Cannes is back in full force with the announcement of the Official Selection for the film festival’s 74th edition. Taking place in July after having been originally scheduled for May, Cannes is returning with an in-person event after the pandemic forced the festival to cancel in 2020. Spike Lee, who was supposed to head the jury and premiere his “Da 5 Bloods” out of competition last year, is returning to Cannes 2021 as jury president. Films such as Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” Leos Carax’s “Annette,” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta” were all supposed to premiere at Cannes 2020 but are now confirmed for Cannes 2021 after waiting a year to be unveiled to the world.
Given this is the first Cannes in the COVID pandemic era, there are as many questions about the event’s safety protocols as there are about the lineup. Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux told IndieWire’s Eric Kohn this week that screenings will operate at 100 percent capacity, but masks will be required for all moviegoers.
“Vaccination is not mandatory, but testing is,” Frémaux added. “Spectators can choose to present either a vaccination certificate or a negative test. Basically, to access the Palais, people will have to present a valid health pass to enter the screenings. The validity of the pass is acquired via either a complete vaccination course, or immunity acquired more than 15 days and less than 6 months ago, or a negative PCR or antibodies test within a 48-hour window.”
Earlier this week, Cannes confirmed Jodie Foster will receive the Honorary Palme d’Or at the 2021 festival and be the guest of honor at the opening night ceremony. Foster first attended Cannes at 13 years old with Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver,” which won the Palme d’Or. Foster’s 2016 directorial effort “Money Monster,” starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts, world premiered at Cannes out of competition.
“Jodie Foster has provided us with an amazing gift by coming to celebrate the return of the festival on the Croisette,” Cannes president Pierre Lescure said in a statement. “Her aura is unparalleled: she embodies modernity, the radiant intelligence of independence and the need for freedom.”
The 2021 Cannes Film Festival begins July 6 and runs through July 17.
Opening Night Film
“Annette,” Leos Carax (also in Competition)
Competition
“Ahed’s Knee,” Nadav Lapid
“Annette,” Leos Carax
“Benedetta,” Paul Verhoeven
“Bergman Island,” Mia Hansen-Løve
“Casablanca Beats,” Nabil Ayouch
“Compartment No. 6,” Juho Kuosmanen
“Drive My Car,” Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
“Everything Went Fine,” Francois Ozon
“The French Dispatch,” Wes Anderson
“A Hero,” Asghar Farhadi
“La fracture,” Catherine Corsini
“Lingui,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
“Memoria,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul
“Nitram,” Justin Kurzel
“Paris, 13th District,” Jacques Audiard
“Par un Demi Clair Matin,” Bruno Dumont
“Petrov’s Flu,” Kirill Serebrennikov
“Red Rocket,” Sean Baker
“The Restless,” Joachim Lafosse
“The Story of My Wife,” Ildikó Enyedi
“Three Floors,” Nanni Moretti
“Titane,” Julia Ducournau
“The Worst Person in the World,” Joachim Trier
“Flag Day,” Sean Penn
Un Certain Regard
“After Yang,” Kogonada
“Blue Bayou,” Justin Chon
“Bonne Mère,” Hafsia Herzi
“Commitment Hasan,” Hasan Semih
“Freda,” Gessica Généus
“House Arrest” OR “Delo,” Alexey German Jr.
“The Innocents,” Eskil Vogt
“Lamb,” Valdimar Jóhansson
“Moneyboys,“ B.C Yi
“Noche de Fuego,” Tatiana Huezo
“Un Monde,” Laura Wandel
“Women Do Cry,” Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova
“La Civil,” Teodora Ana Mihai
“Unclenching the Fists,” Kira Kovalenko
“Let Their Be Morning,” Eran Kolirin
“Rehana Maryam Noor,” Abdullah Mohammad Saad
“Mes Freres Et Moi,” Yohan Manca (NEW)
Cannes Premiere
“Evolution,” Kornel Mundruczo
“Cow,” Andrea Arnold
“Deception” OR “Tromperie,” Arnaud Desplechin
“Hold Me Tight,” Mathieu Almaric
“In Front of Your Face,” Hong Sang-soo
“Love Songs for Tough Guys,” Samuel Benchetrit
