What we already know about the 69th Cannes Film Festival

The 69^th Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 11^th to 22^nd 2016. The Official Selection will be announced during the April 14^th press conference.

While waiting, though, we already know a few facts.

Woody Allen will open the 69^th Cannes Film Festival presenting Café Society, on May 11, at the Grand Théâtre Lumière of the Palais des Festivals as an Official Selection Out of Competition title. It’s record breaking for the New York director who already opened the Festival in 2002 with Hollywood Ending, and again in 2011 with Midnight in Paris.

This year, George Miller, Australian filmmaker and director of the Mad Max saga, succeeds the Cohen brothers to chair the jury. His latest film, the fourth of the epic apocalyptic Mad Max, was screened last year at the Cannes Film Festival out of competition.

George Clooney will be attending with Julia Roberts, who will make her debut at the Festival.

The great directors Steven Spielberg, Sean Penn and Woody Allen will also present their latest productions with their teams.

On the invitation of the Festival de Cannes, the actor Laurent Lafitte has agreed to be Master of Ceremonies: the actor and comedian will host the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday 11th of May and the prize giving during the Closing Ceremony on Sunday 22nd of May.

The Festival poster's design was inspired by a scene from the film Le Mépris by Jean-Luc Godard. According to Cannes Film Festival the poster, produced from the stills of Jean-Luc Godard's film, symbolizes "the ascent to the infinite horizon of a projection screen”.

After Marcello Mastroianni in 2014, and Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman last year, this year actor Michel Piccoli is at the center of the 69^th Cannes Film Festival's poster.

Announcements and Dates:

Main Slate (In Competition and Out) – Thursday, April 14th

Critics’ Week – Monday, April 18th

Directors’ Fortnight – Tuesday, April 19th

Confirmed Films

Money Monster (Foster) – Out of Competition

The Last Face (Penn) – In Competition

Loving (Nichols) – In Competition

Personal Shopper (Assayas) – In Competition

The BFG (Spielberg) – Out of Competition

More will soon be revealed, after April 14th - stay tuned!