Cannes announces a 2020 line-up that will never be seen as a whole

The organisers of the Cannes Film Festival have announced the programme of 56 films they would have screened had the event not succumbed to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux, introducing a screening at Cannes 2018

At a ceremony in Paris, the festival’s General Delegate, Thierry Frémaux, said that although the event could not go ahead as intended, cancellation was never an option and said that although the films would not be seen on the Croisette, or as a curated selection, Cannes would support the films on their theatrical releases and when screened at future festivals, unaffected by Covid-19.

He noted that some film-makers chose to delay their releases and withdrew their submissions to Cannes in favour of hoping to secure a screening at the world’s most prestigious festival in 2021. But he said that despite that, they had the biggest number of applications in the festival’s history, 2067.

Bill Murray and Owen Wilson are among the Wes Anderson regulars in The French Dispatch

He acknowledged that – as is often the case – the team’s selection included films from directors who’ve made frequent visits to the Croisette, among them Wes Anderson, who would’ve returned with The French Dispatch, François Ozon, who would’ve been back with The Summer of 85 and the British director Sir Steve McQueen, who would have had two films in the official selection, Lovers Rock and Mangrove.

Another two British directors feature among the list of film-makers honoured by Cannes for the first time. Ben Sharrock has missed out on a chance to screen Limbo at the famous Palais des Festivals, while Francis Lee would have been on the red carpet with Ammonite.

In a year when none of the films will actually be seen in the context of the festival, the panel chose more films than normal by first-time directors – including Falling by the actor Viggo Mortensen – and in an announcement that is unlikely placate advocates of women in film, Mr Frémaux boasted that the selection included a record number of female directors and the proportion of films by women was higher than the proportion of submissions with female directors.

A new Pixar film, Soul by Up‘s Pete Docter, would have been among four animated features to be screened.

There was no mention of whether any of the traditional prizes, such as the Palme d’Or, would be awarded from a selection which they decided they didn’t want to screen online, as some other festivals, such as the BFI’s Flare, have chosen to do.

Announcing the line-up, Mr Frémaux said it was “a beautiful selection” reflecting “that cinema is more alive than ever.” “Cinema is not dead. It’s not even sick,” he insisted.`

And here is the full selection, as displayed in the festival’s own categories:

 

THE FAITHFUL

(or at least selected once before)

 

 

 

THE FRENCH DISPATCH by Wes Anderson (USA) – 1h43

Production : INDIAN PAINTBRUSH PRODUCTIONS / AMERICAN EMPIRICAL PICTURES – International Sales : FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES – French Distribution : THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

 

ÉTÉ 85 by François Ozon (France) – 1h40

Production : MANDARIN – International Sales : PLAYTIME – French Distribution : DIAPHANA

 

ASA GA KURU (True Mothers) by Naomi Kawase (Japan) – 2h20

Production : KINO FILMS CO – International Sales : PLAYTIME – French Distribution : HAUT ET COURT

 

LOVERS ROCK by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom) – 1h08

Production : TURBINE STUDIOS LIMITED – International Sales : TURBINE STUDIOS LIMITED

 

MANGROVE by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom) – 2h04

Production : TURBINE STUDIOS LIMITED – International Sales : TURBINE STUDIOS LIMITED

 

DRUK (Another Round) by Thomas Vinterberg – (Denmark) – 1h55

Production : ZENTROPA – International Sales : TRUSTNORDISK – French Distribution : HAUT ET COURT

 

ADN (DNA) by Maïwenn (France / Algeria) – 1h30

Production : WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS – International Sales : WILD BUNCH INTERNATIONAL – French Distribution : WILD BUNCH INTERNATIONAL

 

LAST WORDS by Jonathan Nossiter (USA) – 2h06

Production : STEMAL – International Sales : THE PARTY FILMS

 

HEAVEN: TO THE LAND OF HAPPINESS by IM Sang-Soo (South Korea) – 1h40

Production : HIVE MEDIA CORP – International Sales : FINECUT

 

EL OLVIDO QUE SEREMOS (Forgotten we’ll be) by Fernando Trueba (Spain) – 2h16

Production : CARACOL TELEVISION – International Sales : FILM FACTORY ENTERTAINMENT

 

PENINSULA by YEON Sang-Ho (South Korea) – 1h54

Production : REDPETER FILMS – International Sales : CONTENTS PANDA – French Distribution : ARP SELECTION

 

