74th Festival de Cannes Official Selection

Update June 30, 2021: Added Camera d'Or jury and link to all first features in competition.

The awards ceremony schedules starts on Thursday, July 15 when Cinéfondation awards will be announced; then on Friday, July 16 is Un Certain Regards ceremony and festival closing ceremony on Saturday, July 17.

Update June 25, 2021: Main Competition Jury has been announced as well as restored films and cinema related documentaries in Cannes Classics.

Update June 23, 2021: A few days back organizers announced a festival section called Cinema for the Climate that will screen one scripted film and six documentaries; two journesy of activism for the youth, two tales of catastrophe, news from Africa and an expeditio to the farthest reaches of the world.

Second guest of honor for current edition, after Jodie Foster attending the Opening Ceremony, is none other than Marco Bellocchio who will present his new feature film in the Cannes Premiere section and during the Closing Ceremony on Saturday, July 17 will receive an Honorary Palm d'Or as a tribute to his unique oeuvre that has marked contemporary cinema with force and freedom.  His documentary Marx Can Wait has been added to list below.

An exclusive screening to press and festival attendeens will show the latest episode of Mark Cousins' masterpiece dedicated to cinema, The Story of Film. The Story of Film: A New Generation is the final chapter and poses and important question: where were we filmmakers when everything stopped? Film builds a bridge between the "before" and the "after" of the health crisis; will be shown in the Debussy Theatre of the Palais des Festivals on Tuesday, July 6th.

Update June 16, 2021: Short Films and Cinéfondation Selections plus the Jury for both short films sections of the festival. Also today French press announced Doria Tillier as the maîtresse des cérémonies for the opening and closing ceremonies.

Update June 15, 2021: Un Certain Regard announces the jury and the opening film.

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Update June 11, 2021 Additions to the Official Selection

As announced during the press conference on June 3rd, and as is the tradition -there were 9 additional films in 2019-, here are the 9 films that will be added to the Official Selection.

There is one film by Ari Folman in Out of Competition, one in Cannes Premiere by Gaspar Noé, one in Un Certain Regard by Yohan Manca, two in Midnight Screenings by Arnaud and Jean-Maie Larrieu and another by Audrey Estrougo, and four in Special Screenings by Andrew Muscato, Noémie Merlant, Maxime Roy, and Wen Shipei.

The Opening Film in Un Certain Regard section will be presented on Wednesday, July 7 an the film showed during the "last screening" of the award ceremony, on Saturday July 17th will be announced very shortly.

Even if organizers have not announced the films in the Cinema in the Beach section, industry press released the news that the "summer blockbuster" to be screened in that section is none other than F9, yes the latest installment of the Fast and Furious franchise.

New films have been added to the list below.

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6/3/21
First thing I notice, as in 2020, there is NO Short Film selection, wonder why but hope later organizers will announce them as of this very moment and with the new official web site it's not possible to find something about Short Films in the Official Selection. By-the-way, yes there will be short films in other sections. What follows now is La Quinzaine, La Semaine and ACID selections which will be announced next week.

The festival will run from July 6 to 17 and yes, there are more films in the official selection that will be announced later, including the festival closing film. Also there are other Festival de Cannes sections with selections to be released later on like Cinema de la Plage, Cannes Classics (maybe documentaries will be here again), and more. Fremaux teased that there will be a major blockbuster in Cinema at the Beach and it's not James Bond, Dune or West Side Story ... social media speculation immediately went crazy, best guess definitively is Chloe Zhao Eternals.

Am I glad Cannes is back? YES! Even when many of us cinema lover will be able to watch films until next year or more is absolutely great to know that great cinema is alive in well with great master filmmakers doing what could be outstanding films and when you read the films in the selection you will understand what I mean.

Some say in social media, why people make so much fuzz about Cannes when the same directors come every year and there is nothing new. For me is one, if not the main, reason to be exited about Cannes as always showcases the latest work of great filmmakers those who make outstanding cinema, the kind that gives audiences a complete sensorial and emotional voyage, the one that grabs when you less expect and releases you well after the movie has ended, the one that puts you inside and makes you feel that if you turn around you will see what you just left ... and many more emotions, feelings, strong sensations, etc. That's is Cannes and unfortunately no other film festival cares to be strong in this kind of films, so no other film festival is like Cannes.

