The best-kept secrets are those that leak as late as possible. Because of a wish to keep the media in the dark or because of the absolute trust it has in its ability to adapt at the last minute, given the reassuring glut of talents on offer, the official selection of the 78th Cannes Film Festival (13-24 May) has this year held on to the reins of its invitations like seldom before, a move which is having a domino effect on general expectations and the parallel sections’ decisions. One strikingly enigmatic example among others is the opening slot of the festival, which apparently now sees The Phoenician Scheme by Wes Anderson and Alpha by Julia Ducournau vying for pole position.

Nevertheless, things are hotting up exactly one week ahead of the official selection press conference in Paris, during which Thierry Frémaux (accompanied by president Iris Knobloch) will unveil some of the cards up his sleeve, with a healthy armful of additions being expected at a later date. Having said that, the viewings by the Cannes selection committees still continue apace (the surprise move to bring the press conference forwards by a week having disrupted certain presentation plans by the producers of films still in post-production), and the Venice Film Festival is also keeping a close eye on the revelations in order to make potential counteroffers. Therefore, overall, things are basically as clear as mud for the cinephile forecasters, who are making amendments to their lists left, right and centre while also hoping to make out some glimmers of certainty here and there. Still, let’s gaze into the crystal ball for the 2025 edition of Cannes, which on paper appears to be of a very lofty level, given the plethora of high-calibre contenders waiting in line.

In competition, standing out among the probable titles (besides the two aforementioned films) are Father, Mother, Sister, Brother by US helmer Jim Jarmusch, The Secret Agent by Brazil’s Kleber Mendonça Filho, Sentimental Value by Norway’s Joachim Trier, The Young Mothers’ Home by Belgium’s Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Die, My Love by Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, Eagles of the Republic by Swedish director of Egyptian heritage Tarik Saleh, Orphan by Hungary’s Laszlo Nemes, The Sound of Falling by Germany’s Mascha Schilinski, No by Israel’s Nadav Lapid, Two Prosecutors by Ukraine’s Sergei Loznitsa, Eddington by the USA’s Ari Aster and The Way of the Wind by his fellow countryman Terrence Malick, not to mention a movie that Iran’s Jafar Panahi has allegedly been shooting in secret.

As for the works possibly in the running for the Palme d’Or, they include The Disappearance by Russia’s Kirill Serebrennikov, The Love that Remains by Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason, Woman and Child by Iran’s Saeed Roustaee, Miroirs No. 3 by Germany’s Christian Petzold, Silent Friend by Hungary’s Ildiko Enyedi and Fuori by Italy’s Mario Martone. The outsiders include Romeria by Spaniard Carla Simón, After by her fellow countryman Oliver Laxe, Salvation by Turkey’s Emin Alper and L’intérêt d’Adam by Belgium’s Laura Wandel, and even the black-and-white documentary Sotto le nuvole by Italy’s Gianfranco Rosi, the highly mysterious hybrid flick You Shall Not Make an Image by Tunisia’s Kaouther Ben Hania and the no-less-enigmatic Wake of Umbra by Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas.

However, in considering the potential final makeup of the competition, we mustn’t neglect two features that are shaping up to be probable titles, as long as they can wrap their post-production in time: No Other Choice by South Korea’s Park Chan-wook and Resurrection by China’s Bi Gan, whose eventual availability (or lack thereof) could open up an opportunity for Japan’s Love on Trial by Kôji Fukada.

In the starting blocks when it comes to the French contenders (whose fates are traditionally sealed the evening before the unveiling of the official selection), the favourites (besides Julia Ducournau) as we enter the home stretch are Coutures by Alice Winocour, An Affair by Arnaud Desplechin, Vie privée by Rebecca Zlotowski and The Great Arch by Stéphane Demoustier. Lying in ambush could be Case 137 by Dominik Moll and Enzo by Robin Campillo.

All bets are off, however, given the extra possibilities offered by Cannes Première, by the out-of-competition section, and even by the special screenings and midnight screenings (which the festival apparently intends to breathe new life into), not to mention the diversions towards the Directors’ Fortnight and the possible siren’s call of Venice. Myriad rumours are also swirling on the French side (the animated film Marcel et monsieur Pagnol by Sylvain Chomet, Les braises by Thomas Kruithof, La petite dernière by Hafsia Herzi, and in a more mainstream register, Moi qui t’aimais by Diane Kurys and La venue de l’avenir by Cédric Klapisch) as well as on the international side (Highest 2 Lowest by the USA’s Spike Lee, Hurry Up Tomorrow by his fellow countryman Trey Edward Shultz, Dao by French-Senegalese director Alain Gomis, Milk Powder by Brazil’s Carlos Segundo, and the German trio consisting of Yellow Letters by Ilker Çatak, Amrum by Fatih Akin and Gavagai by Ulrich Köhler), to cite but a few of those brought up most frequently in conversations.

The hunt for young talents is also in full swing among the official selection, the Directors’ Fortnight and the Critics’ Week. Among the third features to keep an eye on, we could mention The Dream Adventure by Germany’s Valeska Grisebach, In a Whisper by Tunisia’s Leyla Bouzid, No Good Men by Afghanistan’s Shahrbanoo Sadat and La hiedra by Ecuador’s Ana Cristina Barragán, while standing out among the sophomore features rumoured to be in the running are Love Me Tender by France’s Anna Cazenave Cambet (toplined by Vicky Krieps), Renoir by Japan’s Chie Hayakawa, Marie et jolie by French-Tunisian filmmaker Erige Sehiri, Derrière les palmiers by Morocco’s Meryem Benm'Barek, God Will Not Help by Croatia’s Hana Jušić, Le Roi Soleil by France’s Mael-Vincent Cardona and Un anno di scuola by Italy’s Laura Samani.

Moving on to the feature debuts, if we are to believe what we hear, titles with a very good chance of finding a berth somewhere on the Croisette are allegedly Urchin by the UK’s Harris Dickinson, A Useful Ghost by Thailand’s Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo by Chile’s Diego Céspedes, Sleepless City by Spaniard Gabriel Garcia Lopez, Partir un jour by France’s Amélie Bonnin and L’engloutie by her fellow countrywoman Louise Hémon. Supposedly still in the running are Nino by France’s Pauline Locques, Don’t Let Me Die by Romania’s Andrei Epure, Forastera by Spaniard Lucía Aleñar Iglesias, Caravan by the Czech Republic’s Zuzana Kirchnerova-Spidlova, My Father’s Shadow by UK-Nigerian helmer Akinola Davies, Arriva la guerra by Italy’s Tommaso Usberti, Kika by Belgium’s Alexe Poukine (her feature-length fiction debut), La hija cóndor by Bolivia’s Álvaro Olmos Torrico, Gorgonà by Greece’s Evi Kalogiropoulou (touted as pretty extreme), Lady Nazca by Switzerland’s Damien Dorsaz and Aisha Can’t Fly Away by Egypt’s Morad Mostafa. And let’s not overlook titles such as Arco by France’s Ugo Bienvenu among the animations and, of course, The Chronology of Water, the directorial feature debut by US star Kristen Stewart.

“The die is cast.” The coming week will shed a considerable amount of light on the makeup of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, and for the last two days, the invitations have begun to pour in, but for now, the only thing we know for sure about this edition is that Juliette Binoche will chair the official competition jury (see the news). Thierry Frémaux has myriad trump cards on the table to choose from, but given that he has never been averse to wrong-footing the forecasters (who either amuse or infuriate him), the unveiling of the majority of the most highly coveted secrets will have to wait until 10 April.