Cannes Film Festival 2021: the official selection has been revealed

The official selection of the Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled.

The line-up was revealed by the festival’s president Pierre Lescure, and general delegate Thierry Fremaux, during a press conference at the Normandie Cinema in Paris’s Champs-Elysees.

A healthy mix of international and Hollywood films are planned for the festival's grand comeback after a year affected by the pandemic. The 2021 iteration has been delayed from the usual May date to July 6 to 17.

Da 5 Bloods filmmaker Spike Lee, who was scheduled to be head of the jury in 2020, is taking up the mantle of jury president.

The musical Annette will open the festival and is among the films in the Competition. The film is directed by French filmmaker Leos Carax and stars Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver.

Regional picks in the competition include Casablanca Beats by French-Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch and A Hero by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi. Catherine Corsini's La Fracture, Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch and Drive My Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi are also in the Competition list.

The Un Certain Regard selection, Fremaux said during the press conference, has returned to its original intention of recognising young talent and experimental cinema. At least six of the 12 films in the selection are debut features.

These include La Civil by Teodora Ana Mihai, a film about a mother whose teenage daughter is kidnapped in Northern Mexico; Un Monde by Laura Wandel, which contrasts a schoolgirl's attempts to fit in a new school with her desire to stand up for her bullied brother; and Moneyboys by C B Yi, a drama that follows a hustler in China at odds with his family, who accept his money but not his lifestyle.

There's also Noche de Fuego by Tatiana Huezo, which explores a town at war, and Lamb by Valdimar Johannsson, a supernatural drama about a couple who discovers a mysterious newborn on their farm in Iceland.

Actress Gessica Geneus will also debut her first fiction feature with Freda.

In a 2020 interview with Woy Magazine, Geneus said the film "is a portrait of a woman, of a family, in the context of the current sociopolitical crisis in Haiti".

The Cannes Premiere also has several intriguing titles in this year's selection. Documentary Cow by Andrea Arnold, offers a detailed study of the daily lives of two cows.

Another highlight is Love Song for Tough Guys by Samuel Benchetrit. The film follows the lives of a group of social outcasts, who, though used to violence, are influenced by the strong love they feel for one another.

Eva Husson's post-First World War drama Mothering Sunday is also scheduled to premiere, as will Hong Sang-soo's newest feature In Front of Your Face.

Cannes Film Festival 2021 official selection

Competition

Annette, Leos Carax (festival opening film)

Tre Piani, Nanni Moretti

Tout s'est bien passe, Francois Ozon

Un Heros (A Hero), Asghar Farhadi

Titane, Julia Ducournau

The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson

Red Rocket, Sean Baker

Petrov's Flu, Kirill Serebrennikov

Par un demi-clair matin, Bruno Dumont

Nitram, Justin Kurzel

Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Lingui, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Les Olympiades (Paris 13th District), Jacques Audiard

Les Intranquilles (The Restless), Joachim Lafosse

La Fracture, Catherine Corsini

Casablanca Beats, Nabil Ayouch

Julie (En 12 Chapitres) (The Worst Person In The World), Joachim Trier

Hytti nro 6 (Compartment No 6), Juho Kuosmanen

Ha'berech (Le Genou d'Ahed / Ahed's Knee), Nadav Lapid

Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Bergman Island, Mia Hansen-Love

Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven

A Feleségem Története (The Story of My Wife), Ildikó Enyedi

Flag Day, Sean Penn

Out Of Competition

Aline (Aline, The Voice Of Love), Valerie Lemercier

Stillwater, Tom McCarthy

The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes

Emergency Declaration, Han Jae-rim

De son vivant, Emmanuelle Bercot

Bac Nord, Cedric Jimenez

Babi Yar, Sergei Loznitsa

Midnight Screening

Oranges Sanguines (Bloody Oranges), Jean-Christophe Meurisse

Cannes Premiere

Cette Musique Ne Joue Pour Personne (Love Song For Tough Guys), Samuel Benchetrit

Cow, Andrea Arnold

Tromperie (Deception), Arnaud Desplechin

Evolution, Kornel Mundruczo

In Front Of Your Face, Hong Sang-soo

Serre-moi fort (Hold Me Tight), Mathieu Amalric

Mothering Sunday, Eva Husson

Special Screenings

H6, Ye Ye

Cahiers Noirs (Black Notebooks), Shlomi Elkabetz

O Marinheiro Das Montanhas (Le Marin Des Montagnes / Mariner Of The Mountains), Karim Ainouz

JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass, Oliver Stone

Jane par Charlotte, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Un Certain Regard

The Innocents, Eskil Vogt

After Yang, Kogonada

Lamb, Valdimar Johannsson

Noche de Fuego, Tatiana Huezo

Bonne Mere, Hafsia Herzi

Blue Bayou, Justin Chon

Moneyboys, C.B Yi

Freda, Gessica Geneus

Un Monde, Laura Wandel

Commitment Hasan, Hasan Semih Kaplanoglu

House Arrest, Alexey German Jr