Cannes unveils La Plage cinema lineup with Steve McQueen and Spike Lee

Scheduled to take place during the busy summer holidays, the Cannes Film Festival will offer a lineup of screenings, including world premieres and beach concerts aimed at jaded red carpet holidaymakers and festival-goers.

Called The Beach Cinema, the outdoor screenings will take place every evening at 9:30 p.m. on the beach opposite the Hotel Majestic and will be free and accessible to all.

As previously reported by Variety, the lineup for the beach screenings includes the European premiere of “F9,” the latest installment in Universal’s action-packed “Fast & Furious” franchise starring Vin Diesel, John Cena and Michelle Rodriguez.

Besides “F9”, Cannes will also host the screening of “Lovers Rock” by Steve McQueen and “David Byrne’s American Utopia” by Spike Lee, a captivating big screen version of “American Utopia” by David Byrne. McQueen and Lee, who are leading the jury for this year’s competition, will be there to showcase their respective films, as will Byrne, who will honor spectators on the beach with a live concert.

The Cinéma de la Plage will also present the world premiere of Tony Gatlif’s “Tom Medina”, a western set in the Camargue that was part of the official selection for Cannes 2020. Gatlif, who won the best director award at Cannes with “ Exils ”in 2004, will be in the field to present the film, followed by a large rock and flamenco concert with 13 musicians and dancers.

Other world premieres planned for The Beach Cinema include Patrick Imbert’s animated film “The Top of the Gods”, a manga-style film that was also shortlisted for the Cannes Official Selection last year.

The program of films planned for screenings on the beach also includes cult classics such as “Amélie” by Jean-Pierre Jeunet with Audrey Tautou and the film “JFK” by Oliver Stone in 1991. The Director’s Cut of “JFK” will be screened the day after the world premiere of director’s long-awaited documentary “JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass” in the official selection. Jeunet and Stone will be there to present their films.