Pixar’s “Soul,” Wes Anderson’s star-packed “The French Dispatch” and Steve McQueen’s “Mangrove” and Lover’s Rock” are among the 56 movies which will receive a Cannes 2020 label as part of the festival’s eclectic Official Selection.
Also included in this year’s lineup, are Cannes regulars such as Francois Ozon’s anticipated “Summer 85,” Naomi Kawase’s “True Mothers” and Maiwenn’s “DNA.”
The other celebrated filmmakers who will receive the Cannes 2020 label are Jonathan Nossiter with “Last Words,” Im Sang-soo with “Event” and Thomas Vinterberg with “Another Round.” As many other titles on this year’s lineup, these films were initially tipped for the festival before it canceled its physical edition in April and sticked with the French Riviera-set fest for various reasons, ranging from loyalty to distribution/marketing strategy. For instance, “Summer 85,” which marks Ozon’s follow up to his Berlin Golden Bear winning “By The Grace of God,” will be released in French theaters on July 15.
Due to the health crisis, the roster was announced on Wednesday evening by Cannes’ artistic director Thierry Fremaux and president Pierre Lescure during a TV interview that aired on Canal Plus, instead of the traditional press conference. While the Official Selection doesn’t comprise the usual categories such as the Competition, Un Certain Regard and Out of Competition, Fremaux editorialized the lineup’s presentation by announcing the films under “the faithful” for helmers who’ve been at Cannes in the Official Selection at least once, newcomers, first features, comedies, documentaries and animated features.
Among the daring and singular movies from emerging directors who made the cut this year are Pascual Sisto’s “John And The Hole,” Danielle Arbid’s “Passion Simple,” Nicolas Maury’s “Garcon Chiffon,” Charlène Favier with “Slalom,” as well as Viggo Mortensen’s “Falling,” Pascal Plante’s “Nadia, Butterfly” and Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure.” Other labeled films from well-established directors who are Cannes newcomers include Marie-Castille Mention-schaar’s “Goodman” and Yeon Sang-ho’s “Peninsula.”
Although there won’t be a physical festival, the selected movies will get the opportunity to world premiere in the real world thanks to alliances forged between Cannes and other festivals, notably Toronto and San Sebastian which have accepted to consider labeled films for competitive sections. The other fests that are expected to play Cannes-labeled films include Telluride, Deauville, Busan, Morelia, New York, Sundance and Fremaux’s own Lumiere festival in Lyon. Venice Film Festival, meanwhile, won’t play ball with Cannes after discussions about a potential alliance fell off last month.
On Tuesday, Fremaux sent out a letter giving out some key figures about this year’s roster and said the selection committee had received a record 2,067 features for consideration in spite of the health crisis and subsequent cancelation of the physical edition. Fremaux also said feature debuts are comprising 26.7% of the selection with 15 pics. The lineup also includes 16 films directed by women, two more than last year.
The Cannes 2020 Lineup:
The Faithful
“The French Dispatch,” Wes Anderson
Sales: Fox Searchlight International
“Summer 85,” François Ozon
Sales: Playtime
“True Mothers,” Naomi Kawase
Sales: Playtime
“Lovers Rock,” Steve McQueen
Sales: Turbine Studios Limited
“Mangrove,” Steve McQueen
Sales: Turbine Studios Limited
“Another Round,” Thomas Vinterberg
Sales: TrustNordisk
“ADN” (“DNA”), Maïwenn
Sales: Wild Bunch International
“Last Words,” Jonathan Nossiter
Sales: The Party Films
“Heaven: To The Land of Happiness,” Im Sang-Soo
Sales: Finecut
“Forgotten we’ll be,” Fernando Trueba
Sales: Film Factory Entertainment
“Peninsula,” Yeon Sang-Ho
Sales: Contents Panda
“In The Dusk,” Sharunas Bartas
Sales: Luxbox
“Home Front,” Lucas Belvaux
Sales: Wild Bunch International
“The Real Thing,” Kôji Fukada
Sales: Nagoya TV
The Newcomers
“Passion Simple,” Danielle Arbid
Sales: Pyramide International
“A Good Man,” Marie Castille Mention-Schaar
Sales: Pyramide International
“Les choses qu’on dit, les choses qu’on fait,” Emmanuel Mouret
Sales: Elle Driver
“Squad,” Ayten Amin
Production: Vivid Reels
“Limbo,” Ben Sharrock
Sales: Protagonist
“Red Soil,” Farid Bentoumi
Sales: WTFILMS
“Sweat,” Magnus Von Horn
Sales: New Europe Film Sales
“Teddy,” Ludovic et Zoran Boukherma
Sales: WTFILMS
“February,” Kamen Kalev
Production: Koro Films
“Ammonite,” Francis Lee
Sales: Cross City Films
“Un Médecin de Nuit,” Elie Wajeman
Sales: Be For Films
“Enfant Terrible,” Oskar Roehler
Sales: Bavaria Filmproduktion
“Nadia, Butterfly,” Pascal Plante
Sales: Wasabi Films
“Here We Are,” Nir Bergman
Sales: MK2 Films
An Omnibus Film
“Septet: The Story of Hong Kong,” Ann Hui
Sales: Media Asia Distribution
The First Features
“Failing,” Viggo Mortensen
Sales: Hanway Films
“Pleasure,” Ninja Thyberg
Sales: Versatile
“Slalom,” Charlène Favier
Sales: The Party Film Sales
“Memory House,” Joao Paulo Miranda Maria
Production: Manneki Films
“Broken Keys,” Jimmy Keyrouz
Production: Ezekiel
“Ibrahim,” Samir Guesmi
Sales: Wild Bunch International
“Beginning,” Déa Kulumbegashvili
Sales: Wild Bunch International
“Gagarine,” Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh
Sales: Totem Films
“16 Printemps,” Suzanne Lindon
Sales: Luxbox
“Vaurien,” Peter Dourountzis
Sales: Kinology
“Garcon Chiffon,” Nicolas Maury
Sales: Kinology
“Should the Wind Fall,” Nora Martirosyan
Sales: Indie Sales
John and The Hole,” Pascual Sisto
Production: Mutressa Movies
“Striding Into The Wind,” Wei Shujun
Production: Alibaba Pictures
“The Death of Cinema And My Father Too,” by Dani Rosenberg
Sales:: Films Boutique
Three Documentary films
“The Billion Road,” Dieudo Hamadi
Sales: Andana Films
“The Truffle Hunters,” Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics
“9 Jours à Raqqa,” Xavier de Lauzanne
Production: Aloest Films
Five Comedy Films
“Antoinette Dans Les Cévennes,” Caroline Vignal
Sales: Playtime
“Les Deux Alfred,” Bruno Podalydès
Production: Why Not Productions
“The Big Hit,” Emmanuel Courcol
Sales: MK2 Films
“L’origine du monde,” Laurent Lafitte
Sales: Studiocanal
“Le discours,” Laurent Tirard
Sales: Charades
Four Animated Features
“Earwig and the Witch,” Gorô Miyazaki
Sales: Wild Bunch International
“Flee,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Sales: Cinephil
“Josep,” Aurel
Sales: Doc & Film International
“Soul,” Pete Docter
Distribution: The Walt Disney Company