The David Mackenzie-directed Hell or High Water, starring Jeff Bridges will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival next month, as will Blood Father, a revenge thriller starring Mel Gibson.
Hell or High Water tells the story of a divorced father and his ex-con brother struggling to hold on to their family’s Texas farm. Aside from Jeff Bridges, the film also stars Ben Foster and Chris Pine.
British director McKenzie received many plaudits at Cannes in 2003 with his previous film, Young Adam.
Meanwhile, Blood Father, a revenge thriller starring Mel Gibson as a former convict trying to lure his teenage daughter away from a bunch of drug dealers, will be shown in a midnight screening at Cannes. The film is directed by Jean-François Richet, already acclaimed for his two-part biopic of French gangster Jacques Mesrine.
Also to be screened is the Congo-set thriller Wrong Elements, marking the directorial debut of US film-maker Jonathan Littell.
The Salesman is a new drama from the brilliant Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose captivating film A Separation won the Foreign language Oscar in 2012. Like The Separation, the film depicts a couple who are parting bitterly, in this case two actors whose relationship implodes while they are acting in a touring production of Arthur Miller’s stage play, Death of a Salesman.
Iconoclastic musician and irascible front-man Iggy Pop will attend the screening of Jim Jarmusch’s Gimme Danger on May 19, a new documentary which charts the career of The Stooges and indeed takes its title from a classic Stooges number.
The 69th annual Cannes Film Festival will run from May 11 to 22. Australian director George Miller has been announced as the President of the Jury for the main competition.
