Thierry Frémaux (on the right) and Pierre Lescure present the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, June 3 at UGC Normandie in Paris - JP PARIENTE / SIPA

Neither palm nor glitter, but a label: Cannes 2020. Deprived of a Croisette and a climb of the steps, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled this Wednesday June 3 its official Selection which, for the first time, will not be accessible only to festival-goers, but to the general public, as the films are released in theaters.

Honorary, this label which will distinguish each of the 56 films selected is undoubtedly so. But it will also have the function of healing the wounds of a cinema economy that risks emerging bloodless from the coronavirus crisis. In announcing the selection of François Ozon's film, Summer 85 , Thierry Frémaux notably insisted on its release scheduled for July 15, just a few days after the theaters reopened. We must give back to the public the desire to return to the cinema.

"This selection was built with the prospect of seeing the Cannes Festival take on more than ever the first of its missions: to promote films, artists and professionals by showing their work, to be the bridge between theaters and the public" , explains the general delegate of the Cannes Festival. To the usual criteria of the selection committee: "Is this a film for Cannes?" "Added that of:" Isn't this a perfect film for the return to theaters? "

Five comedies and four animated films

But the first criterion remains - and will always remain - the presence of a cast of stars. And the most maddening of Cannes 2020 is to take advantage of Wes Anderson's new film, The French Dispatch , shot in France in Angoulême, with Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Timothée Chalamet, Owen Wilson, Frances McDormand, Adrien Brody, Benicio Del Toro, Mathieu Amalric, Léa Seydoux and Willem Dafoe. A film edited as a collection of short stories, scheduled for release on October 14.

But the most remarkable of the selection undoubtedly comes from a large handful of comedies which clashes, alongside animated films. Two genres too often absent from the Croisette. Thierry Frémaux laughs: “When I announced his selection to him, Laurent Tirard [director known for his  Asterix and his  Little Nicolas ] told me that he never imagined being selected one day in Cannes. Also note a feel good movie with Kad Merad and a new film by Bruno Podalydès with his brother Denis. On the animated film side, let’s mention Soul , the new Pixar by Pete Docter, and the first film in Ghibli studio in a long time, signed by Hayao’s son, Goro Miyazaki.

Sixteen films by women and fifteen first films

If the official selection this year counts about as many films as usual (56 against 59 last year), there are more French films (21 against 13), more films of women also (16 against 14) and more first films (15 against 10). "Never before have so many novice filmmakers appeared in the only Official Selection," says Thierry Frémaux. It is the proof of the creative vitality of cinema, it is also the commitment that the Festival takes on the future. Among these "newcomers", two famous actors, Viggo Mortensen and Laurent Lafitte, who are taking their first steps behind the camera.

Fifty-six films selected in bulk, without distinction of section, competition, excluding competitions, special screenings, Un Certain regard. This does not prevent us from finding some familiar faces: François Ozon, but also Maïwenn, Thomas Vinterberg, Naomi Kawase, Jonathan Nossiter, Lucas Belvaux, even Sang-ho Yeon, the Korean director of the zombie film, including the new film, Peninsula is the sequel. But each of the films, as different as it is, is tied. "We will let criticism and opinion, when all the films have been seen, forge the task of delivering their ideal palm".

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  • Cannes
  • Palme d'Or
  • Thierry Frémaux
  • Comedy
  • Cannes film festival
  • Cinema