Jodie Foster at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. (Photo credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Pierre Lescure, President of the Cannes Film Festival, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, presented on June 3, the official selection for the 74th Cannes Film Festival, which is being held this year at a later date than usual, on July 6-17, 2021. Spike Lee, who was due to preside over the jury at last year’s cancelled competition, has been invited to be this year’s Jury President.
The Festival announced the day before, on June 2, this year’s Guest of Honour at the Opening Ceremony on July 6. Jodie Foster will receive the Festival’s Honorary Palme d’or “in recognition of her brilliant artistic journey, and a unique personality with a modest yet strong commitment to some of the major issues of our time.”
Jodie Foster first attended the Cannes Film Festival in 1976 at age 13, presenting Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, which won the Palme D’or. In four decades, she has had seven of her films, which she either starred in or directed herself, presented at the Festival. “Cannes is a festival to which I owe so much, it has completely changed my life,” said Jodie Foster.
Today, it is the Official Selection which Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux announced, which consists of the list of films selected for the Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, and a new section named Cannes Premiere. 61 films were selected in total, with 24 in Competition.
In Competition, Leos Carax’s Annette, starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, had already been confirmed as the festival’s Opening Film. Among the selected films are many familiar names, such as Wes Anderson’s French Dispatch, which had been anticipated last year, and Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta. Italian director Nanni Moretti, whose film Tre Piani had also been due to be presented at last year’s cancelled festival, is in Competition this year.
Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi, who won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2017 for her feature On Body And Soul, returns to Cannes with her new film The Story of My Wife, starring Léa Seydoux. Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who won the Palme D’or in 2010 for his feature Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, also returns with his new film Memoria, starring Tilda Swinton.
The new section, Cannes Premiere, also features some familiar names. British director Andrea Arnold will be presenting her new feature Cow. Oliver Stone will show his new documentary JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass, a four-hour film which has been shortened to two hours for the festival. Charlotte Gainsbourg will be presenting a film she directed about her mother Jane Birkin, named Jane par Charlotte, a title which resonates with Agnès Varda’s film, Jane B. par Agnès V.
Again, no Netflix films figure in the selection. Thierry Frémaux explained clearly that the rules of the festival is that all films selected must be distributed in French cinemas. However, Netflix, according to Frémaux, does not seem to wish to release their films theatrically in France.
Below is the full list of films selected.
Competition
ANNETTE – Leos CARAX (France) – Opening Film
A FELESÉGEM TÖRTÉNETE (THE STORY OF MY WIFE) – Ildikó ENYEDI (Hungary)
BENEDETTA – Paul VERHOEVEN (Netherlands)
BERGMAN ISLAND – Mia HANSEN-LOVE (France)
DRIVE MY CAR – Ryusuke HAMAGUCHI (Japan)
FLAG DAY – Sean PENN (USA)
HA’BERECH (AHED’S KNEE) – Nadav LAPID (Israel)
CASABLANCA BEATS – Nabil AYOUCH (Morocco)
HYTTI NRO 6 (COMPARTMENT NO.6) – Juho KUOSMANEN (Finland)
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD – Joachim TRIER (Norway)
LA FRACTURE – Catherine CORSINI (France)
THE RESTLESS – Joachim LAFOSSE (Belgium)
PARIS 13TH DISTRICT (LES OLYMPIADES) – Jacques AUDIARD (France)
LINGUI – Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN (Chad)
MEMORIA – Apichatpong WEERASETHAKUL (Thailand)
NITRAM – Justin KURZEL (Australia)
FRANCE – Bruno DUMONT (France)
PETROV’S FLU – Kirill SEREBRENNIKOV (Russia)
RED ROCKET – Sean BAKER (USA)
THE FRENCH DISPATCH – Wes ANDERSON (USA)
TITANE – Julia DUCOURNAU (France)
TRE PIANI – Nanni MORETTI (Italy)
TOUT S’EST BIEN PASSÉ – François OZON (France)
A HERO – Asghar FARHADI (Iran)
Un Certain Regard
MONEYBOYS – C.B Yi (Austria)
BLUE BAYOU – Justin CHON (USA)
FREDA – Gessica GÉNÉUS (Haïti)
DELO (HOUSE ARREST) – Alexey GERMAN JR. (Russia)
BONNE MÈRE – Hafsia HERZI (France)
NOCHE DE FUEGO – Tatiana HUEZO (Mexico)
LAMB – Valdimar JÓHANSSON (Iceland)
COMMITMENT HASAN – Hasan Semih KAPLANOGLU (Turkey)
AFTER YANG – Kogonada (USA)
LET THERE BE MORNING – Eran KOLIRIN (Israel)
UNCLENCHING THE FISTS – Kira KOVALENKO (Russia)
WOMEN DO CRY – Mina MILEVA (Bulgaria) and Vesela KAZAKOVA (Bulgaria)
REHANA MARYAM NOOR – Abdullah Mohammad SAAD (Bangladesh)
GREAT FREEDOM – Sebastian MEISE (Austria)
LA CIVIL – Teodora Ana MIHAI (Romania / Belgium)
GAEY WA’R – NA Jiazuo (China)
THE INNOCENTS – Eskil VOGT (Norway)
UN MONDE – Laura WANDEL (Belgium)
Out of Competition
DE SON VIVANT – Emmanuelle BERCOT (France)
EMERGENCY DECLARATION – HAN Jae-Rim (Korea)
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – Todd HAYNES (USA)
BAC NORD – Cédric JIMENEZ (France)
ALINE, THE VOICE OF LOVE – Valérie LEMERCIER (France)
STILLWATER – Tom MCCARTHY (USA)
Cannes Premiere
HOLD ME TIGHT – Mathieu AMALRIC (France)
COW – Andrea ARNOLD (UK)
LOVE SONGS FOR TOUGH GUYS – Samuel BENCHETRIT (France)
DECEPTION – Arnaud DESPLECHIN (France)
JANE PAR CHARLOTTE – Charlotte GAINSBOURG (France)
IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE – HONG Sang-Soo (Korea)
MOTHERING SUNDAY – Eva HUSSON (France)
EVOLUTION – Kornél MUNDRUCZO (Hungary)
VAL – Ting POO (USA) and Leo SCOTT (USA)
JFK REVISITED: THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS – Oliver STONE (USA)