Festival de Cannes announced the 56 selections of this year’s virtual film confab which includes four animated features, selected from a record 2,067 feature film submissions received this year.
The animated selections include the new Pixar original Soul, directed by Pete Docter, and Studio Ghibli’s debut CGI feature Aya to Majo, helmed by Goro Miyazaki and based on Diana Wynne Jones’ Earwig and the Witch, as well compelling, artistic European gems: Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary that delves into one man’s complex and emotional experience as an Aghani refugee who arrived in Denmark as a child, Flee, and Josep, the debut feature from French artist Aurel (Aurélien Froment), a beautifully crafted, deeply feeling portrait of Catalan artist, Spanish Civil War soldier, concentration camp escapee, blacklisted and underrecognised luminary Josep Bartolí.
Festival director Thierry Frémaux noted in his message regarding the 2020 selection that the selection committee saw an increase in the number of first films (15 selected this year, compared to 10 in 2019), continued expansion of the geographic range represented by films (147 countries this year, compared to 138 in 2019), and steps toward achieving 50/50 gender parity for competing directors — this year, 532 female directors submitted films (25.7 per cent), fewer than last year, but more were included in the official selection: 16 in 2020 vs. 14 in 2019 and just six in 2015.