The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar was the president of the jury for the main competition. Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, for his comedy-drama film The Square.
The festival celebrated its 70th edition with a special anniversary section featuring some of the new works from well established filmmakers. The official poster of the festival featured Italian actress Claudia Cardinale. The actress responded: "'I am honored and proud to be flying the flag for the 70th Festival de Cannes, and delighted with this choice of photo. It's the image I myself have of the Festival, of an event that illuminates everything around ... Happy anniversary!"
The festival opened with Ismael's Ghosts by Arnaud Desplechin, and closed with The Square.
Juries Main competition Pedro Almodóvar, Spanish filmmaker – Jury President Maren Ade, German filmmaker Jessica Chastain, American actress and producer Fan Bingbing, Chinese actress Agnès Jaoui, French actress and filmmaker Park Chan-wook, South Korean filmmaker Will Smith, American actor and producer Paolo Sorrentino, Italian filmmaker Gabriel Yared, French-Lebanese composer
Uma Thurman, American actress – Jury President Mohamed Diab, Egyptian filmmaker Reda Kateb, French actor Joachim Lafosse, Belgian filmmaker Karel Och, Czech artistic director of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Caméra d'or Sandrine Kiberlain, French actress – Jury President Patrick Blossier, French cinematographer Elodie Bouchez, French actress Guillaume Brac, French filmmaker Thibault Carterot, French president of M141 Productions Fabien Gaffez, French film critic Michel Merkt, Swiss film producer
and Short Films Competition Cristian Mungiu, Romanian filmmaker – Jury President Clotilde Hesme, French actress Barry Jenkins, American filmmaker Eric Khoo, Singaporean filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greek filmmaker
Independent juries
Nespresso Grand Prize (Critics' Week) Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazilian filmmaker – Jury President Diana Bustamante Escobar, Colombian film producer and artistic director of FICCI Eric Kohn, American film critic Hania Mroué, Lebanese director of Metropolis Cinema Niels Schneider, French-Canadian actor
L'Œil d'or Sandrine Bonnaire, French actress and filmmaker – Jury President Lorenzo Codelli, Italian film critic Dror Moreh, Israeli filmmaker Thom Powers, American programmer and festival director Lucy Walker, British filmmaker
Queer Palm Travis Mathews, American filmmaker – Jury President Yair Hochner, Israeli film director, founder and artistic director of TLVFest Paz Lazaro, Spanish film programmer Didier Roth-Bettoni, French journalist and film historian Lidia Leber Terki, French filmmaker
Official selection In Competition The following films were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or:
English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country L'Amant double François Ozon France, Belgium The Beguiled Sofia Coppola United States BPM (Beats per Minute) (QP) Robin Campillo France The Day After Hong Sang-soo South Korea A Gentle Creature Кроткая Sergei Loznitsa France, Ukraine, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Russia Good Time Josh and Benny Safdie United States Happy End Michael Haneke France, Germany, Austria In the Fade Fatih Akin Germany, France Jupiter's Moon Jupiter holdja Kornél Mundruczó Hungary The Killing of a Sacred Deer Yorgos Lanthimos Ireland, United Kingdom Loveless Нелюбовь Andrey Zvyagintsev Russia, France, Belgium, Germany The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) Noah Baumbach United StatesOkja Bong Joon-ho South Korea, United States Radiance 光 Naomi Kawase Japan Redoubtable Michel Hazanavicius France Rodin Jacques Doillon France, Belgium The Square Ruben Östlund Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark Wonderstruck Todd Haynes United States You Were Never Really Here Lynne Ramsay United Kingdom, France (QP) indicates film eligible for the Queer Palm.
