Who wins the Palme D'Or? Nominees and favourites for the Cannes film award

After a cancelled 2020 edition due to the pandemic, the Cannes festival has no premiered some of this year's best films and will give out its prestigious award: the Palme d'Or.

(Pictured: actor Tim Roth at the photo call for the film 'Bergman Island')

The list of nominees is impressive with Wes Anderson, Paul Verhoeven, Sean Penn and many more great filmmakers. Who will win this year's Golden Palm?

(Pictured: 'The French Dispatch,' Wes Anderson)

To succeed the previous winner, 'Parasite' by South-Korean director Bong Joon-ho, the jury of the Cannes festival pre-selected 61 films. Out of these, 24 are now nominated for the Palme d'Or.

This year, the jury is chaired by New Yorker Spike Lee. He's the first African-American filmmaker to hold this position at the Cannes festival. Other jury members you see here, are (left to right) Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Hausner, Mati Diop, Melanie Laurent and Mylene Farmer.

Let's have a look at diverse group of nominees for the important prize.

'Drive My Car' is the adaptation of the short story 'Men without Women' by Japanese star author Haruki Murakami. Ryusuke Hamaguchi, known for the films 'Passion' and 'Senses,' unfolds a poetic marital drama.

(Pictured: actress Sonia Yuan at the premiere of 'Drive My Car')

After a long wait, director Wes Anderson's new movie 'The French Dispatch' finally premiered in Cannes. The film was ready for Cannes 2020, but with the festival's cancellation and so many cinemas closed across the world, it had to be postponed to 2021. The star cast of the film includes Elisabeth Moss, Owen Wilson, and Tilda Swinton.

Wes Anderson is known for movies like 'Moonrise Kingdom' (photo) and 'The Grand Budapest Hotel.' His new work -- with an impressive ensemble cast that also includes Timothée Chalamet, Adrien Brody, and Bill Murray -- tells the story of a French newsroom in the mid-twentieth century and was actually filmed in the south of France.

Another nominee for the Palme d'Or is 'Benedetta' by veteran director Paul Verhoeven (known for movies like 'Basic Instinct' and 'Robocop'). This remarkable film tells the story of lesbian nun in the 17th century who's on the verge of being beatified when authorities discover her sexual activities and arrest her. The movie is inspired by a true story and the nun is played by Virginie Efira.

This French musical depicts the love between Henry, a stand-up comedian with fierce humor - Adam Driver - and Ann, an internationally renowned singer played by Marion Cotillard. The birth of their first child, Annette, a mysterious girl with an exceptional destiny, turns their lives upside down. Bookmakers consider this movie a big favourite for the award.

'Tre Piani' by Italian Nanni Moretti is one of the most anticipated films of the festival. Nanni Moretti received the Palme d'Or in 2001 for 'The Son's Room'. In this new film, we see the distinct yet connected stories of three families living in the same building on three different floors.

Sean Penn has made a thriller based on the autobiography of Jennifer Vogel - 'Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father's Counterfeit Life.' Jennifer, a journalist, investigates one of the largest counterfeit currency operations in American history, only to find out that it was orchestrated by none other than her father…

Interestingly, Sean Penn plays John Vogel, the forger, and his own daughter Dylan Penn plays Jennifer Vogel. In addition, Sean Penn's son Hopper has the supporting role of Jennifer's brother Nick! It will be fascinating to see how the three actors interact as father, daughter, and son on the screen.

Another favourite of the bookies. The Hungarian director Ildikó Enyed has won awards with past movies and is considered a serious contender this year. 'The Story of My Wife' describes how a Captain, Jacob Storr, makes a crazy bet in a bar. He says he will marry the first woman who walks through the door. That woman turns out to be Lizzy, played by Léa Seydoux ('Inglourious Basterds,' 'Midnight in Paris,' 'Mission: Impossible'), and she's not a great match.

