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Cannes Film Festival announces this year’s official selections.

PARIS: The Cannes International Film Festival Organising Committee has announced the finalists of this year’s Film Festival. Fifty films have been selected, of which 18 will be in the main competition. “After three years of absence, renowned French director Jean-Luc Godard will return to Cannes with the film Adieu au langage,” Cannes Film Festival artistic director Thierry Fremaux said at a press conference held in Paris.

Fremaux said Godard’s new film is unique, and the Cannes Film Festival would be proud to welcome him. Godard, now 83 years old, is one of the representatives of new wave films. His films have a strong shot of political and experimental aspects, and Godard has been a regular nominee at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2010, his film Film Socialisme was nominated for the Un Certain Regard unit. The Un Certain Regard unit was officially launched in 1978 as a non-competition category, and focuses on the works of new film-makers worldwide.

In addition to Godard, the Cannes Film Festival also welcomes regular finalists this year: British director Ken Loach’s new film Jimmy’s Hall, Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s Captives and Canadian director David Cronenberg’s Maps to the stars.

Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s new film Coming Home was selected as a non-competition screening. Another Chinese director Wang Chao’s new film Fantasia has also entered the Un Certain Regard unit.

Japanese director Naomi Kawase and Italian director Alice Rohrwacher are the two female finalist directors, with their films Deux Fenetres and La Merveille respectively.

Fremaux said that this year’s finalists are classical and modern combined. He also confirms that there may be more films to be selected as finalists in the future.

The 67th Cannes International Film Festival will be held in the southern France coastal city of Cannes from May 14-24. This year, the main competition jury is chaired by New Zealand director Jane Campion.

A total of more than 1,800 films have been submitted to the Cannes Film Festival this year. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2014.

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