Cannes 2013 Lineup: 'Grisgris,' 'Fruitvale' Are In; '12 Years A Slave,' 'Half Of A Yellow Sun' Are Not

However, note that there are still the parallel section selections to be announced – these are non-competitive sidebars, like: Cannes Classics; Tous les Cinémas du Monde (showcasing global cinema diversity. Each day, one country is invited to present a range of features and shorts); Directors’ Fortnight and the International Critics’ Week selections.

In the meantime, here are your official selections. 

From my Cannes predictions list, I see 2 titles that I mentioned – Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s Grisgris (screening In Competition) and Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale (now titled Fruitvale Station; screening Out Of Competition).

And there are a few *discoveries* like Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche’s first film since 2010’s controversial Black Venus. But expect individual profiles of those projects that we’ve never covered.

As the title of this post states, Steve McQueen’s Twelve Years A Slave is a noticeably absent title. But as I noted yesterday in my predictions post, there was some talk that the film might not be ready in time for the festival, so I suppose the fact that it’s not listed below, shouldn’t be a big surprise. 

Although, again, there are still more section lineups to be announced, and we should know more in the next day or two. However, I just don’t believe McQueen’s film would premiere in any other category than as an Official Selection, In Competition. The other programs like Directors’ Fortnight and International Critics’ Week are reserved for younger, or up-and-coming filmmakers to be discovered, not veterans (although this is only his 3rd film; but he’s a *name* now) like Steve McQueen, and a fairly well-known cast as well. It’s just too high profile of a project to not debut as an Official Selection.

So I think we can say that Twelve Years A Slave will likely premiere at another future film festival, and my bet is on Toronto in September, with Fox Searchlight dating the film’s release for December 27. Although the Los Angeles Film Festival could get it in June. Last year, the LAFF snagged Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love as the opening night film for the 2012 Festival.

Also noticeably absent from the below Cannes Official Selection lineup programs are: Biyi Bandele’s Half Of A Yellow Sun, Amma Asante’s Belle, and Djinn Carrénard’s Faire l’amour.

But, unlike Twelve Years A Slave, these could very well still premiere at the festival in those aforementioned non-competitive sidebars that haven’t yet been announced – assuming that they’re actually complete and ready.

We’ll know everything by next week.