Screen International critics select the buzziest titles from the 2021 Cannes Film Festival’s Competition, Un Certain Regard, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week sections. Compiled by Screen’s chief critic and reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan.
Competition
Ahed’s Knee
Dir: Nadav Lapid
Our critic said: “A bitter, ironic, incendiary new film about an Israeli filmmaker forced into a cultural compromise.”
International sales: Kinology festivals@kinology.eu
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A Hero
Dir: Asghar Farhadi
Our critic said: “A truly compelling drama anchored by the remarkable central performance of Amir Jadidi as a man who is almost undone by one selfless gesture that goes viral.”
International sales: Memento International sales@memento-films.com
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Memoria
Dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Our critic said: ” The boldness of Weerasethakul’s vision — the way he turns simple tales into resonant parables — remains astonishing, even nourishing.”
International sales: The Match Factory info@matchfactory.de
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Red Rocket
Dir: Sean Baker
Our critic said: “Expect star Simon Rex, an actor and former MTV VJ, to receive plenty of acclaim for a star-making role that could spark a career renaissance.”
International sales: FilmNation nyoffice@filmnation.com
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Drive My Car
Dir: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Our critic said: “Not for all tastes, but attractive leads and mysterious interlocking narrative layers accompanied by a very pleasant score help make it seem shorter than its three-hour running time.”
International sales: The Match Factory info@the-matchfactory.de
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Titane
Dir: Julia Ducournau
Our critic said: “For her follow-up to Raw, Julia Ducournau delivers a deranged cocktail of outrage, excess, conceptual ferocity and sheer silliness.”
International sales: Wild Bunch aguilhem@wildbunch.eu
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The Worst Person in the World
Dir: Joachim Trier
Our critic said: “Never exactly a risk-averse director, Trier throws caution to the wind with this film, the third picture in his Oslo trilogy (following Reprise and Oslo, August 31st), starring a magnetic Renate Reinsve.”
International sales: mk2 Films intlsales@mk2.com
Read the review here
Out Of Competition
The Velvet Underground
Dir: Todd Haynes
Our critic said: “Haynes channels the essence of rock group The Velvet Underground in this immersive documentary.”
International distribution: Apple TV+
Read the review here
Un Certain Regard
After Yang
Dir: Kogonada
Our critic said: “A beautifully executed, intellectually searching and sometimes droll futuristic drama… Colin Farrell continues to age wonderfully into the role of a bemused middle-aged everyman - Ireland’s own Marcello Mastroianni.”
International sales: A24 Films intl@a24films.com
Read the review here
Good Mother
Dir: Hafsia Hersi
Our critic said: “An instantly involving portrait of a fifty-something woman in contemporary Marseilles diligently holding together several generations, this establishes actor turned writer/director Hafsia Herzi as a significant French filmmaker.”
International sales: SBS International k.chneiweiss@sbs-productions.com
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The Innocents
Dir: Eskil Vogt
Our critic said: “A clever, engaging and often electrifying feature which straddles suspense and the arthouse in a tight and satisfying way.”
International sales: Protagonist Pictures info@protagonistpictures.com
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Onoda - 10,000 Nights in the Jungle
Dir: Arthur Harari
Our critic said: “This gripping tale of misguided patriotism recreates a vanished set of circumstances via excellent performances and well-tailored cinematic choices.”
International sales: Le Pacte
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Playground
Dir: Laura Wandel
Our critic said: “A portrait of schoolyard bullying that is a sit-up-and-take-notice blend of outstandingly natural performances enhanced by spot-on cinematic choices.”
International sales: Indie Sales info@indiesales.eu
Read the review here
Women Do Cry
Dirs: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
Our critic said: “A blistering indictment of Bulgaria’s attitude towards women… The film’s raw, pulsating anger and some bravura performances make for an explosive drama.”
International sales: mk2 Films anne_laure.barbarit@mk2.com
Read the review here
Directors’ Fortnight
A Chiara
Dir: Jonas Carpignano
Our critic said: “Carpignano is more artistically ambitious this time around, creating a horror-tinged vision of a ravaged land forced to live beyond the law and beyond the pale in ways that are both literally and metaphorically subterranean.”
International sales: mk2 Films intlsales@mk2.com
Read the review here
Hit The Road
Dir: Panah Panahi
Our critic said: “Crackling with energy and outbreaks of exuberant lip syncing, riotously funny at times and quietly devastating at others, the phenomenal feature debut from Panah Panahi looks set to be one of the major discoveries of this year’s Cannes.”
International sales: Celluloid Dreams hengameh@celluloid-dreams.com
Read the review here
Murina
Dir: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic
Our critic said: “Sexual tension and the threat of violence permeate director Kusijanovic’s engrossing feature debut, which chronicles a battle of wills between a bullying father and the defiant teenage daughter.”
International sales: The Match Factory info@matchfactory.de
Read the review here
The Souvenir: Part II
Dir: Joanna Hogg
Our critic said: “Semi-autobiographical, bold, brave, and occasionally funny, it’s a film for cineastes and a layered completion of Hogg’s diptych.”
International sales: Protagonist Pictures
Read the review here
Critics’ Week
Small Body
Dir: Laura Samani
Our critic said: “A rough-hewn fairytale unfolding against a fully realised world, this is an arresting feature debut for director Samani.”
International sales: Alpha Violet info@alphaviolet.com
Read the review here
Cinema For The Climate
Invisible Demons
Dir: Rahul Jain
Our critic said: “The terrible, incalculable environmental cost of India’s burgeoning economy is the subject of Jain’s powerful follow-up to his debut documentary, Machines.”
International sales: Participant Media, Rob Williams rwilliams@participant.com / mk2 Films mk2films.com
Read the review here
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