Festival de Cannes , until called the International Film Festival Festival international du film and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes , France, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The Cannes Film Festival took place between 8 and 19 May The Cannes Film Festival has its origins in when Jean Zay , the French Minister of National Education , on the proposal of historian Philippe Erlanger and with the support of the British and Americans, set up an international cinematographic festival.
Its origins may be attributed in part to the French desire to compete with the Venice Film Festival , which at the time was shocking the democratic world by its fascist bias.
Cannes to allow only movies screened in French cinemas to compete from 2018
On 20 September , twenty-one countries presented their films at the First Cannes International Film Festival , which took place at the former Casino of Cannes. The festival was not held in and on account of budgetary problems. In , the Palais des Festivals was expressly constructed for the occasion on the seafront promenade of La Croisette, although its inaugural roof, while still unfinished, blew off during a storm. In , the festival was moved to spring to avoid a direct competition with the Venice Festival which was held in autumn.
During the early s, the festival attracted a lot of tourism and press attention, with showbiz scandals and high-profile personalities' love affairs. At the same time, the artistic aspect of the festival started developing. Because of controversies over the selection of films, the Critics' Prize was created for the recognition of original films and daring filmmakers.
In , the Special Jury Prize was awarded for the first time. In , the Palme d'Or was created, replacing the Grand Prix du Festival which had been given until that year. Today it has become the first international platform for film commerce. Still, in the s, some outstanding films, like Night and Fog in and Hiroshima, My Love in were excluded from the competition for diplomatic concerns. Jean Cocteau , three times president of the jury in those years, is quoted to have said: It should be a simple meeting between friends.
Its goal was to showcase first and second works by directors from all over the world, not succumbing to commercial tendencies. In Olivia de Havilland was named the first female president of the jury, while the next year Sofia Loren became president. The festival was halted on 19 May. During the s, important changes occurred in the Festival. He introduced important changes in the selection of the participating films, welcoming new techniques, and relieving the selection from diplomatic pressures, with films like MASH , and later Chronicle of the Years of Fire marking this turn.
In some cases, these changes helped directors like Tarkovski overcome problems of censorship in their own country. Yet, in , Bessy created a committee to select French films, and another for foreign films. Other changes were the decrease of length of the festival down to thirteen days, thus reducing the number of selected films; also, until that point the Jury was composed by Film Academics, and Jacob started to introduce celebrities and professionals from the film industry.
The new building was nicknamed "The Bunker", provoking a lot of criticism, especially since it was hardly finished at the event and several technical problems occurred. In , for the first time of the Festival, a red carpet was placed at the entrance of the Palais.
In , Gilles Jacob created the last section of the Official Selection: Gilles Jacob was appointed Honorary President in , and in , the Festival officially adopted the name Festival de Cannes. During the s, the Festival started focusing more on the technological advances taking place in the film world, especially the digital techniques.
Cannes Film Festival
In the restored historical films of the Festival were presented as Cannes Classics , which included documentaries. Festival Director Thierry Fremaux is known to have 'banned' selfies on the Red Carpet of the world's largest Film Festival back in The Cannes Film Festival is organised in various sections: The President of the Festival, who represents the Festival in front of its financial partners, the public authorities and the media, is elected by the board of directors of the Festival, officially named the "French Association of the Film Festival".
The Board is composed of authorities of the world of cinema, as well as of public authorities which subsidize the event. The President has a renewable 3-year mandate and appoints the members of his team, including the General Delegate, with the approval of the board of directors.
Festival de Cannes
The General Delegate is responsible for the coordination of the events. When Gilles Jacob passed from General Delegate to the position of the President, in , two new positions were created to take over his former post, the General Director to oversee the smooth running of the event, and the Artistic Director, responsible for the selection of films.
Prior to the beginning of each event, the Festival's board of directors appoints the juries who hold sole responsibility for choosing which films will receive a Cannes award. Jurors are chosen from a wide range of international artists, based on their body of work and respect from their peers. The jury meets annually at the historic Villa Domergue to select the winners. The festival has become an important showcase for European films.
Additionally, given massive media exposure, the non-public festival is attended by many movie stars and is a popular venue for film producers to launch their new films and to attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over the globe. The book was named on of the best Hollywood novels of all time by Entertainment Weekly [35]. The Novel is a dystopian tale about terrorists holding the festival hostage.
In addition to fictional works, the festival has been examined in contexts ranging from the cultural to the historical in a host of non-fiction books. In recent years a number of gender and sexual controversies has surrounded the Cannes Film Festival.
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These include "Heelgate" in which numerous female attendees of a red carpet premiere were stopped from entering in for wearing flat soled shoes instead of high heels. A number of high-profile directors and producers have also been accused of sexual harassment and abuse at past festivals.
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The most important and least visible task is performed by the team's 'talent scouts' who travel the world and scour film festivals each season to unearth the most promising directors. As the Festival has developed over the years, a number of initiatives designed to promote the talents of the future have already been introduced: The development of 'Cannes Short Films' is another step in this direction. Together, these initiatives enable us to act as an observatory for the trends shaping the cinema of the future.
They are our flagship! No doubt they are the part of the festival that draws the most media attention. It's a virtuous circle: Accredited professionals come from all around the world, and there is international coverage of the event in the media.
In addition, the Festival de Cannes offers filmmaking countries the chance to showcase the richness of their cinema in the Village International, which hosts an increasing number of countries every year, more than 60 in It forms an integral part of the Festival in the sense that it also facilitates networking and provides accredited professionals with the services and tools they need in order to exchange information, hold negotiations and uncover new opportunities.
What does the Festival do for the general public? Despite being an event for film professionals only, the Festival is mindful of this reality and is taking steps to improve the way it reaches film enthusiasts.
Festival de Cannes
Since , the opening film has been released in French cinemas on the same day as its screening at Cannes and the opening ceremony has been broadcast in cinemas enabling audiences to experience the Festival launch night live. These open-air screenings are open to everyone and represent a strong link with the general public. The Festival has just turned 70, what is the secret of its lasting success?
While maintaining a solid connection with its past, the Festival is very ready to take on board new and original concepts. Over the years, it has evolved, all the while seeking to preserve its core values: During every new edition, projects are conceived, experiences are shared and different cultures are discovered: What will the Festival of the future be like?