ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Cannes 2016: Veteran Directors Dominate Competition Lineup

festival-fair · 2026-05-05

The 2016 Cannes Film Festival showcases a lineup of established directors, including Ken Loach, the Dardenne brothers, Pedro Almodóvar, Olivier Assayas, Nicolas Winding Refn, Xavier Dolan, Jeff Nichols, and Jim Jarmusch. Almodóvar's film 'Julieta' is deemed one of his finest, despite facing a boycott in Spain linked to the Panama Papers. Assayas delves into the supernatural with Kristen Stewart, while Refn presents 'The Neon Demon' featuring Elle Fanning. Paul Verhoeven's 'Elle' stars Isabelle Huppert, and Asghar Farhadi's 'The Salesman' revisits concepts from 'About Elly'. Other significant films include 'Paterson', 'Poesia Sin Fin', 'Neruda', alongside major releases like Jodie Foster's 'Money Monster' and Steven Spielberg's 'The BFG'.

Key facts

  • Cannes 2016 competition includes Ken Loach, Dardenne brothers, Almodóvar, Assayas, Refn, Dolan, Nichols, Jarmusch.
  • Almodóvar's 'Julieta' boycotted in Spain after Panama Papers.
  • Refn's 'The Neon Demon' is a fluorescent horror with Elle Fanning.
  • Verhoeven's 'Elle' stars Isabelle Huppert as a stalker of her attacker.
  • Jeff Nichols' 'Loving' recounts a 1950s interracial couple jailed in Virginia.
  • Italian films in sidebar: Mordini's 'Pericle Il Nero', Bellocchio's 'Fai bei sogni', Giovannesi's 'Fiore', Virzì's 'La pazza gioia', Comodin's 'I tempi felici verranno presto'.
  • Jarmusch has two films: 'Paterson' in competition and 'Gimme Danger' in Midnight Screenings.
  • Lily-Rose Depp stars in 'La Danseuse' as Loie Fuller.

Entities

Artists

Institutions

  • Festival di Cannes
  • Artribune
  • Roma Tre Film Festival
  • Teatro Palladium

Locations

  • Cannes
  • France
  • Spain
  • Virginia
  • United States
  • Italy
  • Trieste
  • Chile
  • Santiago
  • Korea
  • Japan

Sources