Un Certain Regard The films competing in the section were announced at a press conference on 13 April 2017. Barbara, directed by Mathieu Amalric, was announced as the opening film for the section. The following films were selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section:
English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country After the War (CdO) Annarita Zambrano France April's Daughter Michel Franco Mexico Barbara (opening film) Mathieu Amalric France Beauty and the Dogs على كف عفريت Kaouther Ben Hania France, Tunisia, Sweden, Norway, Lebanon, Switzerland Before We Vanish Kiyoshi Kurosawa Japan Closeness (CdO) Теснота Kantemir Balagov Russia The Desert Bride (CdO) Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato Argentina, Chile Directions Посоки Stephan Komandarev Bulgaria, Germany, Republic of Macedonia Fortunata Sergio Castellitto Italy A Man of Integrity لِرد Mohammad Rasoulof Iran Montparnasse Bienvenue (CdO) Jeune Femme Léonor Serraille France, Belgium Out (CdO) György Kristóf Slovakia The Summit Santiago Mitre Argentina, France, Spain Until the Birds Return (CdO) Karim Moussaoui France Walking Past the Future Li Ruijun China Western Valeska Grisebach Germany, Austria, Bulgaria Wind River (CdO) Taylor Sheridan United States, France, United Kingdom The Workshop L'Atelier Laurent Cantet France (CdO) indicates film eligible for the Caméra d'Or as directorial debut feature.
Out of Competition The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:
English Title Original Title Director(s) Production CountryBased on a True Story Roman Polanski France, PolandBlade of the Immortal Takashi Miike Japan, United Kingdom, South KoreaFaces Places (ŒdO) Agnès Varda and JR FranceHow to Talk to Girls at Parties John Cameron Mitchell United Kingdom, United StatesIsmael's Ghosts (opening film) Arnaud Desplechin FranceMidnight ScreeningsA Prayer Before Dawn Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire France, United Kingdom, United States, ChinaThe Merciless Byun Sung-hyun South KoreaThe Villainess Jung Byung-gil (ŒdO) indicates film eligible for the Œil d'or as documentary.
Special Screenings The following films were selected to be screened in the Special Screenings section: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 12 Days (ŒdO) 12 Jours Raymond Depardon France Claire's Camera Hong Sang-soo South Korea, France Demons in Paradise (CdO) (ŒdO) Jude Ratnam France, Sri Lanka Golden Years (QP) André Téchiné France An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (ŒdO) Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk United States The King (ŒdO) Eugene Jarecki United States Napalm (ŒdO) Claude Lanzmann France Plot 35 (ŒdO) Carré 35 Éric Caravaca France, Germany Sea Sorrow (ŒdO) Vanessa Redgrave United KingdomThey (CdO) (QP) Anahita Ghazvinizadeh United States, Qatar The Venerable W. (ŒdO) Barbet Schroeder France, Switzerland Zombillenium (CdO) Arthur de Pins and Alexis Ducord France, Belgium (CdO) indicates film eligible for the Caméra d'Or as directorial debut feature. (ŒdO) film eligible for the Œil d'or as documentary. (QP) film eligible for the Queer Palm.
Virtual Reality English Title Original Title Director(s) Production CountryFlesh and Sand Alejandro González Iñárritu United States
70th Anniversary Events The following films were selected to be screened in the 70th Anniversary section: English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country 24 Frames ۲۴ فریم Abbas Kiarostami Iran, France Come Swim (short) Kristen Stewart United States Top of the Lake: China Girl (6 episodes) Jane Campion and Ariel Kleiman United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, United States Twin Peaks: The Return (Part 1 and 2) David Lynch United States
Cinéfondation The Cinéfondation section focuses on films made by students at film schools. The following 16 entries (14 fiction films and 2 animation films) were selected out of 2,600 submissions. Four of the films selected represent schools participating in Cinéfondation for the first time.
