Once a year, a beautiful city in France becomes the epicentre of the film industry and welcomes the best actors and directors. Yes, it is the Cannes Festival. The Cannes Film Festival, known for its glamour and prestige. Today, we will talk about everything about the Canned Festival.
What is the Cannes Festival?
Cannes is one of the most well-known film festivals in the film industry. This festival seeks to “publicise and support quality works to promote the evolution of cinema, promote the development of the film industry in the world, and project the seventh art internationally.” In addition to the films that are included in its programme, officials are highly esteemed by the public and critics.
The International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) lists the Cannes Film Festival as one of the three most significant worldwide film festivals, alongside Berlin and Venice. It is a member of the “Class A” film festival circuit.
- Official name: Cannes Film Festival
- Official site: www.festival-cannes.com
- Place of celebration: Cannes, France
- Language: English/French
- Foundation: 1946
- Director: Thierry Fremaux
- Organiser: French International Film Festival Association
- Awards: Palme d’Or, Grand Prize, Jury Prize
- Duration days: May 14-25 for 2024
- Projection rooms: Cannes Palace of Festivals and Congresses
Cannes Festival Headquarters
Each year, for twelve days, the Cannes Palace of Festivals and Congresses serves as the global centre of cinema. Actors, directors, producers, distributors, and journalists parade along the Boulevard de La Croisette to the red carpet of this building, built in 1949 with the original intention of hosting the festival, which can hold up to 25,000 people for the festival.
Cannes Film Festival: when is it held
The first Cannes film festival took place on September 20, 1946, and followed a number of modifications over the years. Now, it is held every year for twelve days in the second part of May. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 Cannes Film Festival to be postponed, which was originally set to take place from May 12 to 23. This year, Cannes Film Festival 2024 was held from Tue, 14 May, 2024 – Sat, 25 May, 2024.
Cannes Film Festival Program
The Cannes Film Festival’s official program can be divided into three large blocks-
Main competition: Every film who passes the screening round takes part in it. Nine prizes are given out as part of the main competition, the “Palm d’Or” being the top prize.
Special Awards: One significant one and two more modest ones can be highlighted. “Mirada Especial” is the first, and it is the second most significant in Cannes. There used to be just one category and one winning movie. Commencing in 2022, the quantity of rewards nearly matches that of the main competition. The other two are the “Golden Camera” for best debut and the Cinéfondation for best student work.
Independent awards: Two categories can be highlighted here. The International Film Press Association selects the recipient of the inaugural award, the FIPRESCI award. The second is the ecumenical jury award, which is given out by experts in the cinema industry, including reviewers. Filmmakers have the opportunity to win over ten awards from various groups and foundations inside the independent awards.
Another important part of the event is the film market. Multimillion-dollar contracts are signed in Cannes to screen various films. The film industry becomes a breeding ground for the emergence of new talent. In the sphere of film, individuals from all over the world exchange news and concepts. In addition, seminars, master courses, and other events are held in conjunction with the festival. It is a great event that attracts not only people from its countryside, but also masses of tourists and ordinary movie buffs. Every year around 35,000 participants, representatives of the media and ordinary film lovers visit the festival.
Cannes Film Festival Program Access
Accessing the main program is both difficult and easy. The following requirements must be fulfilled by participants:
- the film must have been made no later than 12 months before the festival
- Must not have taken part in any other festivals or competitions.
- The duration of a short film should not exceed 15 minutes, including credits.
- A feature film should not exceed 60 minutes.
The difficulty is that the films that are deemed necessary are chosen by the organisers themselves. As a result, only the most inventive and fascinating films are chosen for the screening. The films that the nations sent to the festival were chosen by them until 1970. Then conditions have changed now.
Cannes Film Festival Categories and Awards
Here, we will discuss only the most valued awards at the festival. They belong to the main program. They are mentioned in order to their importance-
- Palme d’Or – 1st place
- Grand Prix – 2nd place
- Jury Prize – 3rd place
It is not literally about the seats, but about the importance of the awards. Another separate award is also worth highlighting: the Palme d’Or for best short film.
Then there are the awards for professional contribution to the arts:
- Best Director Award
- Best Actress Award
- Best Actor Award
- Screenplay award
A contestant’s career would be greatly rewarded if they were to win any of these awards. Of course, The Palme d’Or is not an Oscar. But it gives a big advantage to the nominee. First, directors with a big name might recruit you for a new project. Secondly, the creator’s remuneration is immediately increased with an award of this calibre. Finally, it’s just a great acknowledgement of his artistic effort. The Palme d’Or, the main prize, did not appear until 1955. The branch symbolises Cannes. It is also part of the city’s shield.
