Cannes Festival Tips

The Cannes Festival takes place on the southern coast of France in the small town of Cannes. This will be the 62nd year for the Festival and it will take place from May 13th to May 24th, 2009. This quiet seaside resort town becomes an international destination each year in May for over 200,000 people that include filmmakers, film stars, and those who want to see the stars.

At the Cannes Festival literally thousands of films will be reviewed, stars from every corner of the world will attend and careers will be started and some ended during the two- week Cannes Festival. Each year brings about 50,000 film directors, agents, producers and actors, all there to promote over 7,000 films. This promotion occurs throughout lavish parties on luxurious yachts and in the finest clubs in Cannes.

If you plan to attend Cannes Festival your largest challenge will be finding lodging while in Cannes. This is extremely difficult, as it is so limited, and something you should do as early as possible to guarantee a place to sleep each night.

To attend Cannes Festival you will want to fly into the Nice International Airport which is about forty-five minutes by car to Cannes. The easiest way to get to Cannes is to use the local shuttle service out of the airport about every thirty minutes. You can rent a car if you choose, but it is not recommended, the traffic is heavy and the streets are very tight.

Go to the Cannes Festival prepared that this is unlike other international festivals. Public access to almost all of the events is not available for severely controlled. Cannes Festival is almost exclusively reserved for the film industry insiders, the stars and the press. If you are going to watch for the stars and enjoy the south of France then you will have a great time.

Official film screenings take place in the Palais des Festival, but again be prepared and don't expect to be able to buy ticket and get in. However, Canne Cinephiles will help you in knowing how to procure tickets to the secondary screenings.

The Cannes Festival can be very confusing, there are four formal organizations that manage the many different categories of the Cannes Festival. Some of these categories or sections include:

In Competition
This is the Cannes Festivals main event where only the best films with the best stars vie for the Palme d'Or, Golden Palm, for best picture. This is one of the most prestigious film awards given and will help a film in bringing in millions of extra dollars at the box office.

Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is another main showcase section of the Cannes Festival and is titled to be a "survey of current world cinema". The primary award given is the Prix Un Certain Regard, winning this award will greatly help the file with it's distribution in France.

Cinéfondation
A recently added category, Cinéfondation is designed specifically for the Cannes Festival short and medium-length films. These films must be produced from a film school. There is a separate panel of judges for this category and a cash prize for the best films.

Marché du Film
The "Cannes Market", is attended by over 10,000 film industry professionals thus making it the largest event of its type in the world. It is essentially a film trade show and is open to credentialed individuals looking to buy or sell their films.

Other events include Hors Compétition or Out of Competition, these are films that did not met the criteria for the In Competition. Still more categories include the Semaine Internationale de la Critique (SIC), , Cannes Classics, Tous les Cinémas du Monde " or All Cinemas of the World, International Critics' Week, and Quinzaine des Réalisateurs known as The Directors' Fortnight.

Cannes Festival is full of plush red carpets, palm trees, starlets in designer gowns, a million paparazzi, and indulgent celebrity parties. It is a magnificent film tradition in the South of France.