Le Festival de Cannes, founded in 1946, is one of the world's oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals alongside Venice and Berlin. The private festival is held annually (usually in the month of May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.
At the end of the 1930s, shocked by the interference of the fascist
governments of Germany and Italy in the selection of films for the Mostra de
Venise[3], Jean Zay, the French Minister of National Education, decided to
create an international cinematographic festival in France[4], on the
proposal of Philippe Erlanger and the support of the British and Americans.
Many towns were proposed as candidates, as Vichy, Biarritz or Algiers,
although finally Cannes was the chosen one; thus, Le Festival International
de Cannes was born.
In June 1939, Louis Lumière agreed to be the president of the first
festival, set to be held from 1 to 30 September 1939. The German attack on
Poland on 1 September 1939, followed by the declaration of war against
Germany by France and the United Kingdom on 3 September, ended the first
edition of the festival before it got to start.
The festival was relaunched after the War in 1946, in the old Casino of
Cannes, financed by the French Foreign Affairs Ministry and the City of
Cannes. Although the initial spirit of the French festival was to compete
with its Italian counterpart, a secret agreement took place between both
nations, so that they will celebrate their international festivals in
alternating years. The first Cannes Festival had a considerable success, so
when the Franco-Italian agreement was made public it was heavily criticised
and considered as a "capitulation of France"[5].
The next year, in 1947, the festival was held again as the Festival du film
de Cannes, dropping the international nature, but only in name, as films
from sixteen countries were presented. Moreover, the principle of equality
was introduced, so that the jury was to be made up only of one
representative per country[6]. Also, this year the festival was held at the
made-for-the-occasion Palais des Festivals, although the roof was unfinished
and blew off during a storm.
The festival was not held either in 1948 or 1950 on account of budgetary
problems, offering no competition to the Venetian festival those years. In
1951, owing to better relations between France and Italy, the Cannes
Festival was moved to Spring, while the Mostra remained in Autumn.
In 1955 the Golden Palm was created, replacing the Grand Prix du Festival
which had been given until that year. In 1959 the Marché du Film (Film
Market) was founded, giving the festival a commercial character and
facilitating exchanges between sellers and buyers in the film industry.
Today it has become the first international platform for film commerce[7].
In 1962 the International Critics' Week was born, created by the French
Union of Film Critics as the first parallel section of the Cannes Film
Festival. Its goal was to showcase first and second works by directors from
all over the world, not succumbing to commercial tendencies[8]. In 1965 an
hommage was paid to Jean Cocteau after his death, and he was named Honorary
President for life. The next year, Olivia de Havilland was named the first
female president of the festival.
The 1968 festival was halted on 19 May 1968. Some directors as Carlos Saura
or Milos Forman had withdrawn their films from the competition, and on 18
May, filmmaker Louis Malle along with a group of directors took over the
large room of the Palais and interrupted the projections in solidarity with
students and labour on strike throughout France[9], and in protest to the
eviction of the then President of the Cinémathèque Française. The filmmakers
achieved the reinstatement of the President, and they founded the Film
Directors' Society (SRF) that same year[10]. In 1969 the SRF, led by
Pierre-Henri Deleau created the Directors' Fortnight, a new non-competitive
section that programs a selection of films from around the world,
distinguished by the independent judgment displayed in the choice of
films[11].
During the 1970s, important changes occurred in the Festival. In 1972 Robert
Favre Le Bret was named the new President, and Maurice Bessy the Managing
Director. He immediately introduced an important change in the selection of
the participating films. Until that date, the different countries chose
which films would represent them in the festival. Bessy created one
committee to select French films, and another for foreign films[12]. In 1978
Gilles Jacob assumed the President position, introducing the Caméra d'Or
award and the Un Certain Regard section. Other changes were the decrease of
length of the festival down to thirteen days, reducing the number of
selected films thus; also, until that point the Jury was composed by Film
Academics, and Jacob started to introduce celebrities and professionals from
the film industry[13].
In 1983 a new, much bigger Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was built to
host the Festival. It was nicknamed "The Bunker" and provoked many
reactions against it[14]. In 1984 Pierre Viot replaced Robert Favre Le Bret
as President of the Festival.
It wasn't until 1995 that Gilles Jacob created the last section of the
Official Selection: la Cinéfondation. Its aim was to support the creation of
works of cinema in the world and to contribute to the entry of the new
scenario writers in the circle of the celebrities[15]. The Cinéfondation was
completed in 2000 with La Résidence and in 2005 L'Atelier. Meanwhile, the
Festival would obtain its current President, Gilles Jacob, in 2000, and in
2002 officially adopted the name Festival de Cannes.
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