The Cannes Film Festival didn’t happen this year. Yet while the show won’t go on, the films that would have filled the competitions will.
Festival president Pierre Lescure and general delegate Thierry Frémaux announced the 56 films that would have been playing as part of the 2020 Official Selection. Each film still gets to carry the 2020 Official Selection logo as they go on to other festivals.
Of course, as fans of Asian cinema, we know that Japan (Shoplifters) and South Korea (Parasite) are the reigning champs of the Palme d’Or. Would one of these films have been in the running for the top slot?
Here’s what we can still look forward to at some kind of festival in the near future.
ASA GA KURU (True Mothers) 朝が来る
Naomi Kawase (Japan) – 2h20
It’s been an odd year for Kawase (Radiance, Vision), who would have been helming the Seoul-Tokyo 2020 Official Film in a non-pandemic world. Yet we still get to see her narrative feature, titled Comes Morning in Japanese and based on the novel of the same name by Mizuki Tsujimura. It stars Hiromi Nagasaku, Aju Makita, Arata Iura, Ren Komai, Miyoko Asada and Taketo Tanaka and should be on the must-see list of every Japanese film fan.
THE REAL THING 本気のしるし
Kôji Fukada (Japan) – 3h48
Fukada last three films – Sayonara (2015), Harmonium (2016) and A Girl Missing (2019) – have all been festival favourites. This one follows Kuzumichi Tsuji (Win Morisaki) who is labelled a “good man” having two casual by bored relationships with his coworkers. He then meets Ukiyo (Kaho Tsuchimura), whose “troublesome nature” draws him into the underworld.
AYA TO MAJO (Earwig and the Witch)
Gorô Miyazaki (Japan) – 1h22
It’s been almost a decade since Gorô Miyazaki last feature, From Up on Poppy Hill. Following the TV series Ronja, The Robber’s Daughter, he’s returning with an adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones’ (Howl’s Moving Castle). It’s Studio Ghibli‘s first all-CG animated film, so all eyes will be on this.
HEAVEN: TO THE LAND OF HAPPINESS
Im Sang-Soo (Korea)
Im’s first film in five years, and his third invite to Cannes following The Housemaid and The Taste of Money, actors Choi Min-sik and Park Hae-il feature as prisoner 203 and Nam-sik who meet by chance and make one last desperate attempt at freedom and happiness.
PENINSULA 반도
Yeon Sang-Ho (Korea)
Arguably the most anticipated Korean film of the year. The sequel to Train to Busan has been rumoured for a Hollywood remake, but series originator Yeon (who made the animated side-story Seoul Station in the intermin) is getting in on the sequel action first. Cast includes Kang Dong Won, Lee Jung Hyun, Lee Re, Kwon Hae Hyo, Kim Min Jae and Goo Kyo Hwan. Be excited.
READ MORE: 20 Asia films to watch in 2020
INTO THE WIND ( Running with the Wind )
Wei Shujun (China)
This is another film we were excited about back when listing our top picks for 2020. Filmmaker Wei Shujun made a promising debut with the much lauded On the Border short film when it debuted at Cannes in 2018. Listed as one of China’s hottest indie directors, his first feature is one to watch. Previously billed on most sources as Ya Me Feng Zhong (野马分鬃), the title would appear to be derived from a basic Tai Chi pose. With a script co-written with On the Border collaborator Gao Linyang, the cast is listed as Tong Lin Kai, Zheng Ying Chen, Xiaomu Wang, and You Zhou.
SEPTET: THE STORY OF HONG KONG
Ann Hui, Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo-Ping and Patrick Tam (Hong Kong)
Look at that list of filmmakers! Five years ago, this was announced as Eight and a Half with John Woo attached. Now he’s about the only person from the who’s who of Hong Kong cinema not attached to this series of vignettes that contemplates the city-state and its future.
