Cannes: The Story Of Film: A New Generation Opens Festival With A Hopeful And Optimistic View Of The Recent Past And Future Of Movies

deadline.com:

Leos Carax’s Annette is the much publicized and awaited opening film of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival kicking off tonight, but actually it is filmmaker Mark Cousins who can claim the glory of being the first film of the festival this year, and it just wrapped up its premiere screening this afternoon at the Debussy.When Fest director Thierry Fremaux saw Cousins’ mouth watering and mesmerizing two hour and forty minute tribute to recent cinema, The Story Of Film: A New Generation he knew it was just what this year’s fest, the first in over two years and moved to July from May  because of the lingering effects of the world pandemic that forced cancellation in 2020 of the all-important Cannes event for the first time since World War II.