The great return of cinema to the Croisette

Known as the most mediatized cultural event in the world but also as the most prestigious cinematographic gathering, the Cannes Film Festival has unquestionably become the place to be for all film producing countries. With a first edition effective in 1946 and following the cancellation of the event last year, the 74th Film Festival took place in this year 2021.

This year, the poster of the new edition of the Film Festival, above the mythical "Red Carpet" honors Spike Lee, president of the jury, in homage to some of his films to highlight the particular look he has on the seventh art.

During these 11 days of Festival, 35 films were viewed by the lucky participants, but also by the members of the jury of this long awaited edition.

The members of the jury

As mentioned, it is the Afro-American filmmaker Spike Lee who presided - for the second time -, this 74th edition. To accompany him and lead the deliberations, the Franco-Senegalese director Mati Diop, the French singer Mylène Farmer, the Austrian director Jessica Hausner, the American actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, the French director and actress Mélanie Laurent, the French actor Tahar Rahim, the Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho as well as the South Korean actor Song Kang-ho were present and made up the 2021 jury of the Cannes Festival.

The complete list of winners

This 74th edition was able to unveil the complete list of the official selection of the Film Festival 2021. The jury was able to award the Palme d'Or for short film to the director Tian xia wu ya (or all the crows in the world) by Tang Yi with a special mention to Céu de Agosto (or The Sky of August) by Jasmin Tenucci; the Golden Camera Award to Murina by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic; the Best Actress Award to the Norwegian Renate Reinsve for her role in Joacchim Tirer's film Verdens verste menneske (Julie (in 12 chapters)); the Screenplay Award to Takamasa Oe and Ryusuke Hamaguchi for the film Drive my Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi; the Director's Award to the film Annette by French director Leos Carax; the Best Actor Award to American Caleb Landry Jones for his role in the film Nitram by Australian director Justin Kurzel; the Jury Prize to the Israeli Nadav Lapid's Ha'berech (Ahed's Knee) and the Thai Apichatpon Weerasethakul's Nitram; the Grand Jury Prize to the Iranian Asghar Ferhadiainsi's A Hero and the Finnish Juho Kuesmanen's Compartment No. 6; and finally, the Palme d'Or to the French Julia Ducourneau's film Titane.

The Palme d'Or

In this new edition of the Cannes Film Festival, the film Titanium directed by Julia Ducournau received the Palme d'Or 2021. This supreme award, delivered to a "horrific film" of the French cinema was greeted by some but also criticized by others. Indeed, by rewarding the film Titanium, the jury would have, it seems, wished to salute the boldness of this achievement. It was also thanked for calling for more diversity in our cinematic experiences. This "hard-hitting" film, "different" from the usual French cinema posters, forbidden to children under 16, left no one indifferent.

Commitment to the environment and its preservation

For its comeback, the Cannes Film Festival wanted to mark the event with a few key measures and thus, to inscribe it in a proactive environmental approach.

Certainly, important and essential measures have been taken in order to reduce the amount of waste - with the reduction, by two, of the volume of the Red Carpet as well as the printing of paper and the elimination of plastic bottles - but also the carbon footprint - thanks to the free public transport as well as the electric cars used by 60% of the official fleet -, however, the Festival itself has respected its commitment to compensate for the emissions directly linked to the production of the event. In particular, a real environmental contribution was put in place by the festival-goers in order to compensate for the emissions generated by the travel to the Palais des Festivals and the accommodation of the participants.

The compensation of the emissions due to the realization of the event allowed to collect 106 000 €. The individual contributions have generated the collection of 400 000 €. That is 500 000 € in total.

In order to ensure a reliable distribution of the funds collected, a committee of 4 independent experts was established. As a result, 6 environmental projects with local, national and international influence were finally supported by the Festival. 

The 75th and next edition of the Film Festival

The dates of the next edition of the Cannes Film Festival have already been announced while the 74th edition is barely finished: the 75th edition will be held at the usual dates (under condition of a suitable sanitary situation), from May 17th to 28th 2022.

You will be able to find once again, in front of the Palais des Festivals, our agency Magrey & Sons where all our team in Cannes will be delighted to welcome you.