20/04/2012 - France looks set to do well this year in Cannes, with three contenders for the Palme d’Or who are already famous for their very personal and contrasting styles.

A champion of film noir with a social twist, an inventive alchemist seemingly unaffected by time, and a daring and mischievous ex-enfant terrible. In the competition at the 65th Cannes Film Festival from May 16 to 27 this year, France will be represented by Jacques Audiard, Alain Resnais, and Leos Carax, a trio of already famous filmmakers each with their own very personal and different styles.

After previously competing at Cannes in 1996 with A Self-Made Hero (Best Screenplay) and in 2009 with A Prophet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard and Tahar R…
film profile] (Grand Prize), Jacques Audiard (60 years old) will be back next month with his sixth feature film: Rust & Bone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jacques Audiard
interview: Jacques Audiard
film profile] (article). In the film, Marion Cotillard, Belgian rising star Matthias Schoenaerts, and his fellow-countryman Bouli Lanners shine behind the camera, beside Céline Sallette and Corinne Masiero. The screenplay is an adaptation by the director and Thomas Bidegain of a collection of short stories by Canadian author Craig Davidson, and revolves around marginal characters fighting their own demons. Produced by Why Not, the film was made on a budget of €15.55m, and co-produced by France 2 Cinéma, Page 114 , and Belgian production company Films du Fleuve, with pre-acquisitions from Canal + and Ciné+. UGC will release the film in France on May 17 and Celluloïd Dreams is in charge of its international sales.

With Vous n’avez encore rien vu [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (article), Alain Resnais (89 years old) is back in the competition at Cannes for the fifth time in his career, after Hiroshima, My Love (1959), Stavisky... (1974), My American Uncle (Grand Prize in 1980) and Wild Grass [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] in 2009 (awarded an Exceptional Prize by the jury). His new film, his twentieth feature film, is a free adaptation by Laurent Herbiet and Alex Réval of the play Euridyce by Jean Anouilh. The film stars Mathieu Amalric, Lambert Wilson, Michel Piccoli, Anne Consigny, Sabine Azéma, Hippolyte Girardot, Pierre Arditi, Anny Duperey, and Denis Podalydès. This F Comme Film production, made on a budget of €8.01m, was co-produced by Christmas In July, France 2 Cinéma, and German production company Alamode Film. It received an advance on receipts from the French National Centre for Cinema and the moving image (CNC), as well as support from the Ile-de-France region and pre-acquisitions by Canal+ and Ciné+. The film is due out in French cinemas on September 26 and StudioCanal will be in charge of international sales.

Featuring a baroque cast made up of Denis Lavant, Kylie Minogue, Edith Scob, Eva Mendes, and Michel Piccoli, Holy Motors (news) will allow Leos Carax (51 years old) to compete once again in Cannes after Pola X in 1999. This fifth feature by the director of The Lovers of the Bridge was produced by Pierre Grise Productions on a budget of €3.9m and co-produced by Arte France Cinéma. It also received an advance on receipts from the CNC, support from the Ile-de-France region, and pre-acquisitions from Canal+ . Les Films du Losange will release the film in French cinemas on July 4, and Wild Bunch will be in charge of international sales.

(Translated from French)