Everybody’s talking about these movies at the Cannes Film Festival 2016

La Croisette will be covered in stardust this week. From new experiments by long-timers to talked-about debuts, these are the Palme d’Or contenders we’re rooting for; here's why:

For a veteran director who deserves his Leonardo moment | Julieta by Pedro Almodóvar.

With this mellower-than-the-usual drama, Cannes regular Pedro Almodóvar gathers three of Pulitzer-winning author Alice Munro’s acclaimed short stories: ‘Chance,’ ‘Soon’ and ‘Silence’, and sets them in Madrid to make them his own. In telling the saga of the widowed and world-weary Julieta, who is out looking for her runaway daughter, he uses two actresses: Emma Suarez and Adriana Ugarte. A tough thing to execute for most, but not for one of Spain’s best directors alive today. There’s a murmur that with his 20^th film, and fifth Palme d’Or nomination, this might be the one that clinches Almodóvar his much deserved prize.

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For its alarmingly gifted creator | It’s Only The End Of The World by Xavier Dolan.

At the tender (by the fraternity’s standards) age of 27, unfairly talented and good-looking French-Canadian polymath Xavier Dolan is gunning for the Palme d’Or with his seventh directorial venture, It’s Only the End Of The World. Starring the breathtaking Marion Cotillard and Gaspard Ulliel, it tells the tale of a writer who has come home after 12 years to inform his family of his impending death. A must-watch film by a must-watch director.
(Fun fact: formerly a child-actor and a successful voice-artist, Dolan has voiced Ron Weasely in the French versions of the Harry Potter series, and Jacob Black in the French version of Twilight!)

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For a whole new understanding of Kristen Stewart | Personal Shopper by Olivier Assayas

If as a young teenager, you didn’t think much of her work in Twilight, you’re probably wondering what anybody saw in Kristen Stewart. Perhaps watching this, along with her previous Cannes nomination in The Clouds Of Sils Maria might clue you in: it got the actress a César Award, a first for any American. That was her first collaboration with Olivier Assayas: let’s see if it sticks. 

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For a promising new face | American Honey by Andrea Arnold

One of the few entries by female directors in this year’s selection, we’re looking forward to American Honey. Though set among a gritty bunch of teenagers traversing the Midwest, it tells a heartwarming coming-of-age story of a wayward runaway played by newbie actor Sasha Lane. According to the blurb, there’s law-bending, hard-partying, and a romantic pairing including Shia LaBeouf and the sweet faced 19-year old Lane (that is rumoured to be clicking IRL).

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For an unsettling narrative | Agassi by Park Chan-wook

Korean film-makers have always had a firm grip on drama and the dark side, and in this one, the trailer is enough to make your head spin. An acclaimed director from his home country, Park Chan-wook's last big success was with the Vengeance trilogy, where he churned out three dazzling narratives on revenge and its devastating after-affects. His latest, a period drama based on Sarah Waters' novel Fingersmith, is the thrilling, unpredictable love story of a mistress and her thieving handmaiden.  

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Indian films to shout about

Though no Indian films have made it to the Features Selection, several will be screening there, including six short films from Bengal. Two documentaries: one on a travelling movie theatre called The Cinema Travellers by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiyam; and The Mount Of Excellence, narrated by Kabir Bedi, will also be screened. Also, Anurag Kashyap’s highly anticipated Raman Raghav 2.0, a psychological thriller based on the life of a serial killer who operated in the '60s will premiere at the festival.

The Cannes Film Festival is on from May 11-22