The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American filmmaker Spike Lee was invited to be the president of the jury for the main competition for the festival, after the COVID-19 pandemic in France scuttled plans to have him head the jury of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. French actress Doria Tillier hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
French filmmaker Julia Ducournau won the Palme d'Or for the horror-drama film Titane, becoming the second female director to ever win the award and the first to not win jointly with another filmmaker (at the 1993 edition Jane Campion had won jointly with Chen Kaige). The Honorary Palme d'Or was awarded to American actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster and Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio.
At the awards closing ceremony, on 17 July 2021, jury president Spike Lee made a gaffe by accidentally announcing the festival's top prize winner at the start of the night instead of the end.
The festival opened with Annette by Leos Carax, and closed with OSS 117: From Africa with Love by Nicolas Bedos.
Juries
Main competition Spike Lee, American filmmaker – Jury President Mati Diop, French-Senegalese filmmaker and actress Mylène Farmer, French singer, songwriter and actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, American actress, filmmaker and producer Jessica Hausner, Austrian filmmaker Mélanie Laurent, French actress and director Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazilian filmmaker, film programmer, and critic Tahar Rahim, French actor Song Kang-ho, South Korean actor
Andrea Arnold, British filmmaker – Jury President Daniel Burman, Argentine filmmaker Michael Angelo Covino, American filmmaker and actor Mounia Meddour, Algerian filmmaker Elsa Zylberstein, French actress
Caméra d'or Mélanie Thierry, French actress – Jury President Audrey Abiven, French director of Tri Track (post-synchronization company) Éric Caravaca, French actor and filmmaker Romain Cogitore, French filmmaker and photographer Laurent Dailland, French director of photography Pierre-Simon Gutman, French critic
and short films Sameh Alaa, Egyptian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, Tunisian filmmaker Carlos Muguiro, Spanish filmmaker Tuva Novotny, Swedish filmmaker and actress Nicolas Pariser, French filmmaker Alice Winocour, French filmmaker
Independent juries Critics' Week Cristian Mungiu, Romanian filmmaker – Jury President Didar Domehri, French producer Camélia Jordana, French actress, composer and singer Michel Merkt, Swiss producer Karel Och, Czech artistic director of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
L'Œil d'or Ezra Edelman, American filmmaker – Jury President Julie Bertuccelli, French filmmaker Iris Brey, French journalist, author and critic Déborah François, Belgian actress Orwa Nyrabia, Syrian filmmaker, producer and artistic director of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
Queer Palm Nicolas Maury, French actor and filmmaker - Jury President Josza Anjembe, French filmmaker and journalist Roxane Mesquida, French actress Vahram Muratyan, French artist and graphic designer Aloïse Sauvage, French actress and singer
Official Selection
In Competition The following films were selected to compete for the Palme d'Or:
English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country Ahed's Knee Nadav Lapid Israel, France, Germany Annette (opening film) Leos Carax France, Germany, Belgium, United States, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland Benedetta (QP) Paul Verhoeven France, Netherlands, Belgium Bergman Island Mia Hansen-Løve France, Brazil, Germany, Mexico Casablanca Beats Nabil Ayouch Morocco, France Compartment No. 6 (QP) Juho Kuosmanen Finland, Estonia, Russia, Germany The Divide (QP) La Fracture Catherine Corsini France Drive My Car Ryusuke Hamaguchi Japan Everything Went Fine (QP) François Ozon France Flag Day Sean Penn United States France Bruno Dumont France, Italy, Germany, Belgium The French Dispatch Wes Anderson United States A Hero Asghar Farhadi Iran, France Lingui, The Sacred Bonds Mahamat-Saleh Haroun Chad, Belgium, France, Germany Memoria Apichatpong Weerasethakul Thailand, Colombia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Mexico, China, Taiwan, United States, Switzerland Nitram Justin Kurzel Australia Paris, 13th District (QP) Jacques Audiard France Petrov's Flu Kirill Serebrennikov Russia, Germany, Switzerland, France, United States Red Rocket Sean Baker United States The Restless Joachim Lafosse Belgium, France, Luxembourg The Story of My Wife Ildikó Enyedi Hungary, France, Germany, Italy Three Floors Nanni Moretti Italy, France Titane (QP) Julia Ducournau France, Belgium The Worst Person in the World Joachim Trier Norway, France, Sweden, Denmark (QP) indicates film in competition for the Queer Palm.
The following films were selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section: English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country After Yang Kogonada United States Blue Bayou Justin Chon La Civil (CdO) Teodora Mihai Belgium, Mexico, Romania Commitment Hasan Semih Kaplanoğlu Turkey Freda (CdO) Gessica Généus Haiti Good Mother Hafsia Herzi France Great Freedom (QP) Sebastian Meise Austria, Germany House Arrest Aleksey German, Jr. Russia The Innocents Eskil Vogt Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, United States Lamb (CdO) Valdimar Jóhannsson Iceland, Poland, Sweden Let It Be Morning Eran Kolirin Israel, France Moneyboys (CdO, QP) C.B. Yi Taiwan, Austria, Belgium, France My Brothers and I (CdO) Yohan Manca France Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (opening film) Arthur Harari France, Japan, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Cambodia Playground (CdO) Laura Wandel Belgium Prayers for the Stolen Tatiana Huezo Mexico Rehana Maryam Noor Abdullah Mohammad Saad Bangladesh Streetwise (CdO) Jiazuo Na China Unclenching the Fists Kira Kovalenko Russia Women Do Cry (QP) Vesela Kazakova, Mina Mileva Bulgaria, France (CdO) indicates film eligible for the Caméra d'Or as a feature directorial debut. (QP) indicates film in competition for the Queer Palm.
