Eye For Film >> News >> Return of Cronenberg and Hazanavicius leads Cannes line-up

Return of Cronenberg and Hazanavicius leads Cannes line-up

Upbeat mood heralds 75th anniversary edition’s official selection

by Richard Mowe

In zombie land: Berenice Béjo and Romain Duris in Michel Hazavacius’ Cannes opener Final Cut (Z Comme Z) Photo: Pan Distribution

With a sprinkling of mythical stardust courtesy of Tom Cruise with the new Top Gun and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (and the Colonel) biopic Cannes Film Festival supremo Thierry Frémaux today unveiled most of the Official selection for this year’s 75th edition.

The array has been tightened compared to the Covid-hit previous year in July when around 80 titles were presented. So far the organisers have confirmed 49 films for the various official selections from more than 2,200 titles submitted by global film-makers for potential inclusion.

Frémaux presented an upbeat mood as well he might with films from the likes of George Miller (Three Thousand Years Of Longing starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba), David Cronenberg (Crimes Of The Future with Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen), Kelly Reichardt (Showing Up featuring Michelle Williams) and James Gray (Armageddon Time) in the line-up.

David Cronenberg returns to science fiction with Crimes Of The Future featuring a cast of Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen, Scott Speedman, Don McKellar, and Yorgos Karamichos Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival

The Festival will open on 17 May with Final Cut by Michel Hazanavicius, a zombie comedy originally slated for Sundance in January but pulled due to the pandemic. It is said to be a remake of the Japanese effort Don’t Cut by Shin’ichiro Ueda. It follows zombies breaking into the set of a low-budget horror film. The director, played by Romain Duris, has to make sure that everything stays on track.

Besides Elvis there are musical foray from Ethan Coen, out of competition with the documentary Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind, as well as a tribute to David Bowie from Brett Morgan with Moonage Daydream.

Previous Palme d’Or winners who return centre stage with new titles include Ruben Östlund’s social satire Triangle Of Sadness, Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu’s Korea-set Broker, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s politically charged RMN and faithful Belgian duo the Dardenne brothers dealing with immigration in Tori And Lokita.

Other noteworthy inclusions are Belgian Camera d’Or winner Lukas (Girl) Dhont with his second feature, Close. The remarkable 83-year-old Polish veteran Jerzy Skolimowski (known for Deep End), returns to the fray with a film about a donkey Eo focuses on a donkey.

All smiles in Paris today: Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux Photo: Richard Mowe

To illustrate how engaged the Festival is with world events two Ukrainian filmmakers, Sergei Loznitsa (The Natural History Of Destruction) and Maksim Nakonechnyi (Butterfly Vision), have been invited to attend. The Competition additionally features Russian dissident director Kirill Serebrennikov, in competition with Tchaïkovski’s Wife.

Frémaux has delayed announcing the jury for the 75th edition which will have a symposium on 24 May. looking at the future of cinema and what it means to be a film-maker. Film-makers from around the world will take part.

The Cannes Film Festival runs from 17 to 28 May and the line-up so far is below.

Opening Film