The waiting is over and the curtain 74th Cannes film festival is about to fall. This film festival will be celebrating from 6 July at the Palais De Festival Center in Cannes, the coaster city of southern France. Spike Lee, the president of the juries, will announce the name of the Palme d’Or 2021 winner in the ending ceremony on 17 July. Like the previous years, a remarkable number of Asian films will also enlighten this time the big screen of Cannes. Are you waiting for the dazzling carnival of Asian movies at Cannes film festival 2021? Let’s get some idea about those films.
Asian movies in 74th Cannes film festival
Chinese Movies
Na Jiazuo’s ‘Streetwise’ in Un Certain Regard
Na Jiazuo, a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, made his directorial debut in this crime-drama film. Here the story follows a young man working for a debt collector. His miserable life takes a drastic turn when he loses his two important people in one night.
Read:Best Movies Preview: The Anticipation on the Run for Cannes Film Festival 2021
Wen Shipei’s ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ in Special Screening
A mystery continues to grow around a road accident by mistake that happened a few years ago. It gradually reveals a connection among the car driver, the dead man’s wife, and the detective working on the case. This psychological thriller of the young director Wen Shipei was produced by the talented director Ning Hao.
Wei Shunjun’s ‘Ripples of Life’ in Directors’ Fortnight
This drama depicts the different stages of life through a nice presentation of the life of a man. Wei Shunjun keeps the same production unit for this movie that he used for his film ‘Striding into the wind’. And it was in the official selection of Cannes.
Read Cannes Film Festival 2021: Movies and Filmmakers under the Limelight
Japanese Movies
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Drive My Car’ in Competition
This film actually is an adaption of Haruki Murakami’s short story titled ‘Drive My Car’. In this film Hamaguchi has tried to show the relationship of an actor-director with his female driver on the way to Hiroshima to make a movie.
Mamoru Hosoda’s ‘Belle’ in Premier
Mamoru Hosoda got popularity after his last work ‘Mirai’ which received the nomination in both of Oscar and Golden Globes. This time Hosoda has come with his new animation film Belle. It is about a 17-year-old girl who becomes a singer in a virtual world even after she is not used to singing in real life.
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Irani Movies
Asghar Farhadi’s ‘A Hero’ in Competition
Asghar Farhadi is the writer of the Oscar-winning films ‘A Separation’ and ‘The Salesman’. He won the best screenplay award at Cannes in 2016 for ‘The Salesman’ movie. This time Farhadi presents a thriller film titled ‘A Hero’ made by his own direction. ‘A Hero’ covers the major contemporary issues of modern societies.
Panah Panahi’s ‘Hit the Road’ in Directors’ Fortnight
This interesting drama directed by Panah Panahi is a story of a family on a road trip. Every member of the family plays their own weird behavior except the older brother. Panahi got awards in Cannes: Camera d’Or for White Baloon (1995) and Un Certain Regard for Crimson Gold (2003).
Read Suman Ghosh’s Film Searching for Happiness is to Feature in London Indian Film Festival 2021
South Korean Movies
Han Jae-rim’s ‘Emergency Declaration’ in Out of Competition
The talented filmmaker Han assembled Song Kang-ho (one of the Cannes juries), Jeon Do-Yeon, and Lee Byung-hun in this mid-flight disaster-action film. It follows the incident of the unconditional landing of an airplane due to an unprecedented disaster. Eventually, it can spread quite thrill in Cannes’ festive palace.
Hong Sang-soo’s ‘In Front of Your Face’ in Premiere
The veteran filmmaker Hong Sang-soo won Prix Un Certain Regard for his comedy dram ‘Hahaha’ in 2010. Hong often highlights domestic realism in his films which will remain unchanged this time in this vivid family movie. It will be his 11th entry in Cannes.
Read Top 10 English Comedy Movies released in 2021
Indian Movies
Rahul Jain’s ‘Invisible Demons’ in Cinema for the Climate
Delhi-based director Rahul Jain has elaborated his experience of pollution in Delhi in this documentary. The unseen diseases occurring due to various pollutions are defined as invisible demons. It will be Jain’s debut to be at the international film festival.
Bangladeshi Movies
Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s ‘Rehana Maryam Noor’ in Uncertain Regard
This Bengali film directed by the young director Abdullah Mohammad Saad features a contemporary social issue of Bangladesh. A college teacher pursues justice for a female student victim of sexual assault. Her child also faces misconduct at school. Noor stood against those injustices by going against all the social obstacles.
Read Rehana Maryam Noor: The Bangladeshi Film in the prestigious list of Cannes
Asian Movies in joint production
Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s ‘Memoria’ in Competition
The Thai director Weerasethakul has made his name by winning Palme d’Or for ‘Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives’ film. The greatest indie actress Tilda Swinton stars Memoria. This character portrays a Scottish woman who experiences some supernatural phenomena while heading to her sister’s home.
Multiple talents’ ‘The Year of the Everlasting Storm’ in Special Screening
This is an anthology film covering 7 stories from different directors around the world. Jafar Panahi, Anthony Chen, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayor, David Lowery, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul made their magnificent contribution to this film chronicles in the background of the ongoing pandemic situation.
Read Best Bengali Thriller Movies in 2021
Zhao Liang’s ‘I Am So Sorry’ in Cinema for the Climate
This is another masterpiece of the documentary filmmaker Zhao Liang. It delivers an interactive discussion on the impact of using nuclear energy across the world. The director himself poses as a guide who draws attention by exploring the consequences of mass destruction.
C.B. Yi’s ‘Moneyboys’ in Un Certain Regard
The plot of this Taiwanese-Austrian drama movie highlights cultural conflicts between town and village through the eyes of a street hustler. He keeps struggling to take care of his family but soon he realizes that his family won’t accept his homosexuality. This is Yi’s first feature film, and he made it with the production unit full of European professionals.
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Pilling up
Undoubtedly, Cannes film festival 2021 will be a milestone for Asian movies to walk on the road to world-class cinema. These movies demand the appreciation to make their way to succeed financially in their own local movie industry. The audience as well as the critics have to come forward to make it happened. Thus, it will be possible for Asian films to continue occupying the top chart in international film fests.
Read Female filmmakers of Bangladesh have made their mark in the industry