A Humble Beginning

In the late 1930s, the Venice Film Festival was the most recognized event in the film industry. However, political interference and biases led to growing dissatisfaction. This unrest gave birth to the Cannes Film Festival, intended as a more democratic and inclusive alternative. The first edition was planned for 1939, but the outbreak of World War II postponed it until 1946. Since then, Cannes has grown, not only in size but in influence and reputation.

Palme d’Or: The Ultimate Prize

Arguably the pinnacle of the Cannes Film Festival is the awarding of the Palme d’Or – the Golden Palm. Instituted in 1955, this accolade replaced the Grand Prix du Festival. Since its inception, the Palme d’Or has been awarded to some of the most groundbreaking films in cinema history. It symbolizes cinematic excellence and has been the dream of many filmmakers across the globe. The weight of this trophy, both literally and figuratively, is felt by everyone at the festival.

The Red Carpet Rituals

Cannes’ red carpet is not just a stretch of crimson fabric; it’s a stage for cinematic celebration. Every year, thousands flock to this spot, making it a blend of glamour, art, and excitement. Traditionally, before the screening of a film in competition, the cast and crew walk the carpet, greeting fans and the press. This age-old tradition, filled with camera flashes and waving fans, epitomizes the grandeur of Cannes. It’s not just about the glitz, but also about recognizing the hard work and passion behind each film.

Controversies and Innovations

Like any major event, Cannes has seen its share of controversies. From film selections to jury decisions, several moments have sparked debate. Notably, in recent years, the festival’s stance on streaming services like Netflix has been a topic of contention. However, Cannes has also been a platform for innovation. The Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week segments, for instance, were introduced to showcase avant-garde cinema and first-time filmmakers. These segments have since become integral to the festival, highlighting its commitment to cinematic evolution.

A Global Gathering

The Cannes Film Festival is not just a French event; it’s a global phenomenon. Filmmakers, actors, journalists, and cinema lovers from all corners of the world come together for these ten days. It’s a testament to the universal language of film and the festival’s enduring appeal. Every year, Cannes becomes a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and stories, all united by a collective love for cinema.

The Influence of Politics and Cinema

Throughout the years, Cannes has not just been a platform for artistic expression but also a reflection of global politics. The festival has showcased films that delve into pressing issues, political upheavals, and societal changes. During the Cold War, for instance, movies from both sides of the Iron Curtain were presented, often offering contrasting worldviews. In recent times, films highlighting the refugee crisis, climate change, and social justice movements have found a platform at Cannes. The festival, thus, serves as a mirror to society, highlighting the intertwining of cinema and real-world events.

Women in Cannes: Breaking Barriers

Historically, the film industry, much like other sectors, has been male-dominated. However, Cannes has played a pivotal role in breaking some of these barriers. The festival has, over the years, seen an increase in films directed by women, stories centered around powerful female protagonists, and juries led by iconic women of cinema. Notable figures like Jane Campion, who won the Palme d’Or for “The Piano”, have paved the way. The festival has also faced criticism and calls for better gender representation. Initiatives like the “5050×2020” movement, which demands equal representation and pay, have gained momentum at Cannes, further pushing for change.

Digital Evolution: Cannes Embraces the Future

In its early days, Cannes was strictly about film reels. Fast forward to today, the festival is adapting to the digital revolution. The rise of streaming platforms has posed both challenges and opportunities. While there’s been resistance to films that bypass traditional theatrical release, there’s also acknowledgment of the changing landscape. Virtual Reality (VR) experiences and films shot on unconventional devices have made their mark at Cannes, proving that while the festival honors its traditions, it’s not averse to the future. As technology continues to evolve, Cannes will undoubtedly continue to serve as a bridge between the timeless art of storytelling and modern innovation.

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Held in August

An acclaimed Swiss film festival that has been called “an alternative Cannes for radical film buffs.” The authors of this definition emphasize that both Cannes and Locarno retain, unlike many others, global significance, but similarities can be seen in the fact that both festivals were held for the 67th time this year. Another feature that makes Cannes and Locarno similar is the demand: a small Swiss town can play host to ~170,000 people for 11 days.

In addition to the main program (Concorso internazionale), which, as already mentioned, usually includes uncompromising auteur films, the Festival offers an international competition for first and second films (Concorso Cineasti del presente), a competition for short and medium-length films by young authors (Pardi di domani) and an out of competition selection of first films made by already established directors. The festival awards – leopard statuettes – come with handsome cash prizes of up to 90,000 Swiss francs.

For professionals in the film industry in Locarno organizes separate screenings of films and presentations of projects in various stages of readiness and implemented mainly in countries where there is no established cinematic tradition. For film school students the festival also offers short summer educational programs (directing, film criticism, documentary filmmaking), similar to those we mentioned when talking about the Berlin Film Festival.

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Takes place in September

The oldest film festival, founded on the initiative of Benito Mussolini, celebrated its 70th anniversary last year. Unfortunately, the position of Venice has weakened with age, and now this festival, although considered to be well-deserved, authoritative and so on, can hardly be compared to Cannes or Berlin. There are many reasons for this. First, the festival is held on the island of Lido with a limited number of hotels: it’s more difficult to get here, it is simply impossible to accommodate a large number of guests, and prices are constantly increasing. Secondly, here, in contrast to Cannes, with great difficulty is the renewal of infrastructure. Thirdly, the Venice Festival, which starts at the end of August, overlaps in the calendar with the Torrontes Festival, which attracts more and more journalists and professionals.

It is also important that Venice cannot compete with the leading international festivals in terms of the size of the film market. This is an absolutely logical outcome of the fact that in 2014 the Lido film market was organized for only the third time.

