Cousins' passion continues in Cannes

The Story of Film: A New Generation Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival

The final part of a portmanteau masterwork dedicated to the history of cinema by Mark Cousins, an Irish-Scottish filmmaker and author, will be showcased at the Cannes Film Festival on 6 July.

Cousins’ films, including The First Movie, The Story of Film: An Odyssey, The Eyes of Orson Welles and Women Make Film have been presented all over the world, and in particular over the years in Cannes.

During the health crisis, the filmmaker worked on the production of the final chapter of his 15-part documentary exploring the history of cinema. The Cannes organisers say that with audiences returning to the big screen this summer, this final chapter, named The Story of Film: a New Generation, poses an important question: where were the filmmakers when everything stopped?

Face in the crowd at a Festival screening: Mark Cousins, centre, will present the final chapter in his history of cinema at the Cannes Film Festival Photo: Richard Mowe

Cousins builds a bridge between the “before” of the health crisis, and the “after”, starting with Cannes 2021.

The presentation, suggest the organisers, is an invitation to take a look back on our recent past and to films that we have loved and admired.

The Story of Film: a New Generation will be showcased to the press and festival attendees ion 4 July in the Debussy Theatre of the Palais des Festivals. It runs for 2 hours and 40 minutes and is produced by Hopscotch Filmns and distributed by Dogwoof.

The Cannes Film Festival runs from 6 to 17 July.