The official selection of the Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled.
The line-up was revealed by the festival’s president Pierre Lescure, and general delegate Thierry Fremaux, during a press conference at the Normandie Cinema in Paris’s Champs-Elysees.
A healthy mix of international and Hollywood films are planned for the festival's grand comeback after a year affected by the pandemic. The 2021 iteration has been delayed from the usual May date to July 6 to 17.
Da 5 Bloods filmmaker Spike Lee, who was scheduled to be head of the jury in 2020, is taking up the mantle of jury president.
The musical Annette will open the festival and is among the films in the Competition. The film is directed by French filmmaker Leos Carax and stars Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver.
Regional picks in the competition include Casablanca Beats by French-Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch and A Hero by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi. Catherine Corsini's La Fracture, Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch and Drive My Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi are also in the Competition list.
The Un Certain Regard selection, Fremaux said during the press conference, has returned to its original intention of recognising young talent and experimental cinema. At least six of the 12 films in the selection are debut features.
These include La Civil by Teodora Ana Mihai, a film about a mother whose teenage daughter is kidnapped in Northern Mexico; Un Monde by Laura Wandel, which contrasts a schoolgirl's attempts to fit in a new school with her desire to stand up for her bullied brother; and Moneyboys by C B Yi, a drama that follows a hustler in China at odds with his family, who accept his money but not his lifestyle.
There's also Noche de Fuego by Tatiana Huezo, which explores a town at war, and Lamb by Valdimar Johannsson, a supernatural drama about a couple who discovers a mysterious newborn on their farm in Iceland.
Actress Gessica Geneus will also debut her first fiction feature with Freda.
In a 2020 interview with Woy Magazine, Geneus said the film "is a portrait of a woman, of a family, in the context of the current sociopolitical crisis in Haiti".
The Cannes Premiere also has several intriguing titles in this year's selection. Documentary Cow by Andrea Arnold, offers a detailed study of the daily lives of two cows.
Another highlight is Love Song for Tough Guys by Samuel Benchetrit. The film follows the lives of a group of social outcasts, who, though used to violence, are influenced by the strong love they feel for one another.
Eva Husson's post-First World War drama Mothering Sunday is also scheduled to premiere, as will Hong Sang-soo's newest feature In Front of Your Face.
Cannes Film Festival 2021 official selection
Competition
Annette, Leos Carax (festival opening film)
Tre Piani, Nanni Moretti
Tout s'est bien passe, Francois Ozon
Un Heros (A Hero), Asghar Farhadi
Titane, Julia Ducournau
The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson
Red Rocket, Sean Baker
Petrov's Flu, Kirill Serebrennikov
Par un demi-clair matin, Bruno Dumont
Nitram, Justin Kurzel
Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Lingui, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Les Olympiades (Paris 13th District), Jacques Audiard
Les Intranquilles (The Restless), Joachim Lafosse
La Fracture, Catherine Corsini
Casablanca Beats, Nabil Ayouch
Julie (En 12 Chapitres) (The Worst Person In The World), Joachim Trier
Hytti nro 6 (Compartment No 6), Juho Kuosmanen
Ha'berech (Le Genou d'Ahed / Ahed's Knee), Nadav Lapid
Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Bergman Island, Mia Hansen-Love
Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven
A Feleségem Története (The Story of My Wife), Ildikó Enyedi
Flag Day, Sean Penn
Out Of Competition
Aline (Aline, The Voice Of Love), Valerie Lemercier
Stillwater, Tom McCarthy
The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes
Emergency Declaration, Han Jae-rim
De son vivant, Emmanuelle Bercot
Bac Nord, Cedric Jimenez
Babi Yar, Sergei Loznitsa
Midnight Screening
Oranges Sanguines (Bloody Oranges), Jean-Christophe Meurisse
Cannes Premiere
Cette Musique Ne Joue Pour Personne (Love Song For Tough Guys), Samuel Benchetrit
Cow, Andrea Arnold
Tromperie (Deception), Arnaud Desplechin
Evolution, Kornel Mundruczo
In Front Of Your Face, Hong Sang-soo
Serre-moi fort (Hold Me Tight), Mathieu Amalric
Mothering Sunday, Eva Husson
Special Screenings
H6, Ye Ye
Cahiers Noirs (Black Notebooks), Shlomi Elkabetz
O Marinheiro Das Montanhas (Le Marin Des Montagnes / Mariner Of The Mountains), Karim Ainouz
JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass, Oliver Stone
Jane par Charlotte, Charlotte Gainsbourg
Un Certain Regard
The Innocents, Eskil Vogt
After Yang, Kogonada
Lamb, Valdimar Johannsson
Noche de Fuego, Tatiana Huezo
Bonne Mere, Hafsia Herzi
Blue Bayou, Justin Chon
Moneyboys, C.B Yi
Freda, Gessica Geneus
Un Monde, Laura Wandel
Commitment Hasan, Hasan Semih Kaplanoglu
House Arrest, Alexey German Jr
