The Cannes Film Festival has announced its 2021 Competition lineup with a mix of established international filmmakers and a few fresh faces, along with a very strong line-up that will have arthouse cinema fans salivating.
In competition highlights include Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Justin Kurzel’s controversial “Nitram,” Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket,” Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero,” Mia Hansen-Love’s “Bergman Island,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Memoria,” Jacques Audiard’s “Les Olympiades” and Sean Penn’s “Flag Day”.
Out of competition and other category highlights include Kogonada’s “After Yang” with Colin Farrell, Tom McCarthy’s “Stillwater” with Matt Damon, Andrea Arnold’s “Cow,” Todd Haynes’ doco “The Velvet Underground,” Valerie LeMercier’s Celine Dion-inspired musician biopic “Aline,” the Val Kilmer documentary “Val,” Charlotte Gainsbourg’s directing debut “Jane Par Charlotte”.
There’s also the short film anthology “The Year of the Everlasting Storm” with contributions from the likes of David Lowery and Jafar Panahi. A special screening will be held titled “JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass” which sees Oliver Stone offering a new take on his 1991 classic. As already announced, Leos Carax’s “Annette” serves as the opening night film.
Cannes’ Thierry Frémaux has promised another major studio title will be announced for an out of competition but made it clear it’s not “Dune,” “No Time to Die” or “West Side Story”. There are also several notable absentees which some had hoped would premiere including the latest from Park Chan Wook, Jane Campion and Paolo Sorrentino.
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
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
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
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
Midnight Screenings
“Bloody Oranges,” Jean-Christophe Meurisse
The 2021 Cannes Film Festival will run from July 6th-17th.