Still, Cannes refuses to change and/or adapt. Late May 2021 Italy's IDM Film Fund hosted the 10th Incontri Conference with the assistance of Antonio Barbera (Venice FF), Carlo Chatrian (Berlinale), Piera Detassis (President of David di Donatello Academy), and Matthijs Wouter Knol (Director of European Film Academy). Many interesting topics were discussed but wait, do you notice the absence of one person? Where is Thierry Fremaux? Not in the panel. Perhaps the most interesting comment when discussing film festivals is "something changed forever" ... "though we will go back to physical show it won't be the same". Do not have to get a crystal ball to believe those predictions are most likely truth, we will see what happens in Cannes to find more insights, but truth is that the world changed and cinema making and watching is NO exception. Then Knol made a remarkable comment: "younger audiences get to see great films ... in cinemas or on the platforms" notice he acknowledges that NO longer there are only cinemas for younger audiences, as platforms probable have greater presence among youth viewers. Well, as long as Cannes denies the role of the platforms and insists that the ONLY way to watch good cinema is in theaters then their relevance among younger population will continue to be less and less and my friends that's how "something" dies as their audience population goes older and older.

Then Fremaux dared to say something like, we are in post-pandemic times. I do not agree and hope organizers will take all great measures to assure the health of extraordinary film directors, actresses and actors and many other industry attendees as IF not and they get sick the good cinema will suffer immensely if they're gone or suffer the illness sequels. Gee. it's ridiculous me writing about this, but nowadays is a true concern.

Okay enough, let's go to the great news.

First, Cannes had a fantastic choice and decision to give the Honorary Palme d'or to Jodie Foster, who had her first Croissette appearance when she was 13 years-old with Palme d'Or winner Taxi Driver; forty-five years later she comes back to receive a Palme d'Or, this time for herself.   Second, Fremaux announced the creation of a new section Cannes Premieres with films that in the past used to end up in Un Certain Regard section and were from directors who came to Cannes before.  Consequently, the Un Certain Regard section goes back to its original intend, films for young and experimental cinema.

There are 63 films in the Official Selection and only 18 are directed by one or more women, meaning that almost a third of the total lineup has at least one female director; note that two films are co-directed by two women. Actually is a bit up from previous years' 25%, but still is a male dominated festival as proportions are lower that other major festivals where an effort has been made to allow the presence of female directors. Sigh.

There are twenty-four films in this year's competition.

Official Selection

Competition

Opening Film: Annette, Leos Carax, France, Mexico, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, and Germany

A feleségem története (The Story of My Wife), Ildikó Enyedi, Hungary, Germany and Italy
Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven, France
Bergman Island, Mia Hansen-Løve, France, Sweden and Germany
ドライブ・マイ・カー Doraibu mai kâ (Drive My Car), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Japan
Flag Day, Sean Penn, USA
France (aka On a Half Clear Morning), Bruno Drumont, France and Belgium
قهرمان, Ghahreman (A Hero), Asghar Farhadi, Iran and France
הברך Ha' berech (Ahed's Knee), Nadav Lapid, Israel, Germany and France
علّي صوتك Haut et Fort (Casablanca Beats), Nabil Ayouch, Morocco and France
Hytti Nro 6 (Compartment Number 6), Juho Kuosmanen, Finland, Estonia, Germany and Russia
La Fracture, Catherine Corsini, France
Les Intranquilles (The Restless), Joachim Lafosse, France, Belgium and Luxembourg
Les Olympiades (Paris, 13th District), Jaques Audiard, France
Lingui, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, France, Germany and Belgium
Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Colombia, Mexico, France, UK, Germany and Thailand
Nitram, Justin Kurzel, Australia
Петровы в гриппе Petrovy v grippe (Petrov's Flu), Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia, Switzerland, France and Germany
Red Rocket, Sean Baker, USA
The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson, USA
Titane, Julia Ducournau, France and Belgium
Tre Piani (Three Floors), Nanni Moretti, Italy and France
Tout s'est bien passé (Everything Went Fine), François Ozon, France
Verdens verste menneske (The Worst Person in the World), Joachim Trier, Norway, France, Denmark and Sweden

The Jury
President: Spike Lee, director, producer and screenwriter, USA
Mati Diop, director, France and Senegal
Mylène Farmer, singer and songwriter, Canada and France
Maggie Gyllenhaal, actress, producer, screenwriter and director, USA
Jessica Hausner, director producer and screenwriter, Austria
Mélanie Laurent, actress, director and screenwriter, France
Kleber Mendonça Filho, director, producer and screenwriter, Brazil
Tahar Rahim, actor, France
Song Kang-ho, actor, Sourth Korea




Out of Competition
Closing Film:  OSS 117, Alerte rouge en Afrique noire (From Africa With Love), Nicolas Bedos, France
Aline, Valérie Lemercier, Canada and France
BAC Nord, Cédric Jimenez, France
비상선언 Bisangsuneon (Emergency Declaration), Han Jae-Rim, Korea
De Sont Vivant (Peaceful), Emmanuelle Bercot, France
Stillwater, Tom McCarthy, USA
The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes, USA (documentary)
Were is Anne Frank?, Ari Folman, Belgium, Luxembourg, Israel, Netherlands, and France (animation)

