Cannes Film Festival 2021: Sean Penn, Francois Ozon, Asghar Farhadi in, India Absent

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Last Updated:June 03, 2021, 17:51 IST

The list of films which will compete and be screened at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival 2020 was announced on Thursday.

It was comeback time for the Cannes Film Festival’s 74th edition after the 12-day event was cancelled last year because of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Despite the Pandemic, which has still not abated, the buzz this year around the event on the lovely French Riviera, which was postponed to July 6 from its usual Mid-May date, has been loud. Admittedly, many will not be able to attend the Festival because of travel restrictions and quarantine rules – that appear enormously rigid, at least as of now.

During a Press conference today in Normandie Theatre in Paris’s Champs-Élysées, the Festival General Delegate, Thierry Fremaux, and the President, Pierre Lescure, while announcing the official selections said that there were two separate lists – Green and Red (with 16 countries, presumably India as well). Those from the Green would have easier access to Cannes and the Festival, although it was still mandatory for all visitors to have a Coronavirus test done every 48 hours during their stay. It would be a simple saliva test that had to be booked on the website. The test would be free of charge.

Fremaux said that the issue relating to a week’s quarantine in Cannes was hoped to be resolved. There would be no problem for Americans coming into Cannes, but their return might not be as smooth. As for the U.K., he anticipated some changes to happen in the next couple of days.

Fremaux, who has always been a strong advocate of the big screen vs streaming platforms (one reason why the Festival has not been able to get major players like Amazon Prime and Netflix in) , said “Cinema is not dead , and the return of audiences to movie halls around the world was the first good news. And the festival will be the second good news.If France’s reopening occurs as expected, You will be able to fill the room 100%," though safety precautions will still be in effect.

This year’s lineup will have 24 titles in the main Competition section, and 12 in A Certain Regard. A new section called Cannes Premiere with seven movies has been introduced. These will form part of a list of films that could not be accommodated in Competition.

The 2021 Cannes Competition selections includes several familiar faces, including regulars Nanni Moretti, back with his latest, Three Floors , François Ozon, who returns to the Croisette with Tout S’Est Bien Passé, and Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, returning with his latest, A Hero Another Cannes veteran, Jacques Audiard, will return with Paris 13th District. Sean Penn with Flag Day and Sean Baker with Red Rocket — both from the U.S. will also be part of the Competition. Ahed’s Knee’s, Bergman Island and Drive My Car will also be part of the competition.

Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul, whose Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives won the Palme d’Or in 2010, has in competition Memoria, starring Tilda Swinton. Hungary’s Ildikó Enyedi, who won the Golden Bear in Berlin for her 2017 feature On Body and Soul, returns to to Cannes (she was last there with My Twentieth Century in 1999) with Competion title The Story of My Wife.

The 74th edition will open on July 6 with the world premiere of Annette, a new musical drama from French director Leos Carax (Holy Motors), starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver. “The project, about a singer and a stand-up comedian whose lives are forever changed by the birth of their first child, originated as an idea for a concept album by L.A. rock/pop duo Sparks (aka Ron and Russell Mael). The Mael brothers co-wrote the script to Annette with Carax and composed the film’s soundtrack".

Below the full list, except the closing title which will be announced later.

Competition

Annette by Leos Carax (opening film)

Three Floors, by Nanni Moretti

Everything Went Fine by François Ozon

A Hero by Asghar Farhadi

Titane by Julia Ducournau

The French Dispatch by Wes Anderson

Red Rocket by Sean Baker

Petrov’s Flu by Kirill Serebrennikov

France by Bruno Dumont

Nitramby Justin Kurzel

Memoria by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Lingui by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Paris 13th District by Jacques Audiard

The Restless by Joachim Lafosse

La Fracture by Catherine Corsini

Casablanca Beats by Nabil Ayouch

The Worst Person In The World by Joachim Trier

Compartment No.6, by Juho Kuosmanen

Ahed’s Knee, by Nadav Lapid

Drive My Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Bergman Island, by Mia Hansen-Love

Benedetta by Paul Verhoeven

The Story Of My Wife by Ildikó Enyedi

Flag Day, by Sean Penn

Out Of Competition

Aline, The Voice Of Love, Valérie Lemercier

Stillwater, Tom Mccarthy

The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes

Emergency Declaration, Han Jae-Rim

De Son Vivant, Emmanuelle Bercot

Bac Nord, Cédric Jimenez

Midnight Screening

Bloody Oranges, Jean-Christophe Meurisse

Cannes Premiere

Hold Me Tight, Mathieu Amalric

Cow, Andrea Arnold

Love Songs For Tough Guys, Samuel Benchetrit

Deception, Arnaud Desplechin

Jane Par Charlotte, Charlotte Gainsbourg

In Front Of Your Face, Hong Sang-Soo

Mothering Sunday, Eva Husson

Evolution, Kornél Mundruczo

Val, Ting Poo, Leo Scott

JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass, Oliver Stone

Special screenings

H6, Yé Yé

Black Notebooks, Shlomi Elkabetz

Mariner Of The Mountains, Karim Aïnouz

Jane Par Charlotte, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Babi Yar, Sergei Loznitsa

The Year Of The Everlasting Storm, Jafar Panahi, Anthony Chen, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayor, David Lowery, Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Un Certain Regard

The Innocents, Eskil Vogt

After Yang, Kogonada

Lamb, Valdimar Jóhannsson

Noche De Fuego, Tatiana Huezo

Bonne Mère, Hafsia Herzi

Blue Bayou, Justin Chon

Moneyboys, C.B Yi

Freda, Gessica Généus

Un Monde, Laura Wandel

Commitment Hasan, Hasan Semih

House Arrest, Alexey German Jr.