David Farnor | On 12, Apr 2018

The films set to premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival have been unveiled, and Amazon’s Cold War is part of the line-up.

The movie, which is directed by Oscar-winning director Pawel Pawlikowski, will chart a romance across Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia, and Paris during the 1950s. It joins a selection of new titles from such auteurs as Jean Luc-Godard, Wim Wenders and Spike Lee, all of whom will be in attendance on the Croisette this May.

One notably absent player this year, though, is Netflix, who premiered Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories and Bong Joon-ho’s Okja at Cannes in 2017. Since then, a dispute has arisen between the two, as the French festival has stubbornly refused to shift its policy of not screening films that will only be released online in France. The country’s outdated rules currently ban any movie from being released on a subscription service for 36 years after their theatrical debut – and, with Netflix relying on day-and-date distribution, and France unwilling to make an exception, a stalemate has emerged between them. Under pressure from French cinemas, the festival has decided to adopt an equally old-fashioned policy. Netflix, as a result, has confirmed that it will not debut any movies at Cannes this year.

The result is a festival line-up with surprisingly few major names – Netflix’s restoration of Orson Welles’ final, unfinished film, was set to be a significant event on the French Riviera this spring, but will now not air at the festival at all. Other filmmakers such as Terry Gilliam, Lars von Trier and Mike Leigh, all of whom were hoped to be present, will also not be screening their works at the event. Even the official selection of movies is unexpectedly lacking on women directors.

Lee’s BlacKkKlansman will air, though, alongside a number of political titles from international names, including Jafar Panahi (banned from leaving native home Iran) and Kirill Serebrennikov (under house arrest in Russia). Iran’s Ashar Farhardi will open the festival with the premiere of Everybody Knows, starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, while David Robert Mitchell’s (It Follows) new noir, Under the Silver Lake, will also debut, alongside Matteo Garrone’s Dogman. Wenders’ Francis: A Man of His World will screen out of competition, alongside new spin-off Solo: A Star Wars Story.

With Netflix not present, though, how has Amazon managed to get its film into the event? While many like to praise Amazon for its cheerleading of theatrical distribution, the answer lies in their differing business models. France’s rules apply to subscription VOD, which Netflix solely relies upon for its income. Amazon, on the other hand, can release films to buy and rent on its video platform, which means it can screen Cold War at Cannes, and distribute it in French cinemas, while still being allowed to release it online a few months later. Netflix, however, will be in attendance at the festival away from the red carpet, looking to acquire titles that do not already have a distribution deal in place – which, ironically enough, might even include some of the In Competition movies.

With Édouard Baer as Master of Ceremonies and Cate Blanchett as President of the Jury, the Festival de Cannes will begin on Tuesday 8th May. Here’s the full line-up of movies:

Opening Film

Everybody Knows (Asghar Farhadi)

In Competition

Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhang-Ke)
At War (Stéphane Brizé)
BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee)
Burning (Lee Chang-dong)
Capernaum (Nadine Labaki)
Cold War (Pawel Pawlikowski)
Dogman (Matteo Garrone)
Girls of the Sun (Eva Husson)
The Image Book (Jean-Luc Godard)
Lazzaro Felice (Alice Rohrwacher)
Leto AKA Summer (Kirill Serebrennikov)
Netemo Sametemo AKA Asako I & II (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
Shoplifters (Kore-Eda Hirokazu)
Sorry Angel (Christophe Honoré)
Three Faces (Jafar Panahi)
Under the Silver Lake (David Robert Mitchell)
Yomeddine (A.B. Shawky)

Un Certain Regard

Angel Face (Vanessa Filho)
Border (Ali Abbasi)
El Angel (Luis Ortega)
Euphoria (Valeria Golino)
Friend (Wanuri Kahiu)
The Gentle Indifference of the World (Adilkhan Yerzhanov)
Girl (Lukas Dhont)
The Harvesters (Etienne Kallos)
In My Room (Ulrich Köhler)
Little Tickles (Andréa Bescond & Eric Métayer)
Manto (Nandita Das)
My Favorite Fabric (Gaya Jiji)
Sextape AKA On Your Knees, Guys (Antoine Desrosières)
Sofia (Meyem Benm’Barek)

Out of Competition

Le Grand Bain (Gilles Lellouche)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Ron Howard)

Midnight Screening

Arctic (Joe Penna)
Gongjak AKA The Spy Gone North (Yoon Jong-Bing)

Special Screening

Dead Souls (Wang Bing)
La Traversée (Romain Goupil)
O Grande Circo Místico (Carlo Diegues)
Pope Francis – A Man of His Word (Wim Wenders)
The State Against Mandela and the Others (Nicolas Champeaux & Gilles Porte)
10 Years in Thailand (Aditya Assarat, Wisit Sasanatieng, Chulayarnon Sriphol and Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
To the Four Winds (Michel Toesca)

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