Special Screenings
热带往事 Are You Lonesome Tonight, Wei Shipei, China
Бабий Яр. Контекст Babi Yar. Context, Sergei Loznitsa, Ukraine, France and Romania (documentary)
Bill Murray's party: New Worlds, The Cradle of Civilization, Andrew Muscato, Greece and USA (documentary)
מחברות שחורות Black Notebooks, Shlomi Elkabetz, Israel (documentary)
H6, Yé Yé , France (documentary)
Les héroïques, Maxime Roy, France
O Marinheiro das Montanhas (Mariner of the Mountains), Karim Aïnouz, Brazil, Algeria and France
Mi iubita, Mon amour, Noémie Merlant, France
The Year of the Everlasting Storm, Jafar Panahi, Antony Che, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayor, David Lowery, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Iran, Singapore, USA, Chile and Thailand (Anthology)

Midnight Screenings
Oranges Sanguines (Bloody Oranges), Jean-Christophe Meurisse, France
Suprêmes, Audrey Estrougo, France
Tralala, Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, France

Cannes Premiere
竜とそばかすの姫 Ryu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle), Mamoru Hosoda, Japan (animation)
Cette musique ne joue pour personne (Love Songs For Tough Guys), Samuel Benchetrit, France
Cow, Andrea Arnold, UK (documentary)
Evolution, Kornél Mundruczó, Hungary (documentary about the play/performance?)
당신 얼굴 앞에서 In Front of Your Face, Hong Sang Soo, Korea
Jane par Charlotte, Charlotte Gainbsbourg, France (documentary)
JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, Oliver Stone, USA (documentary)
Marx può aspettare (Marx Can Wait), Marco Bellocchio, Italy (documentary)
Mothering Sunday, Eva Husson, UK
Serre-moi fort (Hold Me Tight), Mathieu Amalric, France
Tromperie (Deception), Arnaud Desplechin, France
Val, Ting Poo and Leo Scott, USA (documentary)
Vortex, Gaspar Noé, Argentina and Italy

Un Certain Regard
Opening Film:  Onoda, 10,000 nuits dans la Jungle (Onoda, 10,000 Nights in the Jungle), Arthur Harari, France, Germany, Belgium and Italy
After Yang, Kogonada, USA
Bağlılık-Aslı (Commitment), Semih Kaplanoğlu, Turkey
Blue Bayou, Justin Chon, USA
Bonne Mère, Hafsia Herzi, France
De uskyldige (The Innocents), Eskil Vogt, Norway and Sweden
Дело Delo (House Arrest), Alexey German Jr., Russia
Dýrið (Lamb), Valdimar Jóhannsson, Iceland, Sweden and Poland
Freda, Gessica Généus, Haiti, Benin, and France
街娃儿 Gaey Wa'r (Remainder), Na Jiazuo, China
Große Freiheit (Great Freedom), Sebastian Meise, Austria and Germany
La Civil, Teodora Ana Mihai, Romania, Mexico and Belgium
ויהי בוקר Let It Be Morning, Eran Kolirin, Israel and France
Mon frères et moi, Yohan Manca, France
Moneyboys, C.B Yi, Austria, France, Taiwan and Belgium
Noche de Fuego (Prayers for the Stolen), Tatiana Huezo, Mexico, Brazil, Germany and Qatar
রেহানা মরিয়ম নূর Rehana Maryam Noor, Abdulah Mohammad Saad, Bangladesh, Singapore and Qatar
Un Monde, Laura Wandel, Belgium
Разжимая кулаки Unclenching The Fists, Kira Kovalenko, Russia
Women Do Cry, Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazarova, Bulgaria and France

Un Certain Regard Jury
President: Andrea Arnold, director and screenwriter, UK
Mouni Meddour, director, screenwriter and producer, Algeria
Elsa Zylberstein, actress, France
Daniel Burman, director, screenwriter and producer, Argentina
Michael Covino, director, producer and actor, USA



Camera d'Or
Created in 1978, the Camera d'Or is awarded to the best first feature presented in the Official Selection, la Semaine de la Critique and the Directors' Fortnight. This year there are thrity-one (31) films in competition, 10 from the Official Selection, 11 from La Semaine and 10 from the Quinzaine. To check the list at official site go here.
The Jury
President: Mélanie Thierry, actress, France
Audrey Abiven, CEO OF Tri Track, from FICAM
Laurent Dailland, director of photography, from AFC
Romain Cogitore, director, screenwriter and photographer, from SRF
Pierre- Simon Gutman, film critic and cinema magazine editor, from SFCC
Eric Caravaca, actor and director, France



Cinema for the Climate
Animal, Cyril Dion, France
Bigger than Us, Fiore Vasseur, France
I Am So Sorry, Zhao Liang, China
Invisible Demons, Rahul Jain, India
La Croisade (The Crusade), Louis Garrel, Fance
La Panthère des neiges (The Velvelt Queen), Marie Amiguet, France
Marcher sur l'eau (Above Water), Alissa Maiga, Niger and France

To read official press kit go here is a pdf file and/or article at official site here.  To read additions to the Official Selection go here.