Cannes Film Festival 2024
The 77th Cannes Film Festival traditionally took place in May. The opening ceremony took place on May 14. From May 14 to 25, viewers, critics and the jury enjoyed the main film program. The 77th edition of the most important competition in the world brings together the biggest stars on the planet with the most personal authors of auteur cinema on the Cannes Red Carpet. This year, the jury for the official competition, who decided the winner of Palme d’Or this year is Greta Gerwig. French actress Camille Cottin was the host of the opening and closing ceremony.
Here is the complete list of the 2024 Cannes Festival programming.
Cannes 2024: in competition
- ‘The Apprentice’ by Ali Abbasi
- ‘Motel Destino’, by Karim Aïnouz
- ‘Bird’, by Andrea Arnold
- ‘Emilia Perez’, by Jacques Audiard
- ‘Anora’ by Sean Baker
- ‘Megalopolis’, by Francis Ford Coppola
- ‘The Shrouds’, by David Cronenberg
- ‘The Substance’, by Coralie Fargeat
- ‘Grand Tour’, by Miguel Gomes
- ‘Marcello mio’, by Christophe Honoré
- ‘Caught by the Tides’, by Jia Zhangke
- ‘All We Imagine as Light’, by Payal Kapadia
- ‘Kinds of Kindness’, by Yorgos Lanthimos
- ‘L’amour ouf’, by Gilles Lellouche
- ‘Diamant brut (Wild Diamond)’, by Agathe Riedinger
- ‘Oh Canada’ by Paul Schrader
- ‘Limonov’, by Kirill Serebrennikov
- ‘Parthenope’, by Paolo Sorrentino
- ‘The Girl with the Needle’, by Magnus Von Horn
Cannes 2024: out of competition
- ‘Le deuxième acte’, by Quentin Dupieux [inauguration film]
- ‘Furiosa: From the Mad Max Saga’, by George Miller
- ’Horizon: An American Saga, by Kevin Costner
- ‘She’s Got No Name’, by Peter Chan
- ‘Rumours’, by Guy Maddin, Galen & Evan Johnson
- ‘The Surfer’, by Lorcan Finnegan
- ‘Les femmes au balcon (The Balconettes)’, by Noémie Merlant
Cannes 2024: Un Certain Regard
- ‘Norah’, by Tawfik Alzaidi
- ‘The Shameless’, by Konstantin Bojanov
- ‘Le royaume’, by Julien Colonna
- ‘Vingt Dieux!’, by Louise Courvoisier
- ‘Le procès du chien (Who Let the Dog Bite?)’, by Laetitia Dosch
- ‘Black Dog’, by Guan Hu
- ‘The Village Next to Paradise’, by Mo Harawe
- ‘September Says’, by Ariane Labed
- ‘L’histoire de Souleymane’, by Boris Lojkine
- ‘Les damnés (The Damned)’, by Roberto Minervini
- ‘On Becoming a Guinea Fowl’, by Rungano Nyoni
- ‘My Sunshine’, by Hiroshi Okuyama
- ‘Santosh’ by Sandhya Suri
- ‘Viet and Nam’, by Minh Quy Truong
- ‘Armand’, by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel
- Cannes 2024: special screenings
- ‘The Belle of Gaza’, by Yolande Zauberman
- ‘Learn’ by Claire Simon
- ‘The Invasion’, by Sergei Loznitsa
- ‘Ernest Cole, Lost and Found’, by Raoul Peck
- ‘Le fil’, by Daniel Auteuil
Cannes 2024: Cannes Premiere
- ‘Miséricorde’, by Alain Guiraudie
- ‘C’est pas moi’, by Leos Carax
- ‘Everybody Loves Touda’, by Nabil Ayouch
- ‘In fanfare (The Matching Bang)’, by Emmanuel Courcol
- ‘Rendez-vous with Pol Pot’, by Rithy Panh
- ‘Le roman de Jim’, by Arnaud & Jean-Marie Larrieu
Cannes 2024: midnight screenings
- ‘Twilight of the Warrior Walled In’ by Soi Cheang
- ‘I, the Executioner’, by Seung Wan Ryoo
Cannes Film Festival Winner
Honorary Palme d’Or: There are three winners. It is a lifetime achievement award. Winners are Meryl Streep in the opening ceremony Studio Ghibli and George Lucas in the closing ceremony.
The winners of other categories will be announced soon.