Cannes Film Festival 2011

Hey guys its me again:) Cannes Film Festival. It happens in May 2011 this year. Thierry Fremaux mentions that " he story continues, the story begins, the story is invented and re-invented every year and at the same time, the festival team and the city of Cannes prepare to greet artists and professionals from around the world. With, shall we say, love, appetite and impatience." These few sentences in itself speak so much in how special every film competition is to all who are film obsessed fans:)

This history of the festival is rather interesting. (1)The International Film Festival was created on the initiative of Jean Zay, Minister for Education and Fine Arts, who was keen to establish an international cultural event in France to rival the Venice Film Festival. The first edition of the Festival was originally set to be held in Cannes in 1939 under the presidency of Louis Lumière. However, it was not until over a year after the war ended that it finally took place, on 20 September 1946. It was subsequently held every September – except in 1948 and 1950 – and then every May from 1952 onwards. The Festival de Cannes, which is managed by a Board of Directors, was registered as an “Association loi de 1901” (or non-profit association in France) in 1972 (1).


In the 1950s, the Festival became more popular thanks to the attendance of celebrities such as Kirk Douglas, Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly, Brigitte Bardot, Cary Grant, Romy Schneider, Alain Delon, Simone Signoret and Gina Lollobrigida.

“The aim of the Festival is to encourage the development of the art of filmmaking in all its forms, while fostering and maintaining a spirit of collaboration among all filmmaking countries” (extract from the Festival policy, 1948.)

In 1997, on the 50th anniversary of the Festival de Cannes, the world’s greatest directors came together on stage to award the Palme des Palmes to Ingmar Bergman.

In 2007, to celebrate 60 years of the Festival de Cannes, 33 of the world’s greatest directors were invited to take part in the anniversary film, To Each His Own Cinema, each shooting a 3-minute short film about the rooms in which films are projected in cinemas.

Bringing Film Professionals together

→ The Marché initially attracted a few dozen participants and offered a single screening room. Today, 10,000 buyers and sellers from around the world flock to Cannes every year, making it the number one international market for film professionals.

Heading up the festival

HEADING UP THE FESTIVAL

In 2000, Gilles Jacob was elected President of the Festival by members of the Board of Directors. He replaced Pierre Viot, who had been in the role since 1985 and who had himself taken over from Robert Favre-Le Bret. From 2001 to 2005, Gilles Jacob was supported by Véronique Cayla, the Managing Director, and Thierry Frémaux, the Artistic Director.

In July 2007, Thierry Frémaux was appointed Director-General of the Festival by the Board of Directors.

It looks interesting but I guess to participate in such a film festival, one needs lots of experience and a higher budget to product such a film.

Check this video out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HlEz1aqPGs

References :
Information Extracted from:
1) http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/about/aboutFestivalHistory.html on 19/9/2011 at 10pm