Cannes: Paul Dano's 'Wildlife' to Open Critics' Week

The 1960s-set film starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan will open, while Alex Lutz's 'Guy' will close the festival sidebar.


Paul Dano's Wildlife, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan, will open Cannes Critics' Week sidebar.


The 1960s-set drama, which premiered at Sundance, is an adaptation of Richard Ford's novel which explores the decline of an American family.


Alex Lutz's second feature Guy will close the week. The film follows the French actor-director in a documentary-style story of a singer's declining years.


Both will screen out of competition.


French-Belgian drama Nos Batailles (Our Battles), starring Romain Duris and Laetitia Dosch, will get a special screening. The film from Guillaume Senez, who won the Europa Cinemas prize in Locarno, Switzerland, for his first feature Keeper, follows Duris as he struggles to balance work and family life after he becomes a single dad.


Jean-Bernard Marlin's first feature Scheherazade also will receive a special screening. The director won the Golden Bear for a short film in Berlin in and earned a Cesar nomination for 2013's The Fugue.


Among the films in the competition are Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska's thriller Fuga.


Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s Woman at War, and Camille Vidal-Naquet’s Sauvage, starring 120 BPM’s Felix Maritaud, also will compete.


Portugese directing duo Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt's Diamantino soccer fantasy is among the competition titles, along with Anja Kofmel’s first feature, Chris the Swiss, a combination of animation and documentary about the Yugoslav war.


Indian director Rohena Gera’s class exploration drama Sir and Hungarian director Zsofia Szilagyi’s 24-hour tale of the oppression of daily struggles, One Day, round out the seven competition titles. Both are first features.


Norwegian director Joachim Trier will serve as president of the Critics’ Week jury, serving with American actress Chloe Sevigny, Argentinean-French actor Nahuel Perez Biscayart, Vienna film festival director Eva Sangiorgi and French culture journalist Augustin Trapenard.


The Critics’ Week sidebar focuses on discovering new talent, and awards the Nespresso Grand Prize, accompanied by 15,000 euros.


The France 4 Visionary Award is given to a first or second feature film for creativity and innovation.


The Gan Foundation Award helps to distribute a first or second feature in France, and the French writers guild awards the SACD prize to a new writer.


Short films in competition are recognized with the Leica Cine Discovery Prize or the Canal+ Short Film Award.


The prizes will be handed out May 16. The Cannes Film Festival is set to run May 8-19.