German entry among top contenders for the Cannes Golden Palm

The young German director unexpectedly took the festival by storm with her film "Toni Erdmann." Maren Ade (center), surrounded by her lead actors Sandra Hüller and Peter Simonischek, was just as surprised. She said she'd probably be able to realize what happened in Cannes once the festival was over.

The success of "Toni Erdmann" was particularly surprising because the film is not only German, it's funny. Many people refuse to believe Germans can have a sense of humor: With its exceptional dialogues and actors, "Toni Erdmann" might shatter that prevailing cliché.

However, the competition for the coveted Golden Palm isn't over yet. Several heavyweights in the movie world will present their films toward the end of the festival. Xavier Dolan, a young Canadian wunderkind, is in Cannes with "Juste la Fin du Monde." It's the 27-year-old director's sixth movie, and the fourth to premiere at the Cannes film festival.

Star power on the red carpet is guaranteed when actor-cum-filmmaker Sean Penn presents his fifth film on Friday: In "The Last Face," set amid the wars and disasters in Sudan and Liberia, the director of an international aid agency (Charlize Theron) meets a relief aid doctor (Javier Bardem).

Asghar Farhadi's film "Forushande" was finished just in time for the Oscar-winning Iranian director to be invited to Cannes to present his film on Saturday, May 21. Farhadi tells the story of a young couple's relationship in present-day Iran.

Paul Verhoeven's new film is bound to draw crowds shortly before the competition comes to a close, too. After working in Hollywood for the past few years, the Dutch director has returned to Europe. His contribution to the Cannes film Festival is the Franco-German co-production "Elle," a psychological thriller starring Isabelle Huppert in the role of a woman threatened by a masked assailant.

It would be quite a sensation if the Golden Palm went to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, directors and brothers from Belgium. Not because they aren't worthy of winning the award, but because they've actually won it twice already. They went ahead and celebrated the premiere of their film "La Fille Inconnue" on the red carpet anyway.

Jim Jarmusch's new film has proven to be popular in Cannes, too. The US director (right, with actors Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani) presented "Paterson," the story of a New Jersey bus driver. Typical Jarmusch fare: sensitive, laconic, with an eye for detail, and great acting.

Two Romanian films, "Sieranevada" (above photo) by director Cristi Puiu and Cristian Mungiu's "Bacalaureat" are also expected to have outsider's chances. Puiu's domestic drama takes a close look at the mechanisms of modern society, and Mungiu's film tells the story of a father who invests all his ambitions in his daughter's schooling.

"I, Daniel Blake" did well in Cannes, too. The 70-year-old British director Ken Loach - shown here on the red carpet, in the center, surrounded by his actors - examines the life of an elderly man after he suffers a heart attack. As usual in Loach films, it's about outsiders in British society.

Holding signs saying "Stop the coup" and "Brazil is no longer a democracy," Kleber Mendonca Filho and his crew protested against the impeachment of suspended president Rousseff. At the festival, the Brazilian director-writer presented the social drama "Aquarius," which was for the most part well-received by the critics.