At the end of this 75th edition, can the race for the Palme be changed at the last minute?

Friday, a figure of independent cinema, the American Kelly Reichardt, must present "Showing Up".

His latest film, "First Cow", was critically acclaimed.

In Cannes, she will tell the daily life of an artist and the way she draws from her life.

With the cast, one of his favorite actresses, Michelle Williams.

American director Kelly Reichardt on February 22, 2020 at the Berlinale, in Berlin DAVID GANNON AFP / Archives

The American will share the steps with a newcomer to the competition, the French Léonor Séraille, who tries her luck by telling in "A little brother" the story of a family from immigration, from the end of the 1980s. nowadays in the suburbs of Paris.

The director had charmed the Festival in 2017 with her first film "Young Girl", which had won the Camera d'or.

Will one of these films succeed Julia Ducournau's "Titane", Palme d'Or gore with punk energy last year?

The games are for the moment quite open, no film in competition having been unanimously accepted by festival-goers.

On the side of the international press, whose reviews are compiled by the professional magazine Screen, it is the South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, 58, ("Mademoiselle", "Old Boy") who is the favorite.

South Korean director Park Chan-Wook during a press conference on May 24, 2022 at the Cannes Film Festival Julie SEBADELHA AFP / Archives

His thriller "Decision To Leave" is a lesson in cinema, with virtuoso production, which some like to compare to "Basic Instinct", minus the sex.

This investigation led by a police inspector, who falls in love with the main suspect of a crime, is however served by a very complex plot.

The film is carried by the interpretation of its two main characters, two newcomers to the cinema of Park Chan-wook: in the role of the inspector, actor Park Hae-il, who had worked with Bong Joon-ho ("Memories of a Murder", "The Host"), in that of the widow, the Chinese actress Tang Wei, revealed by Ang Lee ("Lust, bail").

South Korean director Park Chan-Wook poses with the actors of his film "Decision to leave", Chinese Tang Wei and South Korean Park Hae-Il, on May 24, 2022 at the Cannes Film Festival LOIC VENANCE AFP / Archives

Deliberations

If a film as expected as that of David Cronenberg, "Crimes of the Future", made pschitt, another big name, James Gray, rather charmed the critics with "Armageddon Time".

For his 5th time in competition, the author of "Ad Astra" and "The Night Belongs to Us" delivers a touching and largely autobiographical chronicle of a boy's childhood in New York in the 1980s, and the discovery of his artistic vocation.

American actress Anne Hathaway and American director James Gray on May 19, 2022 at the Cannes Film Festival before the screening of the film "Armageddon Time" LOIC VENANCE AFP / Archives

The UFO "EO", a film about a donkey, by the dean of the competition, Jerzy Skolimowski, 84, as well as the latest film imbued with social realism by the Dardenne brothers, "Tori and Lokita", are also serious candidates. at the Palme, according to the opinions listed by Screen.

A new trophy for them would be an event, since they would be the first filmmakers to have three Palmes d'Or, after "Rosetta" (1999) and "The Child" (2005).

In total, 21 films are in the running to succeed "Titane", whose director Julia Ducournau was only the second woman crowned in the history of Cannes.

Five directors are in the running this year.

Cannes 2022 Cléa PÉCULIER AFP

After viewing the latest films, the jury will retire to a villa to deliberate on Saturday, and announce the winners in the early evening.

Alongside Vincent Lindon, the Anglo-American actress and director Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona"), the Swedish Noomi Rapace, ("Millenium") or the directors Asghar Farhadi (Grand Prize in 2021 with "A hero" ), Ladj Ly ("Les miserables", jury prize 2019) and Joachim Trier ("Julie in 12 chapters").

© 2022 AFP