“Mothering Sunday,” Eva Husson
“Val,” Ting Poo and Leo Scott
“Vortex,” Gaspar Noe (NEW)
Out of Competition
“Aline, the Voice of Love,” Valerie Lemercier
“Babi Yar. Context,” Sergei Loznitsa
“Bac Nord,” Cédric Jimenez
“Emergency Declaration,” Han Jae-Rim
“In His Lifetime” OR “De son vivant,” Emmanuelle Bercot
“Stillwater,” Tom McCarthy
“The Velvet Underground,” Todd Haynes
“F9,” Justin Lin (NEW)
“Where Is Anne Frank?” Ari Folman (NEW)
Special Screenings
“Black Notebooks,” Shlomi Elkabetz
“H6,” Yé Yé
“Jane by Charlotte,” Charlotte Gainsbourg
“JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass,” Oliver Stone
“Mariner of the Mountains,” Karim Aïnouz
“Baby Yar. Context.” Sergei Loznitsa
“The Year of the Everlasting Storm,” Jafar Panahi, Anthony Chen, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayar, David Lowery, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul
“New Worlds, The Cradle Of A Civilization,” Andrew Muscato. (NEW)
“Mi iubita, Mon amour,” Noémie Merlant (NEW)
“Les Héroïques,” Maxime Roy (NEW)
“Are You Lonesome Tonight?” Wen Shipei (NEW)
Midnight Screenings
“Bloody Oranges,” Jean-Christophe Meurisse
“Tralala,” Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu (NEW)
“Supremes,” Audrey Estrougo. (NEW)
Cannes Classics
“The Killing Floor” by Bill Duke
(1985, 1h58, United States)
“Tsuki wa noborinu (La Lune s’est levée / The Moon Has Risen)” by Kinuyo Tanaka
(1955, 1h42, Japan)
“El camino (Le Chemin / The Path)” by Ana Mariscal
(1964, 1h31, Spain)
“Murder in Harlem” by Oscar Micheaux
(1935, 1h36, United States)
“Oscar Micheaux – The Superhero of Black Filmmaking” by Francesco Zippel
(1h20, Italy)
“Orfeu Negro (Black Orfeus)” by Marcel Camus
(1959, 1h45, France / Brazil / Italy)
“Francesco, giullare di Dio (Les onze fioretti de François d’Assise / The Flowers of St. Francis)” by Roberto Rossellini
(1950, 1h27, Italy)
“La Drôlesse (The Hussy)” by Jacques Doillon
(1978, 1h30, France)
“I Know Where I’m Going! (Je sais où je vais !)” by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
(1945, 1h32, United Kingdom)
“Lumumba : la mort du prophète (Lumumba: Death of a Prophet)” by Raoul Peck
(1990, 1h09, France / Germany / Switzerland / Belgium / Haiti)
“Friendship’s Death” by Peter Wollen
(1987, 1h18, United Kingdom)
“Bal poussière” by Henri Duparc
(1989, 1h33, Ivory Coast)
“La Double vie de Véronique (The Double Life of Véronique)” by Krzysztof Kieślowski
(1991, 1h38, France / Poland)
“F for Fake (Vérités et Mensonges)” by Orson Welles
(1973, 1h25, France/ Iran / Germany)
“Yashagaike (L’Étang du démon / Demon Pond)” by Masahiro Shinoda
(1979, 2h04, Japan)
“La guerre est finie (The War is Over)” by Alain Resnais
(1966, 2h01, France)
“Échec au porteur (Not Delivered)” by Gilles Grangier
(1957, 1h27, France)
“Chère Louise (Louise)” by Philippe de Broca
(1972, 1h45, France / Italy)
“Napló gyermekeimnek (Journal intime / Diary for my children)” by Márta Mészáros
(1983, 1h49, Hungary)
“Až přijde kocour (Un jour, un chat / The Cassandra Cat)” by Vojtech Jasný
(1963, 1h45, Czech Republic)
“Monanieba (Le Repentir / Repentance)” by Tenguiz Abouladzé
(1984, 2h33, Georgia)
“Dan četrnaesti (Le Quatorzième jour / The Fourteenth Day)” by Zdravko Velimirovic
(1960, 1h41, Montenegro / Serbia)
“Il cammino della speranza (Le Chemin de l’espérance / The Path of Hope)” de Pietro Germi
(1950, 1h45, Italy)
“Letter from an Unknown Woman (Lettre d’une inconnue)” by Max Ophüls (1948, 1h27, United-States)
“Mulholland Drive” by David Lynch
(2001, 2h25, United-States)
“The Storms of Jeremy Thomas (Les Tempêtes de Jeremy Thomas)” by Mark Cousins
(1h29, United Kingdom)
“Satoshi Kon, l’illusionniste” by Pascal-Alex Vincent
(1h21, France/Japan)
“Buñuel, un cineasta surrealista” by Javier Espada
(1h23, Spain)
“Montand est à nous (All About Yves Montand)” by Yves Jeuland
(1h40, France.)
“The Story of Film: a New Generation” by Mark Cousins
(2h40, United-Kingdom)
“Et j’aime à la fureur (Flickering Ghosts of Love Gone By)” by André Bonzel
(1h50, France)
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