Cannes 2021 lineup: Wes Anderson, Leos Carax, Sean Baker, Asghar Farhadi to compete for Palme d’Or-Entertainment News , Firstpost

The Cannes Film Festival announced its official selection on Thursday.

The 74th edition of the world’s leading film shindig, being held 6-17 July, promises to be one to remember, with beloved auteurs Wes Anderson (The French Dispatch), Leos Carax (Annette) and Paul Verhoeven (Benedetta) alongside many female filmmakers like directors like Ildikó Enyedi (The Story of My Wife) and Julia Ducournau (Titane).

According to Variety, the lineup was declared by artistic director Thierry Frémaux and festival president Pierre Lescure. Frémaux said that he is yet to unveil the name of a major Hollywood film to be screened on the beach. Deadline notes that a new section Cannes Premières has also been created that will feature new projects by Andrea Arnold, Hong Sang-soo and Arnaud Désplechin.

Meanwhile, the competition films will face a jury headed by US director Spike Lee, who was set to preside in 2020 before the festival was cancelled by the pandemic.

 The opening film is already known: Annette is the first in a decade from French arthouse darling Carax, and his first in English, starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard as a celebrity couple awaiting a mysterious child.

Verhoeven, meanwhile, promises a touch of scandal on the Croisette with his entry, Benedetta, about a lesbian nun in a 17th century Italian convent — solid ground for the Dutch filmmaker who has often married art and salaciousness with movies like Basic Instinct, Showgirls and Elle.

It has been a particularly long wait for Anderson, who was due to present his latest quirky bauble, The French Dispatch, at last year’s festival.

Filmed in Angouleme in southwest France, it was clearly worth waiting for a proper Gallic launch, and could bring a multitude of stars to the red carpet, with Anderson regulars such as Bill Murray and Adrien Brody joined by new additions including Timothee Chalamet, Benicio Del Toro and France’s own Lea Seydoux.

The organiser had on Wednesday said that veteran Hollywood actor and filmmaker Jodie Foster will receive the honorary Palme d’Or at the event. Foster will be a special guest of the opening ceremony on 6 July to collect her award, which recognises artistic career achievement and a commitment to major issues.

Here is this year’s lineup: 

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 (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 (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 (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: 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

(With inputs from Agence France-Presse)