Cannes Film Festival 2021: 17 EU-supported films compete for awards

17 EU-funded films have been nominated for awards at the 74^th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, which has opened its doors today, for the first time in a physical format since 2019. Out of those 17 films that are supported by the MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe programme, 5 will be competing for the Palme d’Or: ‘The Story of my Wife’ by Ildikó Enyedi, ‘Bergman Island’ by Mia Hansen-Love, ‘Compartment No. 6’ by Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Titane’ by Julia Ducournau and ‘Tre Piani’ by Nanni Moretti.

Furthermore, 5 titles have been selected for the section ‘Un certain regard’ and 3 more for the ‘Out of competition’, ‘Cannes Premiere’ and ‘Special screening’, while the remaining 4 films are part of the renowned parallel competitions of the festival: the Directors' Fortnight and La Semaine de la Critique. The winners of this year’s festival will be announced on Saturday 17 July during the closing ceremony.

The EU has invested over €2.1 million through the MEDIA strand of the Creative Europe programme for the development and international distribution of these films. The productions will also be featured within the context of the 30 years of MEDIA campaign, which celebrates the EU’s continued support to the audiovisual industry throughout the decades, highlighting the work of the industry behind the scenes and the impact of EU funding. At the same time, the Commission will participate in several events organised in the context of Le Marché du Film, including the launch of the ‘CharactHer’ campaign, focused on fostering gender inclusion and diversity in the film and news media sectors.