Check available info and trailer for films in Competition @MOC here
Check available info and trailer for films in Special Screenings @MOC here

Check available film posters at Pinterest here

Cannes Classics
As every year, the fetival presents a selection of the best restored prints and invites to explore again the history of Cinema. Selection includes a Tribute to Bill Duke; filmmaker and actress Kinuyo Tanaka; director, actress, screenwriter Ana Mariscal; director Oscar Micheaux; screening of Marcel Camus' Orfeu Negro; Roberto Rossellini and Les Cahiers du Cinema; and, many more restored films listed at official site here. Also listed the cinema related documentaries.

Short Films
This year the selection committee viewed 3739 short films and selected 10 for the competition; it's the first time in the official selection for short films from Kosovo and Macedonia.

All The Crowds in the World, Tang Yi, Hong Kong, 14'
Céu de Agosto (August Sky), Jasmin Tenucci, Brazil and Island, 15'
Det er i Jorden (In the Soil), Casper Kjeldsen, Denmark, 14'
Noite Turva (Through the Haze), Diogo Salgado, Portugal, 14'
Orthodontics, Mohammadreza Mayghani, Iran, 14'
Pa Vend (Displaced), Samir Karahoda, Kosovo, 15'
Severen Pol (North Pole), Marija Apcevska, Macedonia and Serbia, 15'
Sideral, Carlos Segundo, Brazil and France, 15'
The Right Words, Adrian Moyse Dullin, France, 15'
Xue Yun (Absence), Lang Wu, China, 15'

Cinéfondation Selection
For its 24th edition the Cinéfondation Selection has invited 17 directors: 8 women and 9 men. The 13 live-action and 4 animated shorts have been chosen among the 1,835 submitted by film schools all over the world, Four schools make their firs appearance at the Cinéfondation. The diversity of the selection is also enriched by the cultural intermingling of filmmakers and schools: a Brazilian in Argentina, a Bulgarian in UK, a Chinese in Japan, and an Islander in Denmark.

Bestie wokół nas (Beasts Among Us), Natalia Durszewicz, Poland, 6', The Polish National Film School in Łódź
Bill and Joe Go Duck Hunting, Auden Lincoln-Vogel, USA, 21', University of Iowa
Billy Boy, Sacha Amaral, Argentina, 25', Universidad Nacional de las Artes
Cantareira, Rodrigo Ribeyro, Brazil, 24', Academia Internacional de Cinema
매미 Cicada, Yoon Daewoen, Korea, 17', Korea National University of Arts
Fonica M-120, Olivér Rudolf, Hungary, 24', SZFE
Frida, Aleksandra Odić, Germany, 22', DFFB
Frie mænd (Free Men), Óskar Kristinn Vignisson, Denmark, 28', Denmark
Habikur (Night Visit), Mya Kaplan, Israel, 25', The Steve Tish School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University
King Max, Adèle Vincenti-Crasson, France, 21', La Fémis
La Caída del Vencejo (The Fall of the Swift), Gonzalo Quincoces, Spain, 13', ESCAC
L'Enfant Salamandre (The Salamander Child), Théo Degen, Belgium, 26', INSAS
Other Half, Lina Kalcheva, UK, 13', NFTS
Oyogeruneko (The Cat from the Deep Sea), Huang Menglu, Japan, 50', Musashino Art University
Prin oraş circulă scurte poveşti de dragoste (Love Stories on the Move), Carina-Gabriela Daşoveanu, Romania, 21' - UNATC "I.L. Caragiale"
Rudé boty (Red Shoes), Anna Podskalská, Czech Republic, 14', FAMU
Saint Android, Lukas von Berg, Germany, 6', Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg

The Jury for Short Films and Cinéfondation
Kaouther Ben Hania, director and writer, Tunisia
Tuva Novotny, director, writer, and actress, Sweden
Alice Winocour, director and writer, France
Sameh Alaa, director, producer and writer, Egypt
Carlos Muguiro, filmmaker and teacher, Spain
Nicolas Pariser, director and screenwriter, France



The Jury wil hand over the Cinéfondation prizes at the ceremony preceding the screening of the awarded films on Thursday, July 15th in the Bunuel Theatre.