The Story of My Wife / A feleségem története is based on Milán Füst’s bestseller, which has been translated into more than 20 languages and submitted for the Nobel Prize in Literature. It tells the story of Dutch sea captain Jacob Storr and his unhappy marriage.
French star Léa Seydoux plays the female lead, and Dutch actor Gijs Naber will appear as the jealous sea captain. The international cast includes Louis Garrel, Josef Hader, Ulrich Matthes, Udo Samel, Jasmine Trinca and Luna Wedler, as well as Hungarian actors Sándor Funtek, Vivien Rujder and Károly Hajduk. The film was shot in Malta, Budapest and Hamburg.
Compartment No.6 / Hytti nro 6, the sophomore feature by Juho Kuosmanen, after his acclaimed The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (2016), is a coproduction between Aamu Film Company (Finland), CTB Film Company (Russia), Riina Sildos through Amrion (Estonia) and Achtung Panda! (Germany).
Inspired by the novel written by the Finnish writer Rosa Liksom, which won the most important literary prize in Finland - the Finlandia Award in 2011, the film follows a young Finnish woman who escapes an enigmatic love affair in Moscow by boarding a train to the arctic port of Murmansk, where she's forced to share the long ride and a tiny sleeping car with a rough Russian miner. The unexpected encounter leads the occupants of Compartment no. 6 to face the truth about their own loneliness and yearning for human connection.
The main characters are played by Seidi Haarla, Yuriy Borisov, Julia Aug and Dinara Drukarova.
Mina Mileva’s and Vesela Kazakova’s second feature Women Do Cry was selected for the Un Certain Regard section. This Bulgarian/French coproduction from Sofia based Activist 38 and Ici et La Productions refers to gender-based violence in the female directing duo’s native country Bulgaria. France’s mk2 Films has already acquired the rights of the film.
La Civil, the debut feature by Romanian-born Belgium-based director Teodora Ana Mihai, was shot in Mexico as a coproduction between Belgium, Romania’s Mobra Films (Cristian Mungiu’s outlet) and Mexico. Inspired by true events, the story follows a Mexican woman whose girl has been kidnapped by a drug cartel and who starts her own investigation as the authorities fail to help her.
Evolution, the eighth feature film of the Hungarian helmer Kornel Mundruczo, will screen in the new section of the Official Competition, Cannes Première. Shot in only 13 days, the film written by Kata Wéber follows the relationships of three generations - Eve, Lena and Jonah, which are interwoven with the historical traumas of the 20th century.
The film is a German/Hungarian coproduction and the main characters are played by Lili Monori, Annamária Láng, Goya Rego and Padmé Hamdemir.
The sidebar sections Critics Week and Directors’ Fortnight will announce their lineups on 7 and 8 June, respectively.
Films from FNE Partners in Cannes’ 2021 Official Selection:
In Competition:
The Story of My Wife / A feleségem története (Hungary, Italy, France, Germany)
Directed by Ildiko Enyedi
Produced by Inforg-M&M Film Kft
Coproduced by arte France Cinéma, Dorje Film, Komplizen Film (DE), Moliwood Films srl (IT), Pyramide Productions (FR)
Supported by the National Film Institute – Hungary
Compartment No.6 / Hytti nro 6 (Finland, Russia, Estonia, Germany)
Directed by Juho Kuosmanen
Produced by Aamu Film Company (FI)
Coproduced by CTB Film Company (RU), Amrion (amrion.ee, Estonia), Achtung Panda! (GE)
Supported by the Estonian Film Institute, Estonian Cultural Endowment, MEDIA - Creative Europe, the Finnish Film Foundation, Yleisradio, ARTE SR Germany, the Russian Cultural Ministry, Eurimages, the Nordisk Film & TV Fond
Un Certain Regard:
Women Do Cry (Bulgaria, France)
Directed by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova
Produced by Activist 38
Coproduced by Ici et La Productions (FR)
Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, ARTE France Cinema, Eurimages
La Civil (Belgium, Romania, Mexico)
Directed by Teodora Ana Mihai
Produced by Menuetto
Coproduced by One of the Road (BE), Les Films du Fleuve (BE), Mobra Films (RO), Teorema (MX)
Supported by the Romanian Film Centre (CNC)
Cannes Premiere:
Evolution (Germany, Hungary)
Directed by Kornel Mundruczo
Produced by Match Factory Productions
Coproduced by Proton Cinema, with the collaboration of ZDF-ARTE and the Proton Theater
Supported by the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, the German Federal Filmfund and the National Film Institute – Hungary, the Hungarian tax credit