Out of Competition The following films were selected to be screened out of competition:
English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country Aline, the Voice of Love Valérie Lemercier Canada, France BAC Nord Cédric Jimenez France Emergency Declaration Han Jae-rim South Korea OSS 117: From Africa with Love (closing film) Nicolas Bedos France Peaceful Emmanuelle Bercot Stillwater Tom McCarthy United States The Velvet Underground Todd Haynes Where Is Anne Frank Ari Folman Israel, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, France Midnight Screenings Bloody Oranges Jean-Christophe Meurisse France Suprêmes Audrey Estrougo Tralala Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu
Cannes Premiere The following films were selected to be screened in the section: English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country Belle Mamoru Hosoda Japan Cow Andrea Arnold United Kingdom Deception Arnaud Desplechin France Evolution Kornél Mundruczó Hungary Hold Me Tight Mathieu Amalric France In Front of Your Face Hong Sang-soo South Korea Jane by Charlotte (CdO) Charlotte Gainsbourg France JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass Oliver Stone United States Love Songs for Tough Guys Samuel Benchetrit France Marx Can Wait Marco Bellocchio Italy Mothering Sunday Eva Husson United Kingdom Val Ting Poo, Leo Scott United States Vortex Gaspar Noé Argentina, Italy (CdO) indicates film eligible for the Caméra d'Or as a feature directorial debut.
Special Screenings English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country Are You Lonesome Tonight? (CdO) Wen Shipei China Black Notebooks Shlomi Elkabetz Israel Babi Yar. Context Sergei Loznitsa Netherlands, Ukraine H6 (CdO) Yé Yé France (CdO) Maxime Roy Mariner of the Mountains Karim Aïnouz Brazil Mi Iubita Mon Amour (CdO) Noémie Merlant France New Worlds, The Cradle of a Civilization Andrew Muscato Greece, United States Revolution of Our Times Kiwi Chow Hong Kong The Year of the Everlasting Storm Jafar Panahi, Anthony Chen, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, David Lowery, Apichatpong Weerasethakul Iran, Singapore, United States, Chile, Thailand (CdO) indicates film eligible for the Caméra d'Or as a feature directorial debut.
Cinema for the Climate Ephemeral section of films about environment:
English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country Above Water Aïssa Maïga Niger, France Animal Cyril Dion France Bigger Than Us Flore Vasseur The Crusade La Croisade Louis Garrel I Am So Sorry Zhao Liang China, France Invisible Demons Rahul Jain India The Velvet Queen Marie Amiguet, Vincent Munier France
Short Films Competition Out of 3,739 entries, the following films were selected to compete for the Short Film Palme d'Or.
English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)Production Country North Pole Severen Pol Marija Apcevska North Macedonia, Serbia Displaced Pa Vend Samir Karahoda Kosovo In the Soil Casper Kjeldsen Denmark Orthodontics ارتودنسیMohammadreza Mayghani Iran The Right Words (QP) Adrian Moyse Dullin France Through the Haze Noite turva Diogo Salgado PortugalSideral Carlos Segundo Brazil, FranceAll the Crows in the World Tang Yi Hong Kong August Sky Jasmin Tenucci Brazil, Iceland Absence Xue Yun Wu Lang China (QP) indicates film in competition for the Queer Palm.
The Cinéfondation section focuses on films made by students at film schools. The following 17 entries (13 live-action and 4 animated films) were selected out of 1,835 submissions. Four of the films selected represent schools participating in Cinéfondation for the first time.
English TitleOriginal TitleDirector(s)School Billy Boy (QP) Sacha Amaral Universidad Nacional de las Artes, Argentina Love Stories on the Move Carina-Gabriela Dașoveanu UNATC I.L.Caragiale, Romania The Salamander Child Théo Degen INSAS, Belgium Beasts Among Us Natalia Durszewicz Łódź Film School, Poland The Cat from the Deep Sea Oyogeruneko Huang Menglu Musashino Art University, JapanOther Half Lina Kalcheva NFTS, United Kingdom Night Visit הביקור Mya Kaplan Tel Aviv University, IsraelBill and Joe Go Duck Hunting Auden Lincoln-Vogel University of Iowa, United StatesFrida (QP) Aleksandra Odić DFFB, Germany Red Shoes Rudé boty Anna Podskalská FAMU, Czech Republic The Fall of the Swift (QP) Gonzalo Quincoces ESCAC, SpainCantareira Rodrigo Ribeyro AIC, BrazilFonica M-120 Olivér Rudolf SZFE, Hungary Free Men Frie Mænd Óskar Kristinn Vignisson Den Danske Filmskole, DenmarkKing Max (QP) Adèle Vincenti-Crasson La Fémis, FranceSaint Android Lukas Von Berg Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, GermanyCicada (QP) Yoon Daewoen K-ARTS, South Korea (QP) indicates film in competition for the Queer Palm.
Cannes Classics The full line-up for the Cannes Classics section was announced on 22 June 2021.