home by their own specific means if they wish to succeed financially and as a family.
KIKA by ALEXE POUKINE at 11:30 and 18:00 (runtime 1h50)
The abrupt death of her partner while pregnant with a second child leaves Kika heartbroken and destitute, through this traumatic experience her priorities are set straight, and she must continue to fight and make money as fast as she can.
BAISE-EN-VILLE by MARTIN JAUVAT at 15:00 and 21:00 (runtime 1h34)
Following a break-up, 20-year-old Sprite returns home, and without his license, he cannot get around his city. Trying to solve this problem, Sprite meets girls on an app and spends his nights in their homes, following his driver instructor's mantra.
REPRISE DE LA SÉLECTION (SÉLECTION OFFICIELLE)
DOSSIER 137 by DOMINIK MOLL at 8:45 (runtime 1h55)
Stéphanie, a police officer working for Internal Affairs, is assigned to a case involving a young man severely wounded during a tense and chaotic demonstration in Paris. While she finds no evidence of illegitimate police violence, the case takes a personal turn when she discovers the victim is from her hometown.
SOUND OF FALLING by MASCHA SCHILINSKI at 08:45 (runtime 2h29)
Four girls, Alma, Erika, Angelika, and Lenka, each spend their youth on the same farm in northern Germany. As the home evolves over a century, echoes of the past linger in its walls. Though separated by time, their lives begin to mirror each other.
LA MISTERIOSA MIRADA DEL FLAMENCO by DIEGO CÉSPEDES at 11:00 (runtime 1h44)
1982. Eleven-year-old Lidia lives with her beloved queer family in a desert mining town in northern Chile. As an unknown and deadly disease begins to spread, legend has it that it is transmitted between two men, through a simple glance, when they fall in love. While people are accusing her family, Lidia must find out whether this myth is real or not.
SIRÂT by OLIVER LAXE at 11:15 (runtime 2h)
A father (Sergi López) and his son arrive at a rave deep in the mountains of southern Morocco. They’re searching for Mar — daughter and sister — who vanished months ago at one of these endless, sleepless parties. Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert. As they venture deeper into the burning wilderness, the journey forces them to confront their own limits.
TWO PROSECUTORS by SERGEI LOZNITSA at 11:45 (runtime 1h58)
Soviet Union, 1937. Thousands of letters from detainees falsely accused by the regime are burned in a prison cell. Against all odds, one of them reaches its destination, upon the desk of the newly appointed local prosecutor, Alexander Kornev. Kornev does his utmost to meet the prisoner, a victim of corrupt agents of the secret police, the NKVD. A dedicated Bolshevik of integrity, the young prosecutor suspects foul play. His quest for justice will take him all the way to the office of the Attorney General in Moscow. In the age of the great Stalinist purges, this is the plunge of a man into the corridors of a totalitarian regime that does not bear said name.
QUI BRILLE AU COMBAT by JOSÉPHINE JAPY at 13:15 (runtime 1h36)
The Roussier family lives in a fragile equilibrium around the younger sister, Bertille, who suffers from a severe disability with an unclear diagnosis. Her parents, Madeleine and Gilles, and her sister Marion, each of them tries their best to deal with the doubts and needs surrounding this extraordinary child who could die at any moment. What does the future hold for this couple, and for Marion whose responsibilities made her grow up too fast? When a new diagnosis is unveiled, horizons open up…
DALLOWAY by YANN GOZLAN at 13:45 (runtime 1h50)
Clarissa, a writer lacking inspiration, joins a prestigious artist residency at the cutting edge of technology. There, she finds support—and even a confidante— in Dalloway, her virtual assistant, who helps her write. But Clarissa begins to grow uneasy with the AI’s increasingly intrusive presence, a discomfort amplified by the conspiratorial warnings of another resident. Feeling watched, Clarissa secretly embarks on an investigation to discover the true intentions of her hosts. Real threat or a paranoid delusion?
PROMIS LE CIEL by ERIGE SEHIRI at 14:15 (runtime 1h32)
Marie, an Ivorian pastor and former journalist, has lived in Tunisia for ten years. Her home becomes a refuge for Naney, a young mother seeking a better future, and Jolie, a strong-willed student carrying her family’s hopes. The arrival of a little orphan girl challenges their sense of solidarity in a tense social climate, revealing both their fragility and strength.
A PALE VIEW OF HILLS by KEI ISHIKAWA at 16:00 (runtime 2h03)
In 1982, UK. An aspiring Japanese-British writer plans to write a book based on her mother Etsuko’s post-war experiences in Nagasaki. Etsuko, haunted by the suicide of her older daughter, begins to recount her memories from 1952 as a young mother-to-be. Her story begins with her encounter with Sachiko, who was full of hope about starting a new life abroad, and her young daughter Mariko, who constantly spoke of an eerie woman. The writer finds something at odds as she confronts the mementos of her mother’s Nagasaki years, as well as the memories Etsuko shares with her.
AMRUM de / by FATIH AKIN at 6:15 (runtime 1h33)
Amrum Island, Spring 1945. In the final days of the war, 12-year-old Nanning braves the treacherous sea to hunt seals, goes fishing at night, and works the nearby farm to help his mother feed the family. Despite the hardship, life on the beautiful, windswept island almost feels like paradise. But when peace finally comes, it reveals a deeper threat: the enemy is far closer than he imagined.
