Iceland’s submission “Lamb,” an oddball folk-horror tale benefiting from A24’s publicity and Noomi Rapace’s star presence, was also an Un Certain Regard prizewinner ditto Mexico’s “Prayers for the Stolen,” a devastating fiction debut from docmaker Tatiana Huezo about growing up under the gun of the cartels.

Russia’s entry, Kira Kovalenko’s jagged, energetic coming-of-age drama “Unclenching the Fists,” won the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes the film it beat into second place, Austria’s powerful queer prison drama “Great Freedom,” should not be underestimated. release strategy for the film - it will only ever be in theaters, never on streaming - remains to be seen.) (Whether it’s helped or hindered by Neon’s novel, much-discussed U.S. Other Cannes winners to watch out for include Japan’s entry, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s lengthy but captivating Murakami adaptation “Drive My Car,” and Colombia’s multinational selection “Memoria,” a haunting, experimental feature from Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul, starring arthouse queen Tilda Swinton. Those include Norway’s entry, Joachim Trier’s bittersweet millennial character study “The Worst Person in the World,” with its broadly appealing blend of wit and pathos and the two films that shared the festival’s runner-up Grand Prix: Iran’s submission, Asghar Farhadi’s restrained moral drama “A Hero,” has what it takes to win the filmmaker a third Oscar after “A Separation” and “The Salesman,” while Finland’s entry, the quirky, train-set boy-meets-girl comedy “Compartment No. One of the year’s most divisive art films, “Titane” has the heat, but some of the films it pipped to the Palme might be safer bets for a place on the Academy’s shortlist. (Reigning champ “Another Round” was selected for Cannes last year, but wound up bowing in Toronto.)Īt this stage, no fewer than 18 submissions debuted at the festival, including the wildest card of all: Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or-winning body-horror dazzler “Titane,” which beat out acclaimed abortion drama “Happening,” the Venice Golden Lion winner, to be selected as France’s entry. The French festival has long been a kingmaker in this category, with such recent Oscar winners as “Parasite,” “Son of Saul,” “The Great Beauty” and “Amour” all having begun their journey with a Croisette premiere.

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