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CANNES 2021

Onoda - 10 000 Nights in the Jungle to open Un Certain Regard

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- The second feature by French filmmaker Arthur Harari will fire the starting pistol for the competitive selection of the 74th Cannes Film Festival

Onoda - 10 000 Nights in the Jungle to open Un Certain Regard
Onoda - 10 000 Nights in the Jungle by Arthur Harari

As expected, the team behind the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival is still adding titles (see the news) and making a few final adjustments. Now, it’s Onoda - 10 000 Nights in the Jungle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arthur Harari
film profile
]
’s turn to secure a spot in the showcase, as the second feature by French filmmaker Arthur Harari (who made a huge splash with his feature debut, Dark Inclusion [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arthur Harari
film profile
]
) will open the Un Certain Regard competitive selection of the 74th edition of the gathering (6-17 July).

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Shot entirely in Asia, and in Japanese, this international co-production (between France, Germany, Belgium and Italy) tells the story of soldier Hiroo Onoda, who was sent to an island in the Philippines in 1944, to fight against the American offensive. As Japan surrenders, Onoda ignores it and, trained to survive at all costs in the jungle, he keeps his war going. It will take him 10,000 days to surrender, as he blindly refuses to believe that World War II has come to an end. The screenplay was penned by Harari himself and Vincent Poymiro.

According to the Cannes Film Festival, the film teeters between Kon Ichikawa's Fires on the Plain, Josef von Sternberg’s Anatahan and They Were Expendable by John Ford. With lighting by Tom Harari, the director’s brother, Onoda - 10 000 Nights in the Jungle is a staggering inner odyssey, an intimate and universal view of the world and history itself.

Executive-produced by Nicolas Anthomé (one of European Film Promotion’s Producers on the Move in 2018 – see the interview) for bathysphere, Onoda - 10 000 Nights in the Jungle was co-produced by Pandora Filmproduktion, Frakas Production, Ascent Film and To Be Continued, with Arte France Cinéma and Rai Cinema. Its international sales are handled by Le Pacte, which will also release it in French theatres on 21 July.

The full list of titles announced for the Un Certain Regard:

Onoda - 10 000 Nights in the Jungle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arthur Harari
film profile
]
 - Arthur Harari (France/Germany/Belgium/Italy) (Opening film)
Moneyboys [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: CB Yi
film profile
]
- C.B Yi (Austria)
Blue Bayou - Justin Chon (USA)
Freda [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Gessica Généus (Haiti)
Delo (House Arrest) - Aleksey German Jr (Russia)
Nora [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hafsia Herzi
film profile
]
- Hafsia Herzi (France)
Prayers for the Stolen [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Tatiana Huezo (Mexico/Germany/Brazil/Qatar)
Lamb [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Valdimar Jóhannsson
film profile
]
- Valdimar Jóhansson (Iceland)
Commitment Hasan [+see also:
film review
film profile
]
- Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey)
After Yang - Kogonada (USA)
Let It Be Morning [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Eran Kolirin (Israel, France)
Unclenching the Fists [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Kira Kovalenko (Russia)
Women Do Cry [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
film profile
]
- Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria)
Rehana Maryam Noor - Abdullah Mohammad Saad (Bangladesh)
Great Freedom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sebastian Meise
film profile
]
- Sebastian Meise (Austria)
La Civil [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teodora Ana Mihai
film profile
]
- Teodora Ana Mihai (Belgium/Romania)
Gaey Wa'r - Na Jiazuo (China)
The Innocents [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eskil Vogt
film profile
]
- Eskil Vogt (Norway/Sweden)
Playground [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Wandel
film profile
]
- Laura Wandel (Belgium)
La Traviata, My Brothers and I [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Yohan Manca (France)

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

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