Cannes 2012. Cineuropa's Contenders

The latest from the rumor mills in France.
David Hudson
The DailyAmour

Michael Haneke, Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant
on the set of Amour

It's been a couple of weeks since the French magazine Premiere posted "Cannes 2012: Le buzzomètre," a list of over 30 films, each of which were assigned a numerical probability of its making the lineup at Cannes this year. Speculation has only grown hotter, of course, with an official announcement slated for April 19; Critics' Week and the Directors' Fortnight will follow on April 23 and 24, respectively. "Paris is rife with rumors about who will make it," reports Fabien Lemercier at Cineuropa. "Several films by 'big fish' have not been seen yet, and many who have already shown their film are eagerly awaiting news."

A few days ago, a French blog pulled an April Fools' Day prank that thoroughly ticked off Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux. The blog claimed to have seen the full lineup, "briefly published on the official Cannes Film Festival website before hastily being pulled down," as Nancy Tartaglione reports at Deadline. You may have noticed that we completely ignored that mini-brouhaha as it unfolded; anyone even slightly familiar with the selection process knows that the final lineup won't be set until days, or more likely, hours before it's announced, and even then, a few surprise tweaks usually follow.

But Fabien Lemercier's list is no joke. He claims no certainty whatsoever for any title beyond the two that have already been announced, festival opener Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson and the first Out of Competition entry, Madagascar 3. You'll want to see his comments on each of the titles in the running; here, I've stripped down the contenders to title and director and very loosely grouped them according to what Lemercier hears about how close they are to making the grade. Several appeared on that buzzomètre; many others, though, are fresh to the rumor mill.

Very Likely

Quite Possible

Who Knows, Maybe

Out of Competition?

Directors' Fortnight? Critics' Week?

Lemercier: "And for those who like riddles, there is also talk of a Bulgarian first feature and a Belgian first feature at the Critics' Week, a Korean animation film at the Directors' Fortnight, and a Colombian film somewhere."

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