Indian film Homebound, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and featuring Ishan Khatter in the lead, is all set to premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival 2025 in the Un Certain Regard section. The festival organisers announced the lineup of films on Thursday at a press meet. Ghaywan’s film also features Vishal Jethwa and reportedly has Janhvi Kapoor in a cameo role. Karan Johar has produced the film.
Neeraj Ghaywan Cannes-bound
This will be Ghywan’s second feature film to be selected in the Un Certain Regard section. Ghaywan debuted as a feature film director with Masaan which features Vicky Kaushal, Shweta Tripathi and Richa Chaddha in the lead. Masaan, too, had premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2015 and won two awards- FIPRESCI, International Jury of Film Critics prize and the Promising Future prize in the Un Certain Regard section.
Aur @ghaywan ki @Festival_Cannes meiN waapasi!
— वरुण 🇮🇳 (@varungrover) April 10, 2025
HOMEBOUND selected in Un Certain Regard. Poore 10 saal lagte haiN iss shehar meiN apne mann ki picture banaane meiN aksar.
Congratulations to the entire team and producers Karan Johar + @somenmishra0. pic.twitter.com/XtS4e97d9i
Wes Anderson, Jafar Panai in Cannes competition
Films by American director Wes Anderson, Iran's Jafar Panahi and perennial favourites the Dardenne brothers from Belgium will vie for the coveted Palme d'Or at the festival.
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Festival director Thierry Fremaux revealed the list of around 20 films in the main competition at a press conference, with newcomer French director Amelie Bonnin given the honour of opening the festival with her debut feature Leave One Day.
Other directors chosen for the premier competition include veteran American independent filmmaker Richard Linklater, and Ari Aster, the new master of American horror whose previous credits include the chilling Hereditary and Midsommar.
Other festival highlights are set to include a directorial debut film from Scarlett Johansson, who is also acting in Anderson's in-competition movie The Phoenician Scheme alongside Benicio Del Toro and Tom Hanks.
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Johansson is set to showcase her debut behind the lens, Eleanor the Great, which will compete in the secondary "Un Certain Regard" competition.
Among the eye-catching documentaries feature a film about U2 frontman Bono, Bono: Stories of Surrender, and another by Haitian director Raoul Peck about British writer George Orwell, entitled Orwell.
(With agency inputs)