Cannes Film Festival 2025: The Official Selection and Must-See Films
Once again this year, the magic of the big screen takes over the Croisette with a rich, bold, and more international selection than ever. In a buzzing auditorium at UGC Montparnasse filled with cinephiles from all backgrounds, the official selection of the 78th Festival de Cannes was unveiled.
Here’s a look back at the highlights of the Thursday, April 10 press conference and the speeches from the Festival’s two key figures.
Iris Knobloch and Thierry Frémaux
Iris Knobloch’s Speech, Festival President
“For nearly 80 years, the Cannes Film Festival has engaged with the world. In a time of growing isolationism, this message of openness is essential. Cannes champions openness to others, to difference, to the new: this is the DNA of the Festival.”
She highlighted the Festival’s major cultural and media role, with 39,000 accredited professionals, 4,200 journalists, and a film market that gathers 15,000 participants from 140 countries. In 2024, selected films (Anora, Emilia Perez, Flow, The Substance) found international acclaim, from the César Awards to the Oscars. In France, they drew 25 million cinema-goers.
She emphasized the Festival’s commitment to social issues, particularly in response to the recommendations from the cultural sector violence inquiry.
“Women are being heard. They no longer wait for their place—they take it.”
After Greta Gerwig, Juliette Binoche will preside over the 2025 jury—a globally recognized actress who embodies reinvention and traverses film cultures from Poland to Iran, Japan to the US. Cannes will also pay tribute to Robert De Niro with an honorary Palme d’Or.
Iris Knobloch concluded by thanking the Festival’s team, its partners, the city of Cannes, and saluted the resilience of artists, especially in the US, amid recent strikes.
Thierry Frémaux’s Speech, General Delegate
Frémaux began by emphasizing the Festival’s link to movie theatres—“another invention of the Lumière brothers.” The seats at UGC Montparnasse came from UGC Normandie. He shared the record-breaking number of submissions this year: 2,909 feature films, 32% directed by women, and 1,127 first-time features.
He paid tribute to late film figures such as Emily Dequenne, Marisa Paredes, Carlos Diegues, and David Lynch, dedicating this 78th edition to Dequenne.
With warmth and cinephile wit, Frémaux revealed the films selected across each section, peppered with personal anecdotes and insights. From big stars like Scarlett Johansson, Jodie Foster, Joaquin Phoenix, and Benicio del Toro to newcomers from Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Chile, and the Czech Republic.
Frémaux concluded by reaffirming the Festival’s mission: “to celebrate creativity, boldness, and the humanistic values that cinema carries.” The 2025 edition promises to be rich, intense, and globally inclusive.
An Unprecedented and Bold Opening
For the first time in the Festival’s history, a debut feature will open the event: Partir un jour by Amélie Bonnin. A contemporary musical that, according to Frémaux, echoes Alain Resnais’ Same Old Song. A strong signal in favor of emerging filmmakers.
OFFICIAL SELECTION – CANNES 2025
OPENING FILM:
Partir un jour – Amélie BONNIN (Debut film, Out of Competition)
As Cécile prepares to fulfill her dream of opening her own gourmet restaurant, she returns to her childhood village after her father’s heart attack. Far from the hustle of Paris, she reconnects with her first love. Memories surface and her certainties begin to waver…
OFFICIAL COMPETITION:
- Un simple accident – Jafar PANAHI
- Sentimental Value – Joachim TRIER
- Romería – Carla SIMON
- Sound of Falling – Mascha SCHILINSKI
- Les aigles de la République – Tarik SALEH
- The Mastermind – Kelly REICHARDT
- Dossier 137 – Dominik MOLL
- L’agent secret (O Secreto Agente) – Kleber MENDONÇA FILHO
- Fiori (Fuori) – Mario MARTONE
- Deux procureurs – Sergei LOZNITSA
- Nouvelle vague – Richard LINKLATER
- Sirat – Oliver LAXE
- La petite dernière – Hafsia HERZI
- The History of Sound – Oliver HERMANUS
- Renoir – Chie HAYAKAWA
- Alpha – Julia DUCOURNAU
- Jeunes mères – Jean-Pierre & Luc DARDENNE
- Eddington – Ari ASTER
- The Phoenician Scheme – Wes ANDERSON
UN CERTAIN REGARD: Youth, Vision, and Discovery
A vibrant showcase for emerging global cinema. Notable debuts include films from Nigeria (My Father’s Shadow), Egypt (Aisha Can’t Fly Away), Chile (La misteriosa mirada del flamenco), Japan (The Pale View of Hills), the Czech Republic (Karavan), and Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor the Great.
- La misteriosa mirada del flamenco – Diego CÉSPEDES (Debut)
- Météore – Hubert CHARUEL
- My Father’s Shadow – Akinola DAVIES JR (Debut)
- L’inconnu de la grande Arche – Stéphane DEMOUSTIER
- Urchin – Harris DICKINSON (Debut)
- Homebound – Neeraj GHAYWAN
- A Pale View of Hills – ISHIKAWA Kei
- Eleanor the Great – Scarlett JOHANSSON (Debut)
- Karavan – Zuzana KIRCHNEROVA (Debut)
- Pillion – Harry LIGHTON (Debut)
- Aisha Can’t Fly Away – Morad MOSTAFA (Debut)
- Once Upon a Time in Gaza – Arab & Tarzan NASSER
- The Plague – Charlie POLINGER (Debut)
- Promis le ciel – Erige SEHIRI
- Le città di pianura (Un dernier pour la route) – Francesco SOSSAI
- Testa o croce? (Heads or Tails?) – Matteo ZOPPIS & Alessio RIGO DE RIGHI
OUT OF COMPETITION: Big Names & Blockbusters
- La venue de l’avenir – Cédric KLAPISCH
- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Christopher McQUARRIE- Starring Tom Cruise
- La femme la plus riche du monde – Thierry KLIFA
- Vie privée – Rebecca ZLOTOWSKI (starring Jodie Foster)
- HIGHEST 2 LOWEST – Spike Lee
MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS: Chills & Thrills
- Dalloway – Yann GOZLAN
- Exit 8 – Genki KAWAMURA
- Sons of the Neon Night (Feng lin huo shan) – Juno MAK
CANNES PREMIÈRE: Prestige World Premieres
- Amrum – Fatih AKIN
- Splitsville – Michael Angelo COVINO
- La ola (The Wave) – Sebastian LELIO
- Connemara – Alex LUTZ
- Orwell: 2+2=5 – Raoul PECK
- La disparition de Joseph Mengele (The Disappearance of Josef Mengele) – Kirill SEREBRENNIKOV
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
- Stories of Surrender – Bono
- Dites-lui que je l’aime – Romane Bohringer
- Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol – Sylvain Chomet
At the peak of his fame, Marcel Pagnol is asked by a women’s magazine editor to write a serial recounting his youth, his Provence, and his first loves. As he writes, the child he once was—little Marcel—appears to him, and his memories come flooding back.
A Milestone Edition, A Fresh Vision
As the Festival celebrates 70 years of the Palme d’Or, Iris Knobloch and Thierry Frémaux reaffirm a clear direction: more women, more first-time directors, and a sharp perspective on today’s world.
Six women directors are in competition—a record—with Juliette Binoche presiding over the jury, succeeding Greta Gerwig. Two women leading the jury in succession, for the first time in Festival history.
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