The number of films that will compete for the Palme d’Or for the seventy-sixth session of the Cannes Film Festival, scheduled to start next May 16, has increased to 21, with two films by French directors Catherine Corsini and Jean-Stephan Sauvier included in the list of works included in the competition.
Filmed by director Catherine Corsini in Corsica, “Le retour” tells the story of a woman working for a Parisian couple who is asked to take care of their children during a holiday on the island of Poteet, reports Al-Rai daily quoting AFP.
The newspaper “Le Parisien” and “Telerama” magazine reported that this film was supposed to be included in the main list of works participating in the competition announced by the festival’s general delegate, Thierry Fremmie, in mid-April, but it was temporarily withdrawn from it.
His withdrawal is due to the festival’s keenness to verify suspicions of harassment and violations raised regarding a scene of a minor actress, as the administration explained to the newspaper, before it returned and included it in the list.
The French National Center for Cinema told AFP that it had taken a measure against this film, depriving it of financial aid because it had not previously informed the committee responsible for examining applications for filming with children about a scene involving a minor.
Catherine Corsini, 66, previously participated in the Cannes Festival competition in 2021 with the movie “La Fractor”.
With the inclusion of her film, the number of women seeking to win the Palme d’Or this year rose for the first time to seven, after reaching five in 2022.
As for Jean-Stéphane Sofer, 54, he is participating in his thriller “Black Flies”, which deals with the story of two doctors in New York, and is based on the novel “911” by Shannon Burke.
Among the directors of the nineteen films originally included in the competition are the new works of the American Wim Wenders, the British Ken Loach, the French Catherine Brea and others.
A total of 14 films were added to the festival’s overall programme, both within and outside competition.