Cannes has been faulted for being overly small club oriemnted, and not as eager to highlight the changing face of cinema as other major festivals.

This year, however, it made strides in terms of representation.

After being criticized for failing to highlight more women in its lineup, Cannes will break its own record with six films from female directors, including Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera,” Jessica Hausner’s “Club Zero,” Catherine Breillat’s “Last Summer,” Justine Triet’s “Anatomie d’une chute,” Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s “Banel et Adama,” and Kaouther Ben Hania’s documentary’s “Olfa’s Daughters.

The competition will have an Italian flavor with the latest films from Nanni Moretti (“The Sun of the Future”), Marco Bellocchio (“Rapito”) and Rohrwacher, who was in competition before with “The Wonders” and “Happy as Lazzaro,” which won the Jury Prize and the screenplay award, respectively.

Two Documentaries

Besides “Olfa’s Daughters,” the competition includes another politically minded documentary, “Jeunesse” by Chinese director Wang Bing, who was previously at Cannes with “Dead Souls.” The helmer also has “Man in Black” in Special Screenings.

Fremaux said the rare presence of two documentary features in competition reflected their comeback in theaters.

Documentaries have also won top prizes at recent festivals, such as the latest editions of the Berlinale (Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant”) and Venice (Laura Poitras’ “All The Beauty and the Bloodshed”). Cannes has its own history with documentaries, for instance Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 911” which went on to win the Palme d’Or from Quentin Tarantino’s jury in 2004.

Outside of the core competition, Cannes’ Un Certain Regard will showcase wide range of emerging and up-and-coming directors from around the world, including films from the African continent, and a first film from Mongolia with Zoljargal Purevdash’s “If Only I Could Hibernate.”

Un Certain Regard will kick off with the French film “Le Règne Animal” by Thomas Cailley, whose feature debut “Les Combattants” won a few Cesar Awards.

Over the course of its eight decades, Cannes has become the most famous celebration of moviemaking in the world. Its star-studded red carpets, glitzy parties, Mediterranean vistas are virtually synonymous with the glamorous side of the film business. But that industry is changing, with studios increasingly focused on promoting their streaming services, while facing cutbacks and layoffs in the face of a possible recession.

Although the lineup had films from major studios, just as 2022’s edition featured the premieres of “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Elvis,” it’s unclear how celebratory people will be feeling and how freely they will be spending.

In recent weeks, the festival has been teasing cinephiles with announcements about Scorsese returning to the Croisette with “Killers of the Flower Moon,” 38 years after winning best director with “After Hour,” as well as Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, “Strange Way of Life.”

Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen will be back at the festival with “Occupied City,” a film about Amsterdam during its occupation by the Nazis. McQueen previously won the Golden Camera at Cannes with “Hunger.”

Other revered directors slated for Special Screenings include Wenders with “Le Bruit du Temps” and Kleber Mendonca Filho with “Pictures of Ghosts.”

Thierry Frémaux , the festival’s director, hosted the opening press conference alongside Cannes’ new president Iris Knobloch, a former WarnerMedia executive.

He noted that there was a strong contingent of Hollywood talent expected in the South of France. These emissaries include Anderson with “Asteroid City,” starring an ensemble cast that includes Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton;

Haynes with “May December” with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore;

HBO’s The Idol, the Weeknd-led series from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson.

Other notable projects include Karim Aïnouz’s Henry VIII drama “Firebrand” with Alicia Vikander and Jude Law, as well as Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” an adaptation of Martin Amis’ Auschwitz-set novel.

Ken Loach

Ken Loach, the most successful director in the history of Cannes, having premiered more than a dozen films there and winning the Palme d’Or twice, is back in the Palais with The Old Oak. He will have a chance to win the top prize a third time.

Killer of the Flower Moon

Killer of the Flower Moon, a $200 million historical drama that examines serial murders of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, will play out of competition. Frémaux said he tried and failed to convince Scorsese to vie for the Palme d’Or.

The premiere will be among the most A-list: the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, and Brendan Fraser, along with newcomer Lily Gladstone.

The festival will open with Maiwenn’s period drama Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp.

Ruben Östlund, the Swedish director who won the Palme d’Or twice. for “The Square” and “Triangle of Sadness,” will preside over the festival.

The 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will run May 16-May 27.

COMPETITION

“Club Zero,” Jessica Hausner

“Asteroid City,” Wes Anderson

“The Zone of Interest,” Jonathan Glazer

“Fallen Leaves,” Aki Kaurismaki

“Les Filles D’Olfa” (“Four Daughters”), Kaouther Ben Hania

“Anatomie D’une Chute,” Justine Triet

“Monster,” Kore-eda Hirokazu

“Il Sol Dell’Avvenire,” Nanni Moretti

“La Chimera,” Alice Rohrwacher

“About Dry Grasses,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan

“L’Ete Dernier,” Catherine Breillat

“The Passion of Dodin Bouffant,” Tran Anh Hung

“Rapito,” Marco Bellocchio

“May December,” Todd Haynes

“Firebrand,” Karim Ainouz

“The Old Oak,” Ken Loach

“Perfect Days,” Wim Wenders

“Banel Et Adama,” Ramata-Toulaye Sy

“Jeunesse,” Wang Bing

UN CERTAIN REGARD

“Los Delincuentes” (“The Deliquents”), Rodrigo Moreno

“How to Have Sex,” Molly Manning Walker

“Goodbye Julia,” Mohamed Kordofani

“Crowra (The Burti Flower),” João Salaviza & Renée Nader Messora

“Simple Comme Sylvain,” Monia Chokri

“Kadib Abyad” (“The Mother of All Lies”), Asmae EL Moudir

“Los Colonos” (“The Settlers”), Felipe Galvez

“Augure” (“Omen”), Baloji Tshiani

“The Breaking Ice,” Anthony Chen

“Rosalie,” Stéphanie Di Giusto

“The New Boy,” Warwick Thornton

“If Only I Could Hibernate,” Zoljargal Purevdash

“Hopeless,” Kim Chang-hoon

“Terrestrial Verses,” Ali Asfari & Alireza Khatami

“Rien a Perdre,” Delphine Deloget

“Les Meutes,” Kamal Lazraq

“Le Regne Animal,” Thomas Cailley

OUT OF COMPETITION

“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese

“The Idol,” Sam Levinson

“Cobweb,” Kim Jee-woon

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” James Mangold

“Jeanne du Barry,” Maiwenn

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS

“Omar la Fraise,” Elias Belkeddar

“Kennedy,” Anurag Kashyap

“Acide,” Just Philippot

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

“Retratos Fantasmas,” (“Pictures of Ghosts”), Kleber Mendonca Filho

“Anselm,” Wim Wenders

“Occupied City,” Steve McQueen

“Man in Black,” Wang Bing

CANNES PREMIERE

“Le Temps D’Aimer,” Katell Quillevere

“Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe,” Martin Provost

“Kubi,” Takeshi Kitano