Cannes - The Grand-Daddy of All Film Festivals

Cannes festival was introduced to raise a voice against the Germans mode of selecting motion pictures with partiality. It raised the voice of the oppressed against the fascists when trouble erupted in the Venice festival.

Philippe Erlanger made a proposal to create another film festival to voice a strong opinion in order to establish a free and fair selection of films. Jean Zay, the minister of education of France immediately accepted his proposal and this gave birth to the Cannes film festival. Louis Lumière agreed to be the first president of the film festival supposed to be held on the month of June in 1939. However, it got to wait for another seven more years owing to the war declared by France over Germany. Cannes film festival was re launched in the year of 1946 and it was held from September 20, 1946 to October 5. Owing to fiduciary problems, the festival was not held in 1948 and in 1950.the year of 1971 holds a special mention for Cannes, as it felicitated the maestro of comedy, Charlie Chaplin with the Legion of Honor.

Cannes is now a major event in the European cinema. It portrays the charm and glamour of the European way of film making to the entire world. And now Cannes has opened a commercial outlet for the producers, as it is widely visited by actors and directors from around the globe. It has become a commercially viable festival, as distributors throng it from all over the globe.

Cannes which was once used to portray only European films has now transformed into a broader paradigm by showcasing the talent from around the globe. Cannes has entered the world cinema and it no more illustrated the sole hegemony of European films.

But, the Europeans have succeeded via Cannes to tell the word that European cinema is an "art" and commercial cinema does not hold a place in the minds and the hearts of Europeans. Cannes has now become a place of fusion of the east as well as the west. Once a picture gets honored in Cannes, its commercial potential rises manifold as the jury is impartial. And, it reaches a far greater audience than ever, giving the filmmaker extreme satisfaction and commercial acclaim.

Cannes is not a public film festival. Access to festival de Cannes is through either badge of honor or through invitation only. And the invitations to Cannes are personal and Non-Transferable. Legal actions may be even taken, when these invitation only tickets are transferred, though there may be no monetary exchange. This restriction makes it even more special and it is no wonder making Cannes the crème-de-la crème of all the film festivals