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This article is more than 1 year old

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Dir Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino’s new black comedy-drama stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as a fading TV star and his veteran stunt double in late 1960s Hollywood, as Los Angeles is traumatised by the Manson family murders.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Dir Céline Sciamma

Noémie Merlant stars as a young painter who has been commissioned to create a portrait of a young woman (Adèle Haenel) without her knowledge – a project of artistic surveillance and reportage.

Little Joe

Dir Jessica Hausner

Emily Beecham and Ben Whishaw star in Hausner’s eerie futurist parable about a plant breeder who develops a flower nicknamed Little Joe that can induce happiness in those who nurture it.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Flower power … Emily Beecham in Little Joe

Sorry We Missed You

Dir Ken Loach

The director’s last film, I, Daniel Blake, won him a second Palme d’Or and electrified the UK debate on austerity. Now he returns with longtime screenwriter Paul Laverty with a tale of a hard-pressed delivery driver.

The Swallows of Kabul

Dirs Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobé Mévellec

Based on the novel by Yasmina Khadra, this animation is about Taliban-dominated Kabul in the late 90s – and the young love that struggles to survive there.

Quick guide Cannes 2019 Show Hide When and where is it? The festival takes place in the French resort town of Cannes in the late spring, normally in mid-May - this year it's 14-25 May. What are the big films? Twenty-one films have been selected to compete for the Palme d'Or, including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino, A Hidden Life by Terrence Malick, and Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You. There are also a number of special screenings, including Asif Kapadia's Diego Maradona documentary, Elton John biopic Rocketman, and Gael García Bernal's directorial debut Chicuarotes. There are two parallel festivals, the Directors' Fortnight and Critics' Week, each with their own line-up. What about all the paparazzi? Cannes isn't just about the art of film. Every night sees a large-scale premiere with a walk up the famous red-carpeted steps outside the giant Lumière cinema. (That's why the festival likes selecting films with big-name Hollywood actors.) Cannes also finds lots of excuses to bring in major stars: for example, 1982's Rambo: First Blood is getting a screening, meaning Sylvester Stallone will pitch up on the Riviera.

The Dead Don’t Die

Dir Jim Jarmusch

The Cannes regular offers the festival a bit of unwholesome confectionery with this opening gala: a zombie comedy-nightmare starring Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray and Adam Driver, and with an appearance by Iggy Pop.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Zombified … Iggy Pop in The Dead Don’t Die. Photograph: Frederick Elmes/AP

An Easy Girl

Dir Rebecca Zlotowski

Zlotowski directed the cult classic Grand Central, a romance set in a nuclear power station. Now she is at Cannes with a love story set on the French Riviera.

Frankie

Dir Ira Sachs

It wouldn’t be le festival without Isabelle Huppert, and she stars in Ira Sachs’s film about a family on holiday in Portugal. The cast includes Brendan Gleeson, Marisa Tomei and Greg Kinnear.

Sick, Sick, Sick

Dir Alice Furtado

A much-anticipated debut from rising star Alice Furtado, a young Brazilian director who has created a complex and painful high-school love affair, starring Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (from 120 Beats Per Minute).

Diego Maradona

Dir Asif Kapadia

The hand of God descends with this documentary from Asif Kapadia about the troubled football genius. Emir Kusturica has already done a film about him; Kapadia’s portrait promises a treasure trove of new material.