Kidman front & centre, while newcomer Netflix joins Cannes regulars

It’ll be hard to move in Cannes without bumping into Nicole Kidman, with the actress featuring in four projects at next month’s International Film Festival.

Nicole Kidman stars alongside Colin Farrell in The Killing of the Sacred Deer

As well as co-starring with Colin Farrell in two of the films in competition for the Palme d’Or, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, she also appears in John Cameron Mitchell’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties, which is screening out of competition, as well a a preview of the next season of the TV drama Top of the Lake.

As the Cannes Film Festival increasingly recognises the medium’s shared creative heritage with TV, as well as Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake, David Lynch is also previewing the first two episodes of his reboot of Twin Peaks. And for the first time, the streaming network Netflix – famed for shows including House of Cards and The Crown – has got two films it’s backed into the official competition: Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories and Bong Joon-ho’s Okja. Most Netflix films have previously been premiered on its own streaming service, barring it from inclusion at Cannes, but this pair will first be seen on the big screen.

In addition to expanding its TV offering, the Cannes selectors have also chosen to spotlight a virtual reality film by The Revenant and Birdman director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Carne Y Arena, or Meat and Sand.

But it’s the man feature film competition where most of the critical attention will concentrate, with former Palme d’Or nominees Lanthimos and Coppola and Un Certain Regard contender Bong being joined by fellow Cannes alumni Michael Haneke (Happy End), Todd Haynes (Wonderstruck), Michel Hazanavicius (Le Redoubtable), François Ozon (L’Amant Double) and the only British director in competition this year, Lynne Ramsay, with You Were Never Really Here.

Something else that won’t be a stranger to the Croisette will be political discourse, with a range of films touching on such themes as climate change, the refugee crisis, mental health and the exploitation of animals.

But, as the Cannes team are reaching out to embrace TV and virtual reality more than ever, one constant seems to be that a key qualification for Cannes selection is having previously had a film featured at the festival.

Here is the full list of this year’s official selection:

Opening Film – Out of Competition

Arnaud DESPLECHIN – LES FANTÔMES D’ISMAËL

In Competition

Fatih AKIN – AUS DEM NICHTS (In the Fade)

Noah BAUMBACH – THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED)

BONG Joon-Ho – OKJA

Robin CAMPILLO – 120 BATTEMENTS PAR MINUTE

Sofia COPPOLA – THE BEGUILED

Jacques DOILLON – RODIN

Michael HANEKE – HAPPY END

Todd Haynes – WONDERSTRUCK

Michel HAZANAVICIUS – LE REDOUTABLE

HONG Sangsoo – GEU-HU (The Day After)

Naomi KAWASE – HIKARI (Radiance)

Yorgos LANTHIMOS – THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER

Sergei LOZNITSA – A GENTLE CREATURE

Kornél MUNDRUCZÓ – JUPITER’S MOON

François OZON – L’AMANT DOUBLE

Lynne RAMSAY – YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

Benny SAFDIE and Josh SAFDIE – GOOD TIME

Andrey ZVYAGINTSEV – NELYUBOV (Loveless)

Un Certain Regard

Opening Film – Mathieu AMALRIC – BARBARA

Cecilia ATAN and Valeria PIVATO – LA NOVIA DEL DESIERTO (The Desert Bride)

Kantemir BALAGOV – TESNOTA (Closeness)

Kaouther BEN HANIA – AALA KAF IFRIT (Beauty and the Dogs)

Laurent CANTET – L’ATELIER

Sergio CASTELLITTO – FORTUNATA (Lucky)

Michel FRANCO – LAS HIJAS DE ABRIL (April’s Daughter)

Valeska GRISEBACH – WESTERN

Stephan KOMANDAREV – POSOKI (Directions)

Gyorgy KRISTOF – OUT

KUROSAWA Kiyoshi – SANPO SURU SHINRYAKUSHA (Before we Vanish)

Karim MOUSSAOUI – EN ATTENDANT LES HIRONDELLES (Until the Birds Return)

Mohammad RASOULOF – LERD (Dregs)

Léonor SERRAILLE – JEUNE FEMME

Taylor SHERIDAN – WIND RIVER

Annarita ZAMBRANO – APRÈS LA GUERRE (After the War)

Out of Competition

MIIKE Takashi – MUGEN NO JŪNIN (Blade of the Immortal)

John Cameron MITCHELL – HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES

Agnès VARDA JR – VISAGES, VILLAGES

Midnight Screenings

Jean-Stéphane SAUVAIRE – A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN

BYUN Sung-Hyun – BULHANDANG (The Merciless)

JUNG Byung-Gil – AK-NYEO (The Villainess)

Special Screenings

Bonni COHEN and Jon SHENK – AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL

Raymond DEPARDON – 12 JOURS (12 Days)

Anahita GHZVINIZADEH – THEY

HONG Sangsoo – KEUL-LE-EO-UI-KA-ME-LA (Clair’s Camera)

Eugene JARECKI – PROMISED LAND

Claude LANZMANN – NAPALM

Jude RATNAM – DEMONS IN PARADISE

Vanessa REDGRAVE – SEA SORROW

Virtual Reality (Installation / Exhibition)

Alejandro G. IÑÁRRITU – CARNE Y ARENA

70th Anniversary Events

Jane CAMPION and Ariel KLEIMAN – TOP OF THE LAKE: CHINA GIRL

Abbas KIAROSTAMI – 24 FRAMES

David LYNCH – TWIN PEAKS

Kristen STEWART – COME SWIM