We are now just a couple of days away until Cannes Film Festival 2016 gets underway - and the festival has brought together another fantastic programme of films, directors, writers, and actors.
Money Monster
Cannes is one of the biggest and most prestigious festivals on the calendar and we are going to be treated to a whole host of movies of different genres from around the world.
Today we are taking a closer look at some of the female filmmakers and the movies that they are showcasing at the festival.
- Andrea Arnold - American Honey
Andrea Arnold is one of the most exciting British female directors and she is about to return with her latest film American Honey, which will compete for the Palme d'Or at the festival.
American Honey is the fourth feature film of her career and comes after success with Red Road, Fish Tank and Wuthering Heights, which was her last movie back in 2011.
As well as being in the director's chair, Arnold has also penned the film's screenplay. I am a huge fan of Arnold's previous work and it is always exciting when one of her movies is on the horizon.
Sasha Lane is set to take on the central role of Star in the film and is joined on the cast list by Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough, McCaul Lombardi, and Arielle Holmes.
Star (Lane), a teenage girl from a troubled home runs away with a travelling sales crew that drives across the American mid-west selling magazine subscriptions door to door.
Finding her feet in this gang of teenagers, one of whom is Jake (LaBeouf), she soon gets into the group's lifestyle of hard partying, law-bending and young love.
Arnold is no stranger to Cannes, having twice won the Jury Prize for Red Road and Fish Tank. Could this be the year she finally wins the Palme d'Or?
- Nicole Garcia - From the Land of the Moon
Nicole Garcia is another female filmmaker who is in the mix for this year's Palme d'Or, as she returns to the director's chair with her latest film Mal De Pierres (From the Land of the Moon).
From the Land of the Moon is a big screen adaptation of the novel by Milena Agus and has been adapted into a screenplay by Garcia and Jacques Fieschi.
Garcia has brought us movies such as The Adversary, Charlie Says and A View of Love but this is her first feature film since Going Away back in 2013.
She has assembled a fantastic cast as Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard takes on the central role of Gabrielle. Louis Garrel and Alex Brendemühl are also on board.
Set after World War II, From the Land of the Moon is set over twenty years and follows Gabrielle, a free-spirited woman who is in a loveless marriage when she falls for another man.
Garcia has been nominated for the Palme d'Or on two other occasions for The Adversary and Charlie Says but has never won. She is going to be a strong contender again this year.
- Maren Ade - Toni Erdmann
Maren Ade is back in the director's chair with her latest feature film Toni Erdmann and will join Andrea Arnold and Nicole Garcia in the battle to win this year's Palme d'Or.
Toni Erdmann is the third feature film of Ade's directing career and comes after success with The Forest for the Trees and Everyone Else. However, it has been seven years since we have seen her in the director's chair as Everyone Else was released back in 2009.
As well as being in the director's chair, Ade has also penned the screenplay for Toni Erdmann.
The film sees the director team up with actor Peter Simonischek, who takes on the title role in the film. Sandra Hüller will play his daughter while Lucy Russell and Hadewych Minis are also on board.
The movie follows Toni as he tries to reconnect with his daughter. He begins to play pranks on her after finding her too self-serious.
Ade's work has won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival but she has never competed for the Palme d'Or.
- Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin - The Stopover
Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin have reunited for their new film The Stopover, which will screen out of competition as part of the
Un Certain Regard section of the festival.
The Stopover is the second feature film for Delphine and Muriel, who teamed up with write and direct 17 Girls back in 2011. As well as being in the director's chair for The Stopover, the filmmaking sisters have also showed off their writing skills once again.
SoKo, Ariane Labed, Ginger Roman, and Karim Leklou have come together to take on the central roles.
The Stopover follows two French soldiers who take three days leave to Cyprus after finishing their tour of Afghanistan.
The Coulin sisters are no strangers to the Cannes Film Festival with 17 Girls playing there in 2011. The Stopover is set to premiere at the festival later this month.
- Jodie Foster - Money Monster
Jodie Foster is as exciting a filmmaker as she is an actress and she is back in the director's chair with her latest movie Money Monster.
Money Monster is one of the big American movies to play at the festival this year, alongside The Nice Guys and The BFG. Money Monster is the fourth feature film of Foster's career and the first since The Beaver back in 2011.
This time, Foster teams up with Oscar winners George Clooney and Julia Roberts - it is good to see these two actors sharing the screen once again. Jack O'Connell, Dominic West, and Giancarlo Esposito complete a very exciting cast list.
In the taut and tense thriller Money Monster, Lee Gates (Clooney) is a bombastic TV personality whose popular financial network show has made him the money wiz of Wall Street. But after he hawks a high-tech stock that mysteriously crashes, an irate investor (O'Connell) takes Gates, his crew, and his ace producer Patty Fenn (Roberts) hostage live on air. Unfolding in real time, Gates and Fenn must find a way to keep themselves alive while simultaneously uncovering the truth behind a tangle of big money lies.
Foster is just one of a number of high profile actors in the director's chair this year and I cannot wait to see what she delivers with Money Monster.
Cannes Film Festival 2016 runs from 11th - 22nd May.
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