IN THE DUSK (Au crépuscule) by Sharunas BARTAS (Lituania) – 2h06

Production : KINOELEKTRON – International Sales : LUXBOX

 

DES HOMMES (Home Front) by Lucas BELVAUX – (Belgium) – 1h40

Production : SYNECDOCHE – International Sales : WILD BUNCH INTERNATIONAL – French Distribution : AD VITAM

 

THE REAL THING by Kôji Fukada (Japan) – 3h48

Production : NAGOYA TV – International Sales : NAGOYA TV

 

 

 

THE NEWCOMERS

 

 

PASSION SIMPLE by Danielle Arbid (Lebanon) – 1h36

Production : LES FILMS PELLÉAS – International Sales : PYRAMIDE INTERNATIONAL – French Distribution : PYRAMIDE DISTRIBUTION

 

A GOOD MAN by Marie Castille Mention-Schaar (France) – 1h47

Production : WILLOW FILMS – International Sales : PYRAMIDE INTERNATIONAL – French Distribution : PYRAMIDE DISTRIBUTION

 

LES CHOSES QU’ON DIT, LES CHOSES QU’ON FAIT by Emmanuel Mouret (France) – 2h

Production : MOBY DICK FILMS – International Sales : ELLE DRIVER – French Distribution : PYRAMIDE DISTRIBUTION

 

SOUAD by Ayten Amin (Egypt) – 1h30

Production : VIVID REELS

 

LIMBO by Ben Sharrock (United Kingdom) – 1h53

Production : CARAVAN CINEMA LTD – International Sales : PROTAGONIST PICTURES

 

ROUGE (Red Soil) by Farid Bentoumi (France) – 1h26

Production : LES FILMS VELVET – International Sales : WTFILMS – French Distribution : AD VITAM

 

SWEAT by Magnus Von Horn (Sweden) – 1h40

Production : LAVA FILMS – International Sales : NEW EUROPE FILM INTERNATIONAL SALES

 

TEDDY by Ludovic et Zoran Boukherma (France) – 1h28

Production : BAXTER FILMS – International Sales : WTFILMS – French Distribution : THE JOKERS FILMS

 

FEBRUARY (Février) by Kamen Kalev (Bulgaria) – 2h05

Production : KORO FILMS – French Distribution : UFO DISTRIBUTION

 

AMMONITE by Francis Lee (United Kingdom) – 2h

Production : SEE-SAW FILMS – International Sales : CROSS CITY FILMS – French Distribution : PYRAMIDE DISTRIBUTION

 

UN MÉDECIN DE NUIT by Elie Wajeman (France) – 1h40

Production : PARTIZAN FILMS – International Sales : BE FOR FILMS – French Distribution : DIAPHANA DISTRIBUTION

 

ENFANT TERRIBLE by Oskar Roehler (Germany) – 2h14

Production : BAVARIA FILMPRODUKTION – International Sales : BAVARIA FILMPRODUKTION

 

NADIA, BUTTERFLY by Pascal Plante (Canada) – 1h46

Production : NEMESIS FILMS – International Sales : WAZABI FILMS

 

HERE WE ARE by Nir Bergman (Israel) – 1h34

Production : SPIRO FILMS – International Sales : MK2 FILMS

 

 

 

AN OMNIBUS FILM

 

 

SEPTET: THE STORY OF HONG KONG by Ann Hui, Johnnie TO, Tsui Hark, Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo-Ping et Patrick Tam – 1h53

Production : MILKYWAY IMAGE – International Sales : MEDIA ASIA DISTRIBUTION

 

 

 

THE FIRST FEATURES

 

 

FALLING by Viggo Mortensen (USA) – 1h52

Production : PERCIVAL PICTURES – International Sales : HANWAY FILMS – French Distribution : METROPOLITAN FILMEXPORT

 

PLEASURE by Ninja Thyberg (Sweden) – 1h45

Production : PLATTFORM PRODUKTION – International Sales : VERSATILE

 

SLALOM by Charlène Favier (France) – 1h32

Production : MILLE ET UNE PRODUCTIONS – International Sales : THE PARTY FILM INTERNATIONAL SALES – French Distribution : JOUR2FÊTE

 

CASA DE ANTIGUIDADES (Memory House) by Joao Paulo Miranda Maria (Brazil) – 1h27

Production : MANEKI FILMS

 

BROKEN KEYS (Fausse note) by Jimmy Keyrouz (Lebanon) – 1h30

Production : EZEKIEL

 

IBRAHIM by Samir Guesmi (France) – 1h20

Production : WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS – International Sales : WILD BUNCH INTERNATIONAL- French Distribution : WILD BUNCH INTERNATIONAL

 

BEGINNING (Au commencement) by Déa Kulumbegashvili (Georgia) – 2h10

Production : FIRST PICTURE / O.F.A – International Sales : WILD BUNCH INTERNATIONAL

 

GAGARINE by Fanny Liatard et Jérémy Trouilh (France) – 1h35

Production : HAUT ET COURT – International Sales : TOTEM FILMS – French Distribution : HAUT ET COURT

 

16 PRINTEMPS by Suzanne Lindon (France) – 1h13

Production : AVENUE B PRODUCTIONS – International Sales : LUXBOX – French Distribution : PANAME DISTRIBUTION

 

VAURIEN by Peter Dourountzis (France) – 1h35

Production : 10:15 PRODUCTIONS – International Sales : KINOLOGY – French Distribution : REZO FILMS

 

GARÇON CHIFFON by Nicolas Maury (France) – 1h48

Production : CG CINEMA – International Sales : LES FILMS DU LOSANGE – French Distribution : LES FILMS DU LOSANGE

 

SI LE VENT TOMBE (Should the Wind Fall) by Nora Martirosyan (Armenia) – 1h40

Production : SISTER PRODUCTIONS – International Sales : INDIE INTERNATIONAL SALES – French Distribution : ROUGE DISTRIBUTION

 

JOHN AND THE HOLE by Pascual Sisto (USA) – 1h38

Production : MUTRESSA MOVIES

 

STRIDING INTO THE WIND (Courir au gré du vent) by WEI Shujun (China) – 2h36

Production : ALIBABA PICTURES

 

THE DEATH OF CINEMA AND MY FATHER TOO (La Mort du cinéma et de mon père aussi) by Dani Rosenberg (Israel) – 1h40

Production : PARDES FILMS – International Sales : FILMS BOUTIQUE

 

 

 

3 DOCUMENTARY FILMS

 

 

EN ROUTE POUR LE MILLIARD (The Billion Road) by Dieudo Hamadi – (Democratic Republic of Congo) – 1h30

Production : LES FILMS DE L’OEIL SAUVAGE – International Sales : ANDANA FILMS

 

THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS by Michael Dweck et Gregory Kershaw (USA) – 1h24

Production : GO GIGI GO PRODUCTIONS LLC – International Sales : SONY PICTURES CLASSICS – French Distribution : SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

 

9 JOURS A RAQQA by Xavier de Lauzanne – (France) – 1h30

Production : ALOEST FILMS

 

 

 

5 COMEDY FILMS

 

 

ANTOINETTE DANS LES CÉVÈNNES by Caroline Vignal (France) – 1h35

Production : CHAPKA FILMS – International Sales : PLAYTIME – French Distribution : DIAPHANA DISTRIBUTION

 

LES DEUX ALFRED by Bruno Podalydès (France) – 1h30

Production : WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS – French Distribution : UGC DISTRIBUTION

 

UN TRIOMPHE (The big hit) by Emmanuel Courcol (France) – 1h40

Production : AGAT FILMS & CIE – International Sales : MK2 FILMS – French Distribution : MEMENTO FILMS DISTRIBUTION

 

L’ORIGINE DU MONDE by Laurent Lafitte (France) – 1st film

Production : TRESOR FILMS – International Sales : STUDIO CANAL – French Distribution : STUDIO CANAL

 

LE DISCOURS by Laurent Tirard (France) – 1h27

Production : LES FILMS SUR MESURE – International Sales : CHARADES – French Distribution : LE PACTE

 

 

 

4 ANIMATED FILMS

 

 

AYA TO MAJO (Earwig and the Witch) by Gorô Miyazaki (Japan) – 1h22

Production : NHK / NHK ENTERPRISES / STUDIO GHIBLI – International Sales : WILD BUNCH INTERNATIONAL – French Distribution : WILD BUNCH

 

FLEE by Jonas Poher Rasmussen (Denmark) – 1h30

Production : FINAL CUT FOR REAL – International Sales : CINEPHIL

 

JOSEP by Aurel (France) – 1h20 – 1st film

Production : LES FILMS D’ICI – International Sales : DOC & FILM INTERNATIONAL – French Distribution : SOPHIE DULAC DISTRIBUTION

 

SOUL by Pete Docter (USA) – 1h30

Production : PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS – French Distribution : THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY