Cannes film festival president Iris Knobloch, right, and Cannes film festival delegate general Thierry Fremaux attend a press conference to announce the International Cannes film festival line up for the upcoming 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Thursday, April 10, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)2025-04-10T10:09:41Z PARIS (AP) New films from Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, and Richard Linklater will compete for the Palme dOr at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday.Coming off a 2024 edition that produced the Academy Award best-picture winner Anora, as well as a number of Oscar contenders in Emilia Prez, The Substance and The Apprentice, the French film festival responded with a 2025 lineup full of big-name auteurs.Thierry Frmaux, Cannes artistic director, announced the selections in a news conference in Paris with festival president Iris Knobloch.Asked if he was under pressure after producing so many Oscars contenders last year, Frmaux said the festival organizers feel like an athlete putting his title back on the line.What happened last year was great, he said. And what happened the year before was great. The last seven, eight years, Cannes and the films of Cannes were great. Entries include Asters Eddington, a pandemic-set Western starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone; Andersons The Phoenician Scheme, starring Benicio Del Toro as a European profiteer and Linklaters appropriately French-language Nouvelle Vague, about Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave. Julia Ducournau, whose Titane won the Palme dOr in 2021, making Ducournau only the second female filmmaker to ever receive Cannes top honor, will return to the festival with the 1980s New York-set Alpha, about an 11-year-old with a parent who has AIDS. Several high-profile films that some had hoped would show up in Cannes werent announced Tuesday in Paris, including Terrence Malicks long-awaited Jesus drama The Way of the Wind, Spike Lees Akira Kurosawa remake Highest 2 Lowest, and Paul Thomas Andersons One Battle After Another. New films by Jim Jarmusch and Kristen Stewart had also been expected in the Cannes lineup. Asked about their absence, Fremaux declined to comment, saying he wanted to instead focus on the pictures which made the cut. He, however, said more films could be later added to the selection.An hour after the press conference in Paris, however, Lee said on Instagram that Highest 2 Lowest is, indeed, going to Cannes, and screening out of competition. Representatives for the festival later confirmed that Lees post was accurate, noting that the film wasnt announced in the press conference because Cannes was awaiting confirmation that the movies star, Denzel Washington, would be in attendance. With that confirmed, Highest 2 Lowest will premiere on May 19.Fremaux altogether announced 19 films vying for the Palme dOr, six of which are directed by women.Two films starring Josh OConnor made it into the competition lineup: Oliver Hermanus The History of Sound, co-starring Paul Mescal, and Kelly Reichardts The Mastermind, an art heist film set during the Vietnam War.Other previously Cannes regulars coming back include two-time Palme winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The Belgian filmmaking brothers latest is titled Young Mothers. Joachim Trier, whose The Worst Person in the World was a highlight of the 2021 Cannes, is back in competition with Sentimental Value, which likewise stars Renate Reinsve. Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was imprisoned during the release of his last, secretly made film, 2022s No Bears, and not released until he went on a hunger strike, will unveil his latest film, It Was Just an Accident. Playing in the festivals Un Certain Regard sidebar is Scarlett Johanssons directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, starring June Squibb. Harris Dickinson, the Babygirl star, will also premiere his directorial debut, Urchin, in the same section. Bono will also be coming to the Croisette for the premiere of Bono: Stories of Surrender, Andrew Dominiks film of the singers one-man stage show. That will play in Cannes special screening section. Cannes earlier announced that Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning will launch at the festival, which three years ago bestowed an honorary Palme dOr on Tom Cruise. This year, Robert De Niro is set to receive one during the festivals opening ceremony. Following in the footsteps of Greta Gerwig, Juliette Binoche will head the jury that decides this years Palme dOr. Knobloch said its the first time in 60 years that two women succeed each other in this role.The festival runs May 13-24. The opening night film, playing out of competition, will be Leave One Day, the first movie by French director Amlie Bonnin.___Coyle reported from New York. SAMUEL PETREQUIN Petrequin has been covering sports and general news for The Associated Press for more than two decades. twitter mailto JAKE COYLE Coyle has been a film critic and covered the movie industry for The Associated Press since 2013. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site