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.
And Then There Was A Morning, Eran Kolirin
Unclenching The Fists, Kira Kovalenko
Women Do Cry, Mina Mileva (Bulgaria), Vesela Kazakova
Rehana Maryam Noor, Abdullah Mohammad Saad
Great Freedom, Sebastian Meise
La Civil, Teodora Ana Mihai
Gaey Wa’r, Na Jiazuo
(Author, movie critic Gautaman Bhaskaran has covered the Cannes Film Festival close to three decades)
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.
Comments
0 comment