Be that as it may, the vast majority of filmmakers still can’t even dream of making it into the main competition of the Venice festival. Even getting into the less important Horizons program (feature and documentary films representing new trends in the development of cinema), the short-film competition or one of the parallel programs can already be considered a success.

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Takes place in October

One of the largest festivals in Eastern Europe, this year celebrating its 30th anniversary, received its FIAPF accreditation rather late, only in 2009. Every year the organizers prepare five competitive and five non-competitive sections. The first five are the main international program, the competition of the first and second films, independent films, full-length documentaries and short films. The second section includes special shows, the program of the films already presented at other international festivals, Polish classics, family films and the program of the short films produced in Poland. There are only three compulsory awards in the main competition (grand prize, best director prize and jury special prize). All other competition categories have prizes as well, and winning in most cases also brings a sum of money.

The Polish Film Market, now in its tenth year, is called CentEast Market. It presents unfinished Eastern European and Polish films, which are also shown at similar events in Moscow and Beijing.

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Held in July

This respected Czech film festival, which traditionally opens at the beginning of July and will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, is interesting primarily because it focuses on Central and Eastern European countries, the Balkans and the former Soviet Union. Not surprisingly, Russian films regularly appear in all of the competition programs envisioned by the organizers: the non-specialized main competition (for example, Angelina Nikonova’s “Velkam Hom” was shown here in 2014), the East of the West program (Ivan Tverdovsky’s “Correction Class”), the independent and documentary films (Pavel Kostomarov, Alexander Rastorguev and Alexei Pivovarov’s “Term”). Each section hands out its own awards, many of them accompanied by tangible cash prizes. Russian films are also not ignored by the organizers of the out-of-competition programs, which offer fresh international, experimental and radical cinema.

The Karlovy Vary IFF also offers the opportunity for filmmakers from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to present their projects, in production or in the post-production stage, to the distributors and selectors of other international festivals. For this purpose special pitches Works in Progress (feature films) and Docu Talents from the East (full-length documentary films) are organized.

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Held in June

The MIFF, one of the oldest film festivals in the world, takes place annually at the end of June. The Main Competition of the festival, where the Main Prize, the Special Jury Prize and the prizes for the best director and performance are awarded, is famous for the fact that its pictures by lesser known directors from lesser known cinemas can baffle even seasoned critics. Organizers admit that it is useless to compete with more reputable European festivals in representativeness of the contest, and suggest to consider search for new talents as one of the main aims of MIFF. The former program of debut, exploratory and experimental works “Perspectives”, however, was replaced by a short film competition in 2013; the MIFF has recently returned to the documentary film competition as well.

Contest screenings are complemented by retrospectives, current international cinema previously seen at other Class A festivals, and the brilliant “Free Thought” program of documentaries. Since recently, the MIFF also organizes a business platform Moscow Business Square, in which more than 500 film industry professionals from different countries were expected to participate in 2014.

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Taking place in February

The first class A festival in the FIAPF calendar, starting in early February, is also one of the most important – and maybe the most visited – in the world. The Berlinale competition is designed to ensure a wide representation of European cinematography. It is also generally accepted that films made in a traditional manner and films with political themes are more often selected.

The curators compile the individual programs presented at the festival on their own, without considering outside submissions. Nevertheless, the films of less experienced directors who have difficulties in making it into the main competition could be included in the less important programs such as Panorama (international art-house cinema), Forum (experimental films), Generation (children’s and youth cinema), Berlinale Shorts (short films). New Russian cinema has already been shown in competition at the Berlin Festival (remember Boris Khlebnikov’s A Long and Happy Life), and in lower-ranking programs (recent films by Alexei Mizgirev and Anna Melikyan).

There is also an extremely large market for European Film Market in Berlin, comparable in size to Cannes (according to last year’s report, the organizers report more than eight thousand participants from 107 countries, showing 784 films), and a co-production market. They don’t forget about the development of young talents, offering them the Berlinale Residency (a three-month stay in Berlin with a scholarship of 1,500 euros for directors or screenwriters, who are given help in completing their projects) and Berlinale Talents (short-term training programs for annually recruited groups of film school students from all over the world).

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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Launched in May

Cannes is the most prestigious (although not the oldest) film festival on the planet. It is extremely difficult to get here, but the opportunity, as practice shows, always remains. An inexperienced director can’t seriously count on making it into the main programs (In Competition, Un Certain Regard, Special Screenings, Out of Competition Section), but the lower-ranking programs – Cinéfondation (student film), Short Film Competition – are relatively accessible. In addition to those mentioned above, a parallel program, Directors’ Fortnight, begun by the French Film Directors Guild back in 1969, became extremely popular and at times no less interesting than the main competition.

The most prestigious festival, of course, also had time to acquire a major film market. In 2014, more than 11,000 professionals came to France, representing about 5,000 companies from 116 countries. 5,200 films were presented at the market, 960 of which were screened (in most cases, premieres).

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Takes place in September

One of Spain’s biggest cultural events and a festival that once crowned the budding Francis Ford Coppola and Terrence Malick and has already celebrated its 60th anniversary, traditionally opens in the second half of September. The big masters are still found in its competition, but most of the selected films are, quite naturally, from Spain, Argentina, Chile, France, Mexico and the United States.

The obligatory international competition here is accompanied by a program of debut and second director’s works, a program of current international cinema, retrospectives of classics, and programs of children’s, Spanish and Latin American films. There are many prizes to be won, and to list them would take too much space; some of them are backed by cash prizes.

There are also events for professionals (mostly seminars, presentations, round tables), the most important of which is the Europe-Latin America co-production forum.

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