This Is The Official Selection Lineup Of The 2021 Cannes Film Festival

The French Dispatch (2021). (Fox Searchlight)

JAKARTA - The Cannes International Film Festival (Festival de Cannes) has announced the line-up for the official selection, including for the Competition and Un Certain Regard sections, as well as a special screening, for the 74th edition of the festival in 2021.

Launching Antara, Friday, June 4, a number of films that are anticipated by viewers will be shown and compete in the Competition category, including the latest film by filmmaker Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch which is full of stars.

The French Dispatch tells of the editorial staff of a newspaper deciding to publish a final commemorative issue highlighting the three best stories to emerge during the magazine's ten years of existence, on the day its editor-in-chief died. The stories involve an artist who is sentenced to life in prison; student riots, and kidnappings.

Furthermore, there is also the film Annette by Leos Carax, which tells the glamorous life of a provocative stand-up comedian and world-famous soprano when their daughter—Annette is born with a unique talent.

Another much-anticipated film is Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta, which is set in the late 17th century and inspired by true events. Benedetta follows a young woman who joins a monastery in Pescia, Tuscany when a plague ravages the land that surrounds her. Able to perform miracles from an early age, Benedetta had an immediate and important impact on life in society.

Next is the work of Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Memoria. Tells the story of an orchid farmer visiting his sick sister in Bogota. While there, he befriended a French archaeologist in charge of monitoring construction projects and a young musician. Every night, she is disturbed by her bangs getting louder which prevents her from sleeping.

Sean Penn's Oscar-winning feature film Flag Day will also compete in this year's competition. This film tells the story of a father who lives a double life as a forger, bank robber and con artist to support his daughter.

There are also other films that compete in the Competition Cannes 2021 rubric. These films are Paris, 13th District (Jacques Audiard), Casablanca Beats (Nabil Ayouch), Red Rocket (Sean Baker), La fracture (Catherine Corsini), Titane (Julia Ducournau), On a Half Clear Morning (Bruno Dumont), and The Story of My Wife (Ildikó Enyedi).

Furthermore, there are A Hero (Asghar Farhadi), Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi), Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve), Lingui (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun), Compartment No.6 (Juho Kuosmanen), Nitram (Justin Kurzel) , The Restless (Joachim Lafosse).

Next up, Ahed's Knee (Nadav Lapid), Three Stories (Nanni Moretti), Everything Went Fine (François Ozon), Petrov's Flu (Kirill Serebrennikov), and The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier).

The festival will take place July 6-17 as a physical event, with theatrical releases already planned to go hand in hand to revive the country's film industry.

Meanwhile, the Cannes Film Festival will also be virtual and separate, or will be held earlier in June.

As previously announced, Spike Lee will act as the chief judge in the Cannes competition. The festival will end on July 17th.

Expectations are high for Cannes being physically held this year, following last year's cancellation. A few months ago the odds seemed unlikely, with the continued challenges of COVID-19 in Europe and slow vaccine rollouts in the EU, but recent weeks have seen some positive developments leading to the easing of local restrictions and the opening of international travel. French cinemas will reopen on May 19, with capacity restrictions.