This movie is an adaptation of the comic book series 'The Intruders' by Adrian Tomine. Three girls and three boys are in the spotlight here. Friends, sometimes lovers, sometimes both. Émilie meets Camille who is attracted to Nora, who herself crosses paths with Amber. The shooting took place in the Parisian district of the Olympiades, hence the name of the film.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul received the Palme d'Or in 2010 for his first film in English, outside of Thailand, “Uncle Boonmee”. In 'Memoria,' he cast a star actress - Tilda Swinton - to play an orchid grower who goes to Bogotá to see her sick sister. She becomes friends with a musician and an archaeologist who watches over the endless construction of a tunnel under the Andes mountain range. Mysteriously, disturbing noises awaken her every night.

Unable to repay a debt, Rahim finds himself in prison. On a two-day leave, he tries to convince his creditor to withdraw his claim after a partial payment.  Things do not work out as planned. In this psychological thriller, director Asghar Farhadi returns to his home country of Iran to offer a new examination of Iranian society. He already won different awards for 'The Client' in 2016 and 'Everybody Knows' in 2018.

'Bergman Island' is the director's seventh feature film and her first nomination for the Palme d'Or. The film takes us to the Swedish island of Fårö, where a couple of filmmakers spends the summer in order to get some writing done. As their respective scenarios advance and they emerge themselves in the wild landscapes of the island, boundaries between fiction and reality start to blur. The famous Tim Roth ('Lie to Me,' 'Pulp Fiction') is one of the lead actors.

In a disturbing thriller, Vincent (Vincent Lindon) finds his son back after he's been missing for 10 years. With a  swollen face, the son is brought to an airport by customs inspectors for his father to pick him up. At the same time, a series of gruesome murders are putting the region under pressure.

'Nitram' revisits the events leading to the massacre in Port-Arthur in Tasmania in 1996. With the death of 35 people and 23 injured, this shooting was one of the deadliest in Australian history. It led to the modification of firearms legislation in the country.

Sean Becker, known for 'Tangerine' and 'Florida Project' (photo) has submitted a black comedy for the Palme d'Or in Cannes. 'Red Rocket' was completely independently funded and filmed in the utmost seclusion in Texas. As usual, the director has chosen no professional actors here but amateurs.

'Everything went well' by François Ozon is an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Emmanuèle Bernheim. The novelist, played by Sophie Marceau, tells her own story about the time when her sick father (André Dussollier) asked her to help him die.

This Russian film is based on the 2016 novel by Alexey Salnikov, 'The Petrovs, the flu, etc.' It describes a lambda family from a Russian provincial town that suffers a small outbreak of the flu. The fever brings back images of the past and gradually transforms their perception of the present and the relationship they have with those around them.

The film takes place in Oslo, where the 30-year-old Julie is still looking for the right path in life. While happy with Aksel, a successful designer and loving and protective partner, she refuses to give him the child he wants. Instead, Julie leaves him for Eivind and hopes to start a new life.

In N'djaména in Chad, Amina lives alone with Maria, her fifteen-year-old daughter. Her already fragile world crumbles when she discovers that her daughter is pregnant. The teenager does not want this child, but in a country where abortion is condemned by both religion and law, Amina finds herself caught in a hopeless fight.

This Belgian film deals with the delicate subject of bipolarity. It's an intimate drama in which a couple (Leïla Bekhti and Damien Bonnard) see their life and that of their child affected by the bipolarity of one of the two parents.

The Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen is known for his short films and has won numerous awards. Selected for the first time as a Palme d'Or nominee, his second feature film 'Compartment Number 6' tells the story of a woman's flight to escape a love affair in Moscow. She gets on a train to the arctic port of Murmansk.

Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch highlights the beauty and the urge for living of Moroccan youth in his movie 'Haut et Fort.' It follows follow the journey of a music teacher who guides students who seek freedom with rap and other music.

In this very personal Israeli story, a filmmaker finds himself in a village lost in the middle of the desert for the screening of one of his films. He decides to throw himself into two fights, doomed to failure. The first concerns the loss of freedom in his country, the second concerns the death of his mother.

'France' is the portrait of a female journalist on French television who's heading for her downfall. It is also the portrait of a system, that of the French media. A drama and comedy at the same time, 'France' sets the intimate crisis of a young woman against the backdrop of contemporary social problems.

And one more French film. In 'La Fracture,' Raf and Julie are a couple on the verge of breaking up. One evening, they find themselves having to spend an interminable night together in a hospital during a crisis situation.