The films are jostling as much in theaters as in festivals.
In Cannes, the great annual meeting of international cinema will therefore not present its eagerly awaited Official Selection until Thursday, June 3, five weeks before the opening of the festivities, the organizers announced on Monday.
Usually scheduled for spring, the 74th edition of the festival will be held this year from July 6 to 17 on the Croisette, after the planned lifting of gauges and most health restrictions in France.
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Even before the presentation of the full selection for this edition, two films have already been confirmed in competition.
Leos Carax's dramatic musical Annette, starring Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver will open the festival, while
Dutch director Paul Verhoeven's
Benedetta will
feature Virginie Efira as a lesbian nun about to be beatified in 17th century Italy.
A highly anticipated selection
A host of films are strongly expected to join them in the coming weeks. This is the case of
The French Dispatch
, the new Wes Anderson shot in France with an ensemble cast featuring Benicio del Toro, Timothée Chalamet or Léa Seydoux; or the new film by Italian Nanni Moretti,
Tre Piani
, both still without official confirmation. Among the other expected works that could have their chance in the Cannes selection, the biting satire
Triangle of Sadness
by Swedish director Ruben Ostlund is often mentioned, as well as
Soggy Bottom
by Paul Thomas Anderson, with Benny Safdie and Bradley Cooper, or
Competencia oficial
, the new Argentine production of the duo Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat with Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas.
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As for the French-speaking selection, the director Julia Ducournau, revealed in 2016 with her voracious horror film
Grave,
could come to present her new feature film,
Titane
, with Vincent Lindon. The actor is also on the poster for
Fire !!
by Claire Denis, alongside Juliette Binoche, who also has every chance to sneak into the 2021 selection of the festival.
The Olympics
by Jacques Audiard, with Noémie Merlant, could also be invited to Cannes, with
In his lifetime
, Emmanuelle Bercot's new film,
Mia Hansen-Love's
Bergman Island
or the adaptation of
Lost Illusions
de Balzac by Xavier Giannoli, with Xavier Dolan, Cécile de France and Gérard Depardieu on his poster.
This year, the Cannes Film Festival will take place under somewhat special conditions, one year after the cancellation of the 2020 edition which could not be held last spring due to the pandemic.
The films selected for this first competition since the health crisis will be unveiled, as every year, at a press conference organized in a Parisian cinema and broadcast online.