English Title Original Title Director(s) School Afternoon Clouds Payal Kapadia FTII, India Animal حیوان Bahman and Bahram Ark Iranian National School of Cinema, Iran Atlantis, 2003 Атлантида, 2003 Michal Blaško FTF VŠMU, Slovakia Breathless Léa Krawczyk La Poudrière, France Camouflage Imge Özbilge KASK, Belgium Empty on the Outside Eduardo Brandão Pinto UFF, Brazil Give Up The Ghost Marian Mathias NYU Tisch School of the Arts, United States Heritage בן ממשיך Yuval Aharoni TAU, IsraelInvisibly Láthatatlan Áron Szentpéteri Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest, Hungary Lejla Stijn Bouma Sarajevo Film Academy, Bosnia and Herzegovina Little Manifesto Against Solemn Cinema Roberto Porta Universidad del Cine, Argentina Paul Is Here Paul est là Valentina Maurel INSAS, Belgium Tokeru Aya Igashi Toho Gakuen Film Techniques Training College, Japan Towards the Sun Wang Yi-ling NTUA, Taiwan Two Youths Died Tommaso Usberti La Fémis, France Wild Horses Rory Stewart NFTS, United Kingdom
Short Films Competition Out of 4,843 entries, the following films were selected to compete for the Short Film Palme d'Or.
English Title Original Title Director(s) Production Country Across My Land Fiona Godivier United States The Ceiling Katto Teppo Airaksinen Finland Damiana Andrés Ramírez Pulido Colombia A Drowning Man Mahdi Fleifel United Kingdom, Denmark, Greece A Gentle Night Qiu Yang China Grandpa Walrus Lucrèce Andreae France Lunch Time وقت ناهار Alireza Ghasemi Iran Push It Julia Thelin Sweden Time to Go Grzegorz Mołda Poland
Cannes Classics The full line-up for the Cannes Classics section was announced on 3 May 2017. English Title Original Title Director(s) Production CountryRestorations All That Jazz (1979) Bob Fosse United States L'Atalante (1934) Jean Vigo France Babatu (1976) Jean Rouch Niger, France The Ballad of Narayama (1983) Shōhei Imamura Japan The Battle of the Rails (1946) René Clément France Belle de Jour (1967) Luis Buñuel France, Italy Blow-Up (1966) Blowup Michelangelo Antonioni United Kingdom, Italy, United States Dream of Light aka The Quince Tree Sun (1992) Víctor Erice Spain Duo (1968) Pas de deux Norman McLaren Canada The Earrings of Madame de... (1953) Max Ophüls France, Italy Harpya (1979) Raoul Servais Belgium I Even Met Happy Gypsies (1967) Aleksandar Petrović Yugoslavia In the Realm of the Senses (1976) Nagisa Oshima Japan, France L'Interview (1998) Xavier Giannoli France Lucía (1968) Humberto Solás Cuba Man of Iron (1981) Andrzej Wajda Poland Matzor (1969) מצור Gilberto Tofano Israel Merry-Go-Round (1956) Körhinta Zoltán Fábri Hungary Mirror of Holland (1950) Bert Haanstra Netherlands Native Son (1951) Pierre Chenal Argentina, United States Soleil O (1970) Med Hondo France, Mauritania Paparazzi (1964) Jacques Rozier France Peel (1986) Jane Campion Australia A River Runs Through It (1992) Robert Redford United States The Seine Meets Paris (1957) Joris Ivens France Unforgiven (1992) Clint Eastwood United States The Wages of Fear (1953) Henri-Georges Clouzot France, Italy The Way (1982) Yol Yılmaz Güney Turkey, Switzerland, France When the Day Breaks (1999) Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis Canada Whither? (1957) إلى أين؟ Georges Nasser LebanonDocumentaries about CinemaBecoming Cary Grant (ŒdO)Mark KidelUnited States, United Kingdom, FranceThe Belgian Road to Cannes (ŒdO)Henri de GerlacheBelgiumDavid Stratton: A Cinematic Life (ŒdO)Sally AitkenAustraliaFilmworker (ŒdO)Tony ZierraUnited StatesRestless Child (ŒdO)Fabien Hagège, Guillaume Namur and Vincent HaasserFrance (ŒdO) indicates film eligible for the Œil d'or as documentary.
The Cinéma de la Plage is a part of the Official Selection of the festival. The outdoors screenings at the beach cinema of Cannes are open to the public.