2021 Cannes Film Festival Marathon Announcement

 

The 2021 Cannes Film Festival will commence from July 6 to July 17 after a long delay due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic that forced the 2020 edition to be cancelled. This year's festival is a major return to cinema despite the festival's battle with Netflix due to not having their films be shown in theaters in France though it's a battle that is still ongoing. Nevertheless, this year's festival will happen and opening the festival will be Leos Carax's Annette starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard with a story and music by the band Sparks. Closing the festival will be another entry in the OSS 117 franchise starring Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: From Africa with Love while many of the films competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or including Annette are new films from Wes Anderson, Paul Verhoeven, Mia Hansen-Love, Jacques Audiard, Justin Kurzel, Francois Ozon, Sean Baker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Julia Dorcounau, and many others while Andrea Arnold, Todd Haynes, Ari Folman, Tom McCarthy, Gaspar Noe, and Mathieu Almaric will also premiere new films out of competition.

Heading the jury for the main competition is Spike Lee who was supposed to be the jury president last year but is given another chance for this year as he's joined by Mati Diop, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mylene Farmer, Tahar Rahim, Song Kang-ho, Jessica Hausner, Melanie Laurent, and Kleber Mendonca Filho while Andrea Arnold is heading the Un Certain Regarde jury and actress Melanie Thierry heading the Camera d'Or jury for the first film prize. This year's marathon following a two-year layoff due to personal reasons and then the pandemic will only feature 11 first-timers this year with a break for Thursday Movie Picks and a viewing of Black Widow. These 11 films will be competing for a fictionized version of the Palme d'Or as here are the following films:

24 Frames (70th Anniversary Event Screening)

All My Good Countrymen (1969 Best Director Winner & Special Technical Prize Mention)

American Honey (2016 Jury Prize Winner)

Cold War (2018 Best Director Winner)

Death in Venice (25th Anniversary Winner)

Mahler (1974 Technical Prize Winner)

The Meyerowitiz Stories (New and Selected) (2017 Palm Dog Winner)

Okja (2017 Palme d'Or Nominee)

Pain and Glory (2019 Best Actor Winner & Best Soundtrack Prize Winner)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019 Best Screenplay Winner & Queer Palm Winner)

You Were Never Really Here (2017 Best Actor Winner & Best Screenplay Co-Winner)

Well, that is the official announcement as I bid everyone au revoir and let's get this marathon going after a dreary off-period.

© thevoid99 2021