7. Leviafan (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Andrey Zvyagintsev’s The Return and Elena were mysterious, slow-burning films. His 2014 entry, Leviafan, described by IMDb as “human insecurity in a ‘new country’” should mark a definite return to the Cannes Film Festival.
6. Winter Sleep (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s film Once Upon a Time in Anatolia was one of the best films of 2011, and Winter Sleep promises to be another philosophical brooder, full of dramatic wide shots.
5. Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
There aren’t many details for the new film by Cannes constants the Dardenne brothers, but a collaboration with Marion Cotillard is reason enough for excitement.
4. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson)
Few filmmakers are as unique, wryly funny, and assured as Roy Andersson. His Songs from the Second Floor is one of the best films of the 2000s, and the follow-up, You, the Living, is nearly as good. A film with the title A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence might seem pretentious from another director, but with Andersson’s penchant for carefully observed vignettes, it feels perfect here.
3. Eisenstein in Guanajuato (Peter Greenaway)
One intrepid filmmaker, Peter Greenaway, takes on another: Sergei Eisenstein. It’s been a while since Greenaway has taken on a straight-up narrative, and while one can expect his Eisenstein in Guanajuato to be full of cinematic trickery, it’s got the storyline to be a return to his pre-Tulse Luper days.
2. 33 días (Carlos Saura)
Carlos Saura’s 1976 masterpiece Cria Cuervos makes him a must-watch no matter what the narrative. This one seems particularly intriguing: a teaming with Antonio Banderas about Pablo Picasso’s Guernica.
1. The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland)
If Berberian Sound Studio is any indication, Peter Strickland’s upcoming film for 2014, about a lepidopterist’s relationship, should have a strong set of visuals and sound.
– Neal Dhand