Sean Penn, Wes Anderson, Francois Ozon and Nanni Moretti are among the directors whose films will play in competition at next month’s Cannes Film Festival.
Organisers of the world’s biggest film festival said on Thursday they were confident of being able to host dinners and beach screenings alongside the main competition as some COVID-19 measures are lifted in France.
Highlights will include The French Dispatch by Wes Anderson, known for The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Anderson’s latest film, about a fictional U.S. newspaper office in France starring Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton, has been delayed since 2019.
Flag Day, a drama directed by Sean Penn, will also among the 24 films competing, with a jury headed by U.S. filmmaker Spike Lee.
Italy’s Nanni Moretti, who won in 2001, returns with Tre Piani, while Paul Verhoeven will present Benedetta, about a love story in a convent.
Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard star in Annette, a musical by Leos Carax that will premiere on the opening night.
French director Mia Hansen-Love will premiere Bergman Island, about an American filmmaking couple who retreat to an island for the summer to each write screenplays for their upcoming films. It stars Tim Roth, Mia Wasikowska and Vicky Krieps/
Tom McCarthy will return with his first dramatic film since winning the best picture Oscar for Spotlight. Still Water will see Matt Damon star as a father trying to exonerate his estranged daughter of a murder she never committed.
Other directors debuting their films include the UK’s Andrea Arnold, who will premiere Cow, and Todd Haynes, who will unveil The Velvet Underground
Four of the 24 films in competition this year have female directors, matching the event’s previous record, set in 2019.
They are Hansen-Love, Catherine Corsini, Julia Ducournau and Ildikó Enyedi. Female directors elsewhere in the line-up include Eva Husson, Hafsia Herzi, Gainsbourg and Arnold.
The festival previously announced that it will require attendees to be tested for Covid-19 every 48 hours if they have not been fully vaccinated, or show proof of immunity.
France’s audience limit in cinemas is set to lift on 1 July, which means all films should, in theory, be able to screen to full-capacity crowds.
However, masks will still need to be worn during screenings. It is not yet clear whether they will also be required on the red carpet.
French directors Francois Ozon and Jacques Audiard will also be presenting films, as will Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, Russia’s Kirill Serebrennikov and Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who won the Palme d’Or in 2010.
Outside the competition, Oliver Stone will screen a reworked version of his 1991 political thriller JFK, with new material.
Opening Night Film
“Annette,” Leos Carax (also in Competition) (pictured, top)
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
Jon Creamer
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