Cannes 2021: Asghar Farhadi’s ‘A Hero’ Confirmed For Competition

It’s time for another Cannes update due to having gathered up some fresh new intel. What may be part of the prestigious festival’s stack of films vying for the Palme d’Or is what this article is about. However, the question that still looms large is whether or not Cannes 2021 can be pulled off by Thierry Fremaux and the gang. I believe it can be, but others, such as IndieWire’s Eric Kohn, are filled with skepticism.

Here’s the thing, if you’re a expecting a normal edition to happen then forget about it, that just won’t be the case. Masks, testing stations, and social distancing will all be set in place to pull off the event. That means something akin to how Venice did it last September. Traveling to Cannes for Americans will also be another major issue, I don’t expect much U.S. press to make the voyage, ditto films from major studios.

Now that that is settled, let’s talk about the films.

I’m hearing Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero",” which just got sold to Amazon Studios, is a lock for official competition. Also, Bruno Dumont’s “On a Half Clear Morning” will be skipping Cannes and going straight to Venice. Mia Hansen-Love’s “Bergman Island,” which was curiously rejected by Venice last fall, is nearing locked-up status for Cannes 2021, the selection committee loved it, with an Official Competition label expected to be stamped to its name.

The following 17 films are practically locked for competition.

“The French Dispatch” (Wes Anderson)
“Annette” (Leos Carax)
“Ahed’s Knee” (Nadav Lapid)
“Memoria” (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
“Benedetta” (Paul Verhoeven)
“Tromperie” (Arnaud Desplechin)
“Tres Piani” (Nanni Moretti)
“Where is Anne Frank?” (Ari Folman)
“A Hero” (Asghar Farhadi)
“Triangle of Sadness” (Ruben Östlund)
“Bergman Island” (Mia Hansen-Love)
“Flag Day” (Sean Penn)
“Nobody’s Hero” (Alain Guiraudie)
“Drive My Car” (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
“Petrov’s Flu” (Kirill Serebrennikov)
“Decision To Leave” (Park Chan-wook)
“Another World” (Stephane Brizé)

Then we have films that are serious possibilities:

“Paris, 13th District” (Jacques Audiard)
“Titane” (Julia Ducournau)
“De Son Vivant” (Emmanuelle Bercot)
“The Worst Person in the World” (Joachim Trier)
“Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon” (Ana Lily Amirpoor)
“Everything Went Fine” (François Ozon)
“Wicked Games” (Ulrich Seidl)
“Algerien Par Accident” (Karim Aïnouz)
“Chocobar” (Lucrecia Martel)

Longshots include mostly American productions:

”Soggy Bottom” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
“Macbeth” (Joel Coen)
“The Way of the Wind” (Terrence Malick)
“The Power of the Dog” (Jane Campion)
“Blonde” (Andrew Dominik)
“The Souvenir Part II” (Joanna Hogg)
”The Hand of God” (Paolo Sorrentino)
“The Green Knight” (David Lowery)
“Last Night in Soho” (Edgar Wright)
“The Souvenir Pt. 2” (Joanna Hogg)
“The Northman” (Robert Eggers)

Meanwhile, France is still in semi-lockdown, with theatres expected to reopen at 35% capacity on May 9th.