"The Most Precious of Goods" by Michel Hazanavicius added to the competition at Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival has finally completed its selection, notably inviting director Michel Hazanavicius to compete with an animated film, a first in over 15 years.

Michel Hazanavicius, 57, will therefore be in the running for the Palme d'Or with "The Most Precious of Goods." This marks his first attempt in animation for the versatile director of "The Artist" (which won an Oscar in 2012) or the first two installments of the spy comedy "OSS 117."

As Variety notes, it has been over 15 years since an animated film was selected for the Cannes competition. The last one, "Waltz with Bashir" by Ari Folman, was presented in 2008.

The festival has also added Mohammad Rasoulof's new film, "The Seed of the Sacred Fig." Rasoulof won the Un Certain Regard Prize at Cannes in 2017 with "A Man of Integrity," and then the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2020 with "There Is No Evil."

A third director, Romanian Emanuel Parvu, has also been added to the competition, bringing the total number of films vying for the Palme d'Or to 22, to succeed last year's winner, "Anatomy of a Fall" by Justine Triet.

Among them, the works of illustrious Hollywood directors, including "Megalopolis" by Francis Ford Coppola and "Oh Canada" by Paul Schrader, a musical by Jacques Audiard, Yorgos Lanthimos' new film with Emma Stone, following his Golden Lion for "Poor Things," and a work about Naples by Italian Paolo Sorrentino.

Out of competition, the festival, which will take place from May 14 to 25, also announced on Monday the premiere of "The Count of Monte Cristo," starring Pierre Niney in the title role, a French blockbuster programmed out of competition, while Oliver Stone will present a special screening of a documentary about Brazilian leader Lula.

Three films have also been added to the Un Certain Regard section, including the directorial debut of actress Céline Sallette, and a biopic about artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, starring Charlotte Le Bon.