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Japan’s Hamaguchi Ryusuke earned double honors on Thursday at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. His “Drive My Car” was named best film, while he shared the best screenplay award with the film’s co-writer Oe Takamasa.

The 14th Apsa ceremony was held at the Home of the Arts in Queensland, Australia and gave prizes to ten films from eleven territories. The event also marked the official opening of the third Asia Pacific Screen Forum conference series.

The second place or Jury Grand Prizes were awarded jointly to Abdullah Mohammad Saad, director of Bangladesh drama “Rehana” (aka “Rehana Maryam Noor”) and to Leah Purcell for her debut feature “The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.” “Rehana” lead Azmeri Haque Badhon was awarded the prize for the best performance by an actress.

Iran’s Asghar Farhadi was awarded achievement in directing prize for “A Hero” (aka “Ghahreman”) which the Apsa jury called “an intimate epic.

Cannes' Official Selection for its 74th edition, running July 6-17.

In Competition

Annette, Leos Carax (France) - Opening Film

The Story of My Wife, Ildikó Enyedi (Hungary)

Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven (Netherlands)

Bergman Island, Mia-Hansen-Love (France)

Drive My Car, Rysuke Hamaguchi (Japan)

Ha’Berech (Ahed’s Knee), Nadav Lapid

Casablanca Beats, Nabil Ayouch (Morocco)

Compartment No. 6, Juho Kuosmanen (Finland)

The Worst Person in the World, Joachim Trier (Norway)

La Fracture, Catherine Corsini (France)

The Restless, Joachim Lafosse (Belgium)

Paris 13th District, Jacques Audiard (France)

Lingui, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Chad)

Memoria, Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand)

Nitram, Justin Kurzel (Australia)

France, Bruno Dumont (France)

Petrov’s Flu, Kirill Serebrennikov (Russia)

Red Rocket, Sean Baker (USA)

Flag Day, Sean Penn (USA)

The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson (USA)

Titane, Julia Ducournau (France)

Tre Piani, Nanni Moretti (Italy)

Tout s'est Bien Passé, François Ozon (France)

A Hero, Asghar Farhadi (Iran)

Un Certain Regard

Moneyboys, C.B. Yi (Austria)

Blue Bayou, Justin Chon (USA)

Freda, Gessica Geneus (Haiti)

Delo (House Arrest), Alexey German Jr. (Russia)

Bonne Mere, Hafsia Herzi (France)

Noche de Fuego, Tatiana Huezo (Mexico)

Lamb, Valdimar Johansson (Iceland)

Commitment Hasan, Hasan Semih Kaplanoglu (Turkey)

After Yang, Kogonada (USA)

Let There Be Morning, Eran Kolirin (Israel)

Unclenching the Fists, Kira Kovalenko (Russia)

Women Do Cry, Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria)

Rehana Maryam Noor, Abdullah Mohammad Saad (Bangladesh)

Great Freedom, Sebastian Meise (Austria)

La Civil, Teodora Ana Mihai (Romania / Belgium)

Gaey’s Wa’r, Na Jiazuo (China)

The Innocents, Eskil Vogt (Norway)

Un Monde, Laura Wandel (Belgium)

Out of Competition

De Son Vivant, Emmanuelle Bercot (France)

Emergency Declaration, Han Jae-Rim (Korea)

The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes (USA)

Bac Nord, Cédric Jimenez (France)

Aline, The Voice of Love, Valérie Lemercier (France)

Stillwater, Tom McCarthy (USA)...

Cannes is back in full force with the announcement of the Official Selection for the film festival’s 74th edition. Taking place in July after having been originally scheduled for May, Cannes is returning with an in-person event after the pandemic forced the festival to cancel in 2020. Spike Lee, who was supposed to head the jury and premiere his “Da 5 Bloods” out of competition last year, is returning to Cannes 2021 as jury president. Films such as Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” Leos Carax’s “Annette,” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta” were all supposed to premiere at Cannes 2020 but are now confirmed for Cannes 2021 after waiting a year to be unveiled to the world.

Given this is the first Cannes in the Covid pandemic era, there are as many questions about the event’s safety protocols as there are about the lineup. Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